GouramiGirl1221

I'm pretty sure one of my swordtail girls has finrot and another may have it as well. When I came home today I noticed a pretty good size of her tail was missing, and I at first thought my gourami had gotten her, but now that I look closer there's a section above it that looks like it's about to break off, and the "point of breakage" is white. My other girl's tail fin just isn't as full as it was last weekend and thin around the edges, so that combined with the symptoms of the other fish makes me wonder. Does this sound like finrot? If it is, what do I do to treat it? Thanks in advance for the help.

EDIT: Upon closer inspection my poor babies have ick, along with the swords that have fin rot. I'm almost positive this was caused from the major amount of ammonia coming from my tap water, and in the process of trying to get rid of it I've caused a mini cycle. I feel so terrible because I know it's my fault. I've already re-treated the tank with Tetra SafeStart and am using daily prime, because even though it's supposed to be an "instant cycle" there's always some amount of ammonia reading. I got a pur water filter (for my tap, not the aquarium) at walmart today and it takes the ammonia reading of the tap from 2 PPM down to .25 ppm, so I'm hoping that in the future using that filter with prime will allow the bacteria to process it in 24 hrs as it should.

Anyway, now to my question. I got a product called Rid ICH+ made by Kordon to treat the ick...it seemed like the best thing I could find. I've also used Melafix in the past when my gourami got bullied and had his tail fin split, and it says on the bottle that it's for bacterial infections. From my research, I understand that fin rot is bacterial. Is it safe for my fish to use these two medications together? I don't know if it can be dangerous to mix medication with fish as it can be in humans. Please respond soon...I've already started treating the ick with meds and turning up the temp, but if it's okay I'd love to start treating the fin rot as well.

GouramiGirl1221

bump . I updated the info, so if the experts have advice I'd greatly appreciate it.

fishluver101

i wouldn't consider myself an expert but if nobody answers i would treat them with 2 drops of garlic juice daily. to do this, just use a garlic smasher on fresh garlic cloves NOT the kind where you buy a whole thing of garlic-they sell packaged stuff u can use that. also, i have heard that you can get canned garlic and use the juice in there but make sure there are no preservatives and stuff-that the juice its in is just garlic juice. i have never used the canned garlic meathod before but i just made up the other and it works fine. then, use a combination medicine of some kind though i am not sure what is good brand. i know maracyn worked miraculousely on my fish but im not sure what kind covers ick and fin rot (it will say on the label-maracyn or maracyn two or whatever im not sure). still, i would look up what medicine is good for these illnesses. only use medicine though if garlic and doing a small water change of about 10% daily (though i dont know if you should do more or less by the size of the tank). just however much you can do that is half or less of what you normally do and does not put ANY stress on the fish (no crazy waterflow unless they have already adjusted to some from the fllter). Try just garlic and water changes for maybe a week (?) and just see if they improve. its best to do as little chemicals and medicine as possible. but, dont be afraid to start them on medicine if it looks REALLY bad and you just have to b4 a week. good look

Lucy

If you're sure it's ick, you can raise the temp to about 84F for at least 2 weeks, this will kill the ick.
Vacuum your gravel to get all the ick spores.
Increase aeration to make up for the lack of oxygen from the warmer water.

For the fin rot, clean water, Vita-Chem, Fish Protector or Stess Coat and Garlic Guard or garlic juice. You can use the juice from minced garlic in a jar found at the grocery store.
Maracyn-Two + Maracyn, Maracyn-Plus or Tri-sulpha is good for fin-rot.