FIN ROT

[ahmandi2]

Have a long going case of fin rot in both tanks. I've been using Kana pro, Ruby Reef, and though they do get better, it seems that it's going downhill again. I want to know what you folks use for fin rot, and yes, we are keeping those tanks PRISTINE (ugh, i read an article that your fish tank water should be clean enough to DRINK....not that you'd want to ) and that is a huge issue of it. I want to eventually put my current Betta in the big tank, but it's so riddled with fin rot that I won't take the chance til it's gone....he's got it in his OWN tank as well, so definitely not moving him anyway.
Advice for FIN ROT meds would be awesome.
We also have a tetracycline med pack but what are your thoughts on using it? We used a smaller dose the one time we actually used it, and it foamed our entire aquarium with two inches of disgusting brown foam on the surface, and all the fish were really stressed out by it; we discontinued the treatement for fear of losing already sick fish. That was a while back; but I'd be willing to try again.

[Crissyloach]

I personally use jungle fungus clear, and I am starting to use maracyn. Definitely DO NOT use betta fix, or melafix on him- a friend calls it snake oil it is so bad! It really messes with the labyrinth organ. I have no experience with the tetracycline- but if it foamed- then I probably wouldn't use it. Good luck!!

[ahmandi2]

Thanks for the info! Ok so now I am wondering what the diff is between Maracyn and Maracyn II. I may switch to whichever one is best for FIN Rot after this last course of Ruby Reef. But I have to know which one to use
Fin Rot is a bacterial infection: or so I've been told and read. So I don't know how a fungus killer would help at all, maybe I'm missing something (too new to know much about anything lol)...
If it's a fungus then antibiotics should not be helping, but they ARE working on the bigger tank....
as for melafix, I try to never use that anymore....like you mentioned, I've heard some pretty awful things about it. But it's got to be good for something, right, or it wouldn't be all over the place on the forums etc....? Why the heck would the makers of Melafix not port a warning about damage to any fish that is a labyrinth type???????
What symptoms have your bettas had when they got fin rot? How did they look at the end, when they died? I'm curious to know because I have used melafix in the past and the fish always die pretty soon afterward...but....they already had half if not more of their fins just slough off, so it was pretty advanced stage fin rot. Wonder if the melafix killed them, or the fin rot....

[Crissyloach]

Fin rot can be either bacterial or fungal, or both. Bacterial generally causes more ragged, and uneven rotting. Fungal causes more even rotting, and sometimes produces a white edge. Sometimes it is both, together. It sounds like you have the bacterial fin rot- the common one.

I use the fungus clear, because it has salt (aquarium salt) in it which helps inhibit fungal, and bacterial growth. Mine usually start with pin holes (little holes in the fins- like you stuck a pin through them) or after fighting with another male or fish black, or red tips. Melafix is pretty strong, and is known to be too much for the fish to handle. Betta fix is just a diluted form of melafix- pretty much the same- too much for the fish to handle.

Maracyn is a for gram positive infections, and maracyn 2 is for gram negative infections. You won't know which is causing the fin rot, so you can use them together. But if the current treatment is working, then continue with that. Lots of clean water- 10% daily water changes.

Could you describe the symptoms of the infected fish? That might help with choosing the right medications.

[LoachOrgy]

i was battling bacterial septicima in my tank for a good 2 years. i could not get rid of it. it only affected my tropical fish not the loaches. i tried mycin, metronidazole, kanaplex, aquadoxy, nitrofurizone, furan 2, fungus clear, acriflavin, formalin. none worked.


i tried this stuff called tmp sulfa. i had some results using the triple sulfa available at the local fs. but it was so expensive that i stopped using it.

someone told me that this triple sulfa can be toxic if you don't do the proper water changes. this is what i did.

it solved my fin rot and the bacterial septicima and nothing else would over a 2 year course of treatments.

i treated the recommended dose and did a 25% water change for a 10 day dose. after 5 days the symptoms started to lighten on the fish. after 2 weeks, the visible signs were gone for the symptoms. both fish are doing well now with no issues. otherwise, i lost about 15 tropical fish over a 2 year period from this nasty stuff. i tried everything everyone recommended. none worked. it might just be my particular situation. or whatever is in my tank, but for me this stuff worked great. and it filters out easy with charcoal.

i also vacuumed my gravel about 2 times weekly. not the entire tank just in 3rds so i didn't stir up too much nastiness. ive got my tds in my tank about 180 and the water is about 130 after the water conditioner.

this blog has some useful information. this is just my personal experience. take it with a grain of salt. i also used those test strips to check the parameters on a bi daily basis.

http://aquarium-medictions.blogspot.com/

here is where i got it. i only got a gram of it. tmp sulfa on this page.

http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/products5.html

their shipping is over priced but they have bulk meds available.

im scared to use maracyn2 it crashed my qt tank bio filter when i was treating fish and killed them all.

i can't constantly monitor that type of thing when i work all day. so i get scared of bacterial meds that kill the bio filter.

get a tds test meter and see how the tds in your tank is. if its over 300 thats not so great.

i think the legal limit in drinkin water is 500. im not 100% sure.