How to treat fin rot in fish:

Fin rot is very common in fish & it is a bacterial infection that is dangerous for your tank inhabitants, & many fish are affected by this disease. If your aquarium is dirty then you can expect this disease or if you are not caring for your fish or you have introduced a new sick fish to aquarium. Your diseased fish may have torn & ragged fins. Your fish infected with fin rot may seem discolored & lazy. If your fish having fin rot are not treated well, then your fish’s fins might get permanent damage & it could prove deadly. This disease is very contagious & must be treated on time so it does not spread in your aquarium.

 

How to get rid of fin rot in aquarium fish:

Fish having fin rot must be taken out of aquarium. Remove your infected fish from aquarium & setup a quarantine aquarium for the fish & fill it up with clean water, & de chlorinate tap water so that it does not harm your fish.

Remove other fish of your aquarium to another tank with clean, fresh & de chlorinated water. Make sure you use a different net for other fish because fin rot can spread from one fish to another if you are using the same net. Make sure you do not keep both affected & unaffected fish in the same tank because fin rot can spread from diseased to un diseased fish.

It is very important to wash the aquarium & aquarium accessories. Then take out all water from the original aquarium, & remove its accessories, including gravel.

Wash the aquarium with hot water. Avoid using soap or detergents as it is dangerous for the fish. Use aquarium safe accessories for accomplishing any job. You can use paper towels to reach the gaps of the aquarium & it is recommended to clean everything well.

Soak every accessory of the aquarium in hot water for 5 to 10 min. If your aquarium is stocked with live plants, soaking them in lukewarm water is suggested. Take your plants out of water & allow them to dry.

Wash your tank gravel with warm water & hoover your gravels with a small vacuum to remove any dirt or other debris present on them.

Complete aquarium water change is required. After your aquarium is clean & dry, put gravel & other accessories back in the aquarium. If your aquarium is not cycled, do a complete water change. Ensure your aquarium water is maintained between 80 to 82 degree Fahrenheit.

If you have a cycled aquarium, which means that you have enough bacteria already established on the aquarium surfaces & accessories, you can change fifty percent water of aquarium, or can do subsequent water changes of small amounts.

If your aquarium has a filter, fill a bucket with fresh aquarium water & wash your tank filter with the bucket water. After cleaning your aquarium filter, you can set it up in your aquarium. Using tap water for cleaning the filter is prohibited because it can kill beneficial bacteria that is built up inside the filter. Fresh water has chlorine which kills good bacteria. Beneficial bacteria converts harmful chemicals that releases from fish waste into less harmful chemicals which can be removed with regular water changes.

Check pH of the aquarium water. Before adding fish back in the original aquarium, do a pH test to make sure your water quality is fine. The water pH must be between 7 to 8 & the toxic chemicals that releases from fish water quantity should be no more than 40 ppm.

After your tank water is suitable for the fish, release the fish back in the main aquarium, also add the fish having fin rot. Then use medication for treating the infected fish. Cleaning aquarium together with medicines can help in proper curing of fin rot.


Use medications to treat fin rot:

Even though fin rot is very common & dangerous because it can permanently damage your fish fins, but it can be treated. Medicines including Melafix & Aquarisol can be used to treat fin rot & they can help in removing the germs that cause this infection.

Melafix is better at killing bacteria that causes fin rot & it does not have side effects & this medication has better success rates in removing the sickness.

Not every medicine is safe to use in aquarium.

Other medications that can be used for treating fin rot include Tetracycline, Chloramphenicol, malachite green methylene blue, & Oxytetracycline. Be careful because medicines can stress your aquarium inhabitants. Fish filter water through their gills so they intake high quantity of medications.

In some of the cases your fish might have fungal infection as well as fin rot. Fin rots commonly starts from the edges of the fish fins & tails. But if you observe holes then it is a sign of fungal infection.

If fin rot is spreading quickly on your fish such as the fins & tails of the fish recede considerably in just 1 day, then it is a sign of columnaris infection.

 

Signs of Fin Rot:

Fin rot usually affects fish living in dirty environment. Many fish are affected with this disease including fish having beautiful fins & tails such as betta fish & gold fish. For treating fin rot, it must be identified first. Below we have described various stages of fin rot & how it can be identified:

 

Early Stage:

During early stages fins & / or tail of the affected fish show some discoloration, that can be found on the edges of the fish. Comparing to original color of the fish, the discoloration could be white, red or black.

 

Mid Stage:

During mid stages, the edges of fish fin could seem frayed & uneven as the pieces affected by fin rot start to die & fall off.

 

Final Stage:

In the final stages of fin rot, the complete fin & / or tail of the fish is rotten away, & the disease starts spreading in the body, & could prove fatal.

Your fish may show signs such as laziness or loss of appetite, because body of the fish is fighting against the disease.

 

How do you know if fin rot has been treated successfully:

You might wait for several days before fin rot has been successfully cured, but during the treatment you can observe some visible signs of recovery such as:

Fin rot has stopped spreading

No newer symptoms have been observed

Infected fish is again taking interest in eating & its activity level is increasing.

Fin start to regrow & it could have a different color than original.

A number of solutions are possible to avoid fin rot from reappearing. If your aquarium has unclean water then it could be the sign of fin rot, so make sure you are changing water weekly. Do not add many fish to a single tank, & stop overfeeding your fish, & add plants that can help in filtration of the aquarium.

Lower the stress level of your fish by keeping your fish in ideal temperature with the help of a heater, reduce filter power that decreases the water movement, & avoid adding bully fish. Monitor your fish & water conditions every day, & use test kits to measure pH, & ammonia, nitrites & nitrates level, & make sure it is below 40 ppm.

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