MasterShake2003

Hi all, this is my first post and I hope I don't sound too much like a newbie, but here goes.

I've been in the hobby for about six months and have had very few problems, if any. Recently (approx. 2 weeks ago) I set up a new 55 gal. tank to upgrade my then 29 gal. tank. I spoke to some guys down at my local aquarium store about making the switch with my current tank and followed their directions to the letter. I used my old filter media, old gravel, old plants, rocks, decor, everything. I added new rock to the bottom of the tank first then put the old gravel over it to ensure I was getting the most out of my bacteria.

Before I switch to the new tank, one of my turquoise guppies' tail fins had become extremely ragged. After searching the internet, all signs pointed to fin rot. I have been told by many people that antibiotics are possibly one of the hardest substances on your tank and to try an avoid using them if at all possible. My local dealer said that if I keep up on water changes and make sure my water chemistry is right, 9 times out of ten the diesease will clear up on it's own.

Tonight, my tequilla sunrise guppy died and I knew it was coming beacause his tail fin was also very ragged beginning this morning. His tail, however, looked as if it had been ganwed on, but I have all peaceful fish. I have quite a few guppies in my tank because I can't seem to keep them from breeding, but I don't actually set out to breed them. If some of the fry survive, cool, if not, that's nature.

I'm just concerned that this may be the beginnings of a fin rot out break in my take due to the increased stress from the switchover. I have included all my water parameters below as well as the fish I have stocked in the tank. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Water Chemistry:

ammonia: 0 PPM
nitrate: 10 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
Hardness: 300 GH+ (extremely hard water)
chlorine: 0 ppm
alkalinity: 180 KH
pH: 7.8
Temperature: 80 F


Fish Stocked:

55 gal. tank

1 Platy
2 Lyretail Mollies
2 Boesmani Rainbowfish
1 Praecox Rainbowfish
6 Zebra Danios
9 Neon Tetras
1 pleco (very small species, won't get bigger than 6" at most)
6 guppies (various, 3 famales, 3 males), approx 12 guppies if you count the fry
1 blue mystery snail (which will be leaving soon!!!)
1 golden dream killifish
1 Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami

I perform a 25% water change each week while vacuuming the substrate and I feed twice daily. In the morning I give them TetraColor crisps and at night I give them Tetra freeze dried bloodworms. I tend to skip the bloodworms a few nights a week so as not to give them too much protein. I watch them while they eat and very little, if any, of the crisps make it to the bottom of the tank. I also try to crush the crisps up pretty small to make sure any guppy fry in the tank are able to eat. If there is anything else you need to know, tell me and I'll add it.

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore. The Mollies or Gourami might be nipping. If it is finrot, I would treat it - perhaps something mild at first like Rid-Fungus, then antibiotics if that doesn't get to the cause of the fin rot.

MasterShake2003

I will try that, but could you tell me how you would recommend treating him? I, unfortunately, do not currently have a quarantine tank and I don't want to unnecessarily stress out my other fish.

Also, will either of those medications cause trouble with my biological filtration?

Thanks for the help!

Also, here is a pic of the guppy, can only help, right?

jsalemi

Rid-Fungus is completely organic, and won't bother the biological filtration. It also won't bother fish who aren't sick. Some antibiotics will kill off the bacteria, too, though (that is their job, after all ), and should really only be used in a quarantine tank. Read the labels on the bottles carefully.

You can also add liquid vitamins (i.e., Vita-Chem) and/or Fish Protector to help the guppies grow their fins and tails back.

john&jen

My "peaceful" Von Rio Tetras are finnippers. Their guppy tail meals didn't look like that though! You do have a quarantine tank! Use the 29. A cheap heater and internal filter will do the trick. You don't have to fill it all the way either. Half full = 15gal which equals cheaper filter and heater. Just a thought.