# Help, huge problem.



## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Hey all, well I have a big problem, and I am extremely pis.... Anyways, I was in big al's hamilton a few days ago, and purchased some rams. When I got them home, I noticed one of them had a small cut, didn't look infected or anything. So I gave them a call and was told "It is just from netting the fish, must have gotten scrapped on something. Just go ahead and put the fish in the tanks, there shouldn't be any issues". So stupidly of me, I put my new fish into the tank with my others.(A 33Gal semi-planted).

So I noticed last night my female angelfish was hiding near the heater and refusing to eat, she never has been like this, always active and swimming around. I thought nothing of it. This morning I notice the same with my male angel, but this time, the females and males fins are a little shredded, as soon as I saw that, my heart dropped and thought to myself..... FIN ROT.... I then noticed that on my marble female, some of her scales are sort of faded, and it appears she has scales falling off?!?!

After school I picked up a bottle of API MelaFix® Antibacterial Fish Remedy as recommended by the sales person. I have done a 60-70% water change and added the recommended dosage. I will continue to treat 15ml for 7 days followed by a water change at the end. Yes I removed the active carbon from filter and put in filter floss instead. I have added some tank salt, very little because of my plecos. Light's are off and will remain off for a few days.

The fish I purchased from Big Al's is also hiding behind the filter not moving and appears to be showing signs of rot.

My tank is stocked with:

2 stunning fully grown breeding pair of angels.
1 L066 juvie (2")
2 Mega Clown pleco juvies(2")
3 Longfin green dragon juvies(2")
breeding pair of super red BN (3")

I have had this tank running non-stop for 8 years, never a single issue, EVER. Weekly 30% water changes with treated water, etc. The whole 9 yards in care.

Please NOTE:

I am more annoyed/mad at myself for not putting these fish in to a seperate tank for a few weeks before adding to my main. I am not overly mad at Big Al's for telling me to just go for it, a little upset but things happen. And yes, I did ask if the rams would be compatible with my current stock and told should have no issues.

So, where I am going with this is, is what I am doing right for these fish?
Does anyone have a clue if this is fin rot/scale rot? or something else?
Are my fish too far into the desiese where I should consider uthinizing them? I don't want too, but I don't want them to be in pain if they are. At what point should I consider this?
Any info/tips will help.

PS: I am setting up a 10gal for the rams or angels as we speak, who should I move? They will be in a bigger tank when healed and healthy, or re homed.

PSS(Pictures): I tried to do the best for photo's, you can see the females top fin is rotted and her scales/skin looks like it is peeling off.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

sounds like you are on the right track at least. I'm sure others can give you better and more detailed advice. Fortunately, I haven't had much experience with diseases.

I think its almond leaves that help to heal fin rot, the salt can help a little to, some people say melafix sucks and there is better things to use


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Almond leafs eh? I have a ton of them from breeding betta's ill throw 2 in, thanks!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I always keep fish I get from big als in a separate tank for a week before putting in my new tank. Especially when i bought 10 neons from them and ended up with five after a week. I never believed in quarantine tanks before, but now, i do to any non reputable source.


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Not sure this is a fin rot issue or more of an aggression issue. 

I would move the new fish to a different tank ASAP and see if the other fish recover on their own. I definitely wouldn't euthanize any fish at this point.

I use one tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water in my tanks and I have bushy nose plecos in all of them. The plecos are all fine. 

--
Paul


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## Norman (Feb 13, 2011)

I've had this happen after adding a new rainbow to my tank a few years back. Sadly I lost all 6 angels even after trying aquarium salt, melafix and even antubiotics. Now I just leave my tank alone but would quarantine if I wanted to add any new fish. It was a tough lesson. I hope your angels fare better than mine did.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*issue*

I agree with paul .......try to get your tank back to its original state .I have not had any exp with fin rot .all I can recc is that stay on top of water changes and see if that helps , I have used salt as well with plecos with no issues .
hope everything gets better fast 
cheers 
tom


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I've read a post on another forum where someone had a severe case of fin rot with guppies. He'd been using Melafix, which is, IIRC, based on tea tree oil. The guppies died, sadly. He'd kept the water pristine, did all the stuff we all are told to do with virtually any problem, to no avail.

I was doing some research to try to find some answers for this guy, and learned something interesting with regard to fin rot and Melafix. The product isn't entirely useless, necessarily, but it's expensive and I think they claim a lot more utility for it than it's capable of providing. It's antibiotic properties are limited, so if the rot gets past a certain point it can't help.

At that point, real antibiotics were needed to treat such severe fin rot. The guppies might well have lived if he'd been using antibiotics instead of Melafix once the condition showed it was not improving. 

The best use for Melafix seems to be more as an antiseptic, maybe as a preventative, than an effective treatment for any advanced infection. It's sort of like using Hydrogen Peroxide to wash out a cut, not that they recommend that anymore either, but it's more like that than it is like using a real antibiotic. And kind of expensive when keeping water very clean will do a lot of the same thing.

Indian Almond leaf, banana leaf and I've heard also that Alder cones, have varying natural antibiotic properties of their own, and are certainly worth trying. I used them to get some pretty great results healing severe fin damage on a pair of damaged Bettas. Neither of them died from the fin issues.. one committed suicide, the other got a badly infected eye, which I think just overwhelmed his immune system so fast I couldn't do anything soon enough to help.

So if it IS fin rot, keep an eye on it and if you are not seeing real progress in healing within a very few days, get antibiotics instead. Despite what they claim, Melafix can't cope with entrenched or severe infections.

Salt can help too, and I read an interesting study where they were testing the efficacy of salt for Ich, on catfish. Since they are said to be very sensitive to salt, people either don't use it or don't use enough. Surprisingly, the fish that did best recovering from the Ich were the ones getting a full therapeutic dose of salt. It appears that catfish can tolerate salt better than was believed, but long term it's still not the best thing for them. YMMV of course.


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

Thanks for the great info Fishfur! I just found a bag of antibiotic flake food I had from last year from AngelsPlus. I am going to start trying to see if they will eat it. If I see no results by monday I will go and pick up some real antibiotics.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

This is anecdotal, but a couple of years ago, CAOAC brought Ian Fuller ( anyone who frequents Planet Catfish knows who he is and his stature in the catfish community) over from England to do a presentation at the Zoo. He showed us a cory that had septicima which is normally a seriously fatal affliction. A course of Melafix cleared it up in a couple of days. They had to photograph every cory in the tank to determine which of the corys was afflicted because it cleared up so completely and quickly. My experience with septicima is that it is usually fatal. He was surprised with the results as were we all.


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