AboutChris Robbins Expertise I have 25+ years of personal experience as a pet
store employee and manager in the family pet store
business. The main part of our business was
Freshwater Fish. I can answer questions on; Fish care, diseases,
parasites and fish identification, feeding your
fish, breeding and sexing your fish, setting up
your aquarium, cleaning your aquarium, and
"what`s this weird stuff in my tank/on my
fish" questions. I am not an African Cichlid expert, Plant expert or Brackish Expert. No Pond or Saltwater Questions Please.
Experience I worked in and managed my family's fish and pet and fish store for 26 years and maintained the 35 aquariums. My experience also has included occasional in-home consultation and aquarium maintenance for my clients.
Expert: Chris Robbins Date: 3/1/2008 Subject: fin rot
Question Hi,
Sorry this is so long. I have a 130 gal tank that has been up for aprox one year. I had 3 bala sharks that were starting to get fin rot (torn fins). I put them in the treatment tank and started trying to treat for fungal fin rot. That did not work so I started Maracyn and Maracyn two (at the same time). In the meantime one jumped out of the sick tank and died. I figured as long as I already had the sick tank set up I would get a few more Bala's. So I bought 3 more and treated them with the other two. Everyone seemed healed, so I put them back in the big tank. A week or two later, I have more torn fins. Now it is not just the Bala Sharks, but also my angels (3) and my black skirted Tetras (2). I cannot treat the whole big tank because I have 3 clown loaches, and 3 Pictus Cats. Why would I have reoccurring fin rot? I do weekly water changes. My PH was off before the bala's started getting it the first time (city water). It seems to go off every winter and be fine in the summer. Would this cause my fin rot? I do not believe that the tank is over stocked. Any ideas? After the fin rot seems to be gone again, how long should I keep the fish in the sick tank to be sure? Do I have to treat my big tank to kill the bacteria? My clown Loaches and Pictus cat's seem to be fine now, but what could I treat them with if they get it? Thank you for any suggestions.
130 gal tank
Undergravel filter and 2 external filters
1 Pleco (10-12 inches)
3 Clown Loaches (4-6 inches)
2 Bala (6-8 inches)
3 Bala (1-2 inches)
3 Pictus Cats (3-4 inches)
2 Gouramis (2-3 inches)
3 black Angels (4 inches)
2 black skirted Tetra (1-2 inches)
1 upsidedown cat (2-3 inches)
Answer Hi Sheri;
You may have some fin-nippers in the bunch. Many times, balas will nip fins as they squabble with each other. I have two that go at it pretty hard sometimes. Their fins get ragged for a few days to a couple of weeks and then they quit and they grow back just fine. They swirl around each other for a few minutes and it kind of looks like playing or wrestling but they are actually quite serious. Some gouramis and clown loaches can get pretty nasty with each other and their tank mates too. Some fish bother the others at night when they can't see. If some of your fish rest on the bottom of the tank in the dark they become easy targets for nocturnal guys. Plecos sometimes do it too. I would watch them at night with low light in the room from a distance and see what happens.
If you don’t think they are being picked on there might be too much waste in the gravel and some harmful disease-causing bacteria are growing in there. Adding medication isn’t the answer though. You have to correct the root cause or it will just make a mess. You may need to vacuum the gravel more often. The organisms that cause diseases such as bacterial fin rot are present in our tanks all the time. If there is excess waste or old leftover food in the bottom it can grow harmful bacteria that can infect the fish. All tanks need 25% water change and gravel vacuuming once a week every week. Do the vacuuming/water change twice a week for a couple of weeks to get it into shape quicker and hopefully things will get better very soon. Just use water conditioner every time. Twice a week is not too often. In crisis situations you can do them every day. The trick is to not replace more than 25% on one day.
PH can sometimes cause fin deterioration if it goes too high such as above 8.5. Or, if the pH drops too low, such as below 6.0, it indicates too much waste in the system. The excess waste can then cause the problems with excess bacteria.
