White Edged Fins, Now Starting To Tear - Fungal Med Didn't Work...

[tkdc80]

Hi!
25G tank, pH 7.9 (this is baseline for my tank), Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5 ppm.
Tank occupants: 1 swordtail (fem), 2 platys (fem), 6 harlequin rasboras (?).
I have had the 6 harlequin rasboras in my tank for 2 weeks, they have been quite happy thus far. Came home from work this morning and one of the raspboras has a small white tip on his dorsal fin. He is eating fine, active as usual (I wasn't able to snap a photo), and not flicking/rubbing at all.
Should I treat with ich meds?
Can I just add salt for now? (1 tsp/10 g?)

Look forward to your answers!

 

[tkdc80]

Hi again
Just realized...that it is not only the small white area on the tip of the dorsal fin.
The set of fins on the under side of the fish (more towards his front) - I think it would be considered his pelvic fins? - are almost not visible - but definitely whitish. I am thinking they are clamped up tightly, they can't have disentegrated overnight, right?

Fin rot?? I've never seen this before, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

It sounds like excess mucous on the fins. When fish are stressed they produce more mucous and it can appear as a white or cream film over the body or fins. The stress is normally caused by poor water quality but can also be caused by chemical poisoning/ contamination. It could also be a fungal infection.
You could try doing a partial (30-50%) water change and gravel clean and see how they look tomorrow.
It's not ich (whitespot) and harlequins don't like salt so I probably wouldn't use salt.
If it worse in 24 hours then treat them with a broad-spectrum medication like Waterlife protozin or Wardley's Promethyasul. Be careful when using these medications if you have catfish, loaches or eels in the tank.

 

[tkdc80]

ok thanks, I will try the water change right now
I'm not at all familiar with the meds you name...most of what is available to me here is either Mardel, API, or Jungle brand. I have several meds on hand but they are all antibiotics or anti-parasitic...no effectiveness against fungals. Mardel offers Maroxy as an antifungal, would this be a good shot if things worsen tomorrow, or do you have another suggestion?
The fish is still acting normally & eating at the moment - just those poor pelvic fins all clamped up and white and that spot on the dorsal fin

T

 

[tkdc80]

OK, update...not a good one unfortunately....
The original harlequin is about the same....I completed a 40% water change, and did some more close observing afterwards.
I now see another rasbora has a fin that is looking "off" - his left pectoral fin is clamped right up and a little whitish. Also the gill on the same side appears to have something on it - a very small little white thing is all i can tell, with him moving about. The gill looks to be a bit more open, I think, and the movements a bit more obvious than the others.
Please advise
Thanks so much

 

[Colin_T]

Jungle products are usually pretty good. Not sure about Mardel or API because i have never used them. But most medications are the same.

The clamped fins sound like fungus but the flared gill cover could be gill parasites or flukes. The fish might even have a skin parasite like costia or chilodnella. Any medication that treats whitespot should also treat costia & chilodonella. Most medications have methylene blue in and that works well on fungus but can knock the filter bacteria around.

Try treating with a fungal treatment first and see if they respond. If it hasn't made any difference after a couple of days then look at treating them for skin parasites and protozoan infections.

I mentioned earlier that Harlequins are not fond of salt but salt will work on fungus and many skin parasites. Therefore you could try salt first and see if that helps. Use 1 level tablespoon per 5 gallons. If the Harlequins don’t seem too stressed by it you can increase it to 2 level tablespoons per 5 gallons. Leave the salt in the tank for a week and then do 10% water changes each day to dilute it out.
The livebearers will be fine with this amount of salt and it is the Harlequins that might sulk a bit. If you have any Corydoras catfish in the tank then watch them too because they don’t like salt either.

 

[tkdc80]

I have just put the 1 tsp/5 gallons of salt in (I don't have any cories in the tank)....I will get the antifungal this afternoon...I hope it's not too late.

The harlequin with the original white tipped dorsal and clamped pelvic fins looks ok this morning...feeding well, the dorsal fin looks a touch more ragged this morning though...
But the other harlequin, that had the clamped pectoral on one side and the little white thing in the gill - now both are clamped, I can't see the white gill thing anymore but the gills look a little reddish, and he is spending almost all of his time breathing from the surface of the water. When he does swim down, its very weak and he gets pushed around easily He doesnt look so good.

Can I start the antifungal tonight, with the salt in the tank?

 

[Colin_T]

Can I start the antifungal tonight, with the salt in the tank?

yep

remove any carbon before you start treatment and increase aeration to maximise oxygen levels.

 

[tkdc80]

OK thanks, will do.
Just to update, the rasbora with the pelvic fins affected started corkscrewing and quickly died not too long after I wrote this morning. This afternoon, rasboras looked ok with the lower salt dose so I increased it to 2 tbsp/5g as suggested.

Thanks,

T

 

[tkdc80]

I have finished the full treatment with the fungal med and salt. I lost one rasbora mentioned above, and another died suddenly on day 3 (with no symptoms/visual signs - i think the salt and med was just too much for it).
Unforunately, the original rasbora still has milky looking pelvic fins, although they are less curled up than they first were. His dorsal fin is splitting now as well. The other 3 remaining rasboras are now starting to show ragged looking fin edges (mostly @ the tail fin), and some fin splitting with a bit of a milky white edge.

I did a 25% water change and replaced the carbon filter after the fungal med, so I think I am ready to treat again if necessary.

What do you think is going on? Is it fin rot after all?
The fungal med I used was "Fungus Cure" by API [Victoria Green B and Acriflavine]. The box says it should cover fin rot as well as fungals...so I'm not sure what is going on here.

Other meds I have that cover fin rot are:
Maracyn by API [erythromycin]
Maracyn Two by API [Minocycline]
T.C. Tetracycline by API [Tetracycline Hydrochloride]

Should I go ahead with one of these?

Thanks!

T

 

[tkdc80]

I have something strange going on with one of my platys....I don't think it's an 'emergency' so I didn't post it here...but I thought I'd link to it in case anyone thinks it's related. There are pics in that thread.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=272299