Can't stop the spread of the rot. Fin rot is plaguing my poor fish and ruining the tanks

I've been battling fin rot in a 20 gallon with guppies and zebra danio for 2 months. The original source was the guppies, who had their fins nipped in the 45 gallon prior to being moved over. I tried a month of near continuous water changes, it just kept getting worse. So the last month has been Maracyn, Maracyn 2, Ich-X, Paracleanse. I've seen improvements in some fish, including some really good fin regrowth in one of the worst affected guppies. The danios have even started breeding again, which I thought was a good sign. But today I noticed a huge new tear on one of the danios, two days after finishing with Maracyn. I am at a loss for what to do now. But the icing on the cake, I noticed a white spot in the 45 gallon today, on a black skirt tetras tail. I managed to keep it from spreading to that tank for 2 months, but now it has. It's just one small spot on a male skirt tetras tail, probably where another male nipped him. Should I dose the tank with Ich-x right now? My QT tank is occupied. I am on the verge of giving up and shutting the tanks down. Any and all advice is appreciated, thank you.

 

Don’t dose based on one white spot. Sometimes it’s a fluke. Wait til you know it’s ich and then try just increasing the temp and vacuuming the substrate for a while. If that doesn’t work go with ich meds. Meds are always a last resort.

I have always had good luck with simple salt baths on fish for fin rot (and fungus), no meds needed. If you are seeing improvement, that’s a good sign. There is a difference between a torn / nipped fin and fin ROT. Rot is a bacterial infection that eats away at fins. It invades torn fins (just like a human cut can get infected if you don’t keep it clean). So if you are seeing regrowth of fins and no rot, that is a good sign. A newly torn fin is susceptible to rot but not necessarily already rotting.
What you really want to ask yourself is, how did this fin get torn? Do you have any fake plants or other fake decorations that may not be as soft as you thought? Can you run panty hose over everything in the tank without it getting snagged? If panty hose gets snagged or cut, so will a fin. Stop the source of whatever is cutting the fins and then you can get rid of the fin damage. But if you don’t find the source, the fins can always get injured and reinfected.

I definitely wouldn’t use all that medication for simple fin rot - it will lower the immune system and make them more prone to reinfecting themselves or getting a secondary infection on top of fin rot. So my advice would be to stop all the actual meds for now.

I’m assuming the Black skirt tetras were the ones that nipped the guppies fins and started this whole thing? They were not nice to my own guppies, either. It is good that you separated them.

What else is in with the guppies? What sex are the guppies? How many guppies are in the 20 gal tank? Lots of questions I’m sorry. Male guppies can fight each other over a female, which can cause torn fins. Not enough male guppies and they will bully each other endlessly, lowering the immune system and leaving them susceptible to fin rot.

Let’s get to the bottom of this and figure out what’s causing the torn fins and fin rot issues, remove the source, and then figure out how to treat them if they indeed do still have fin rot and not just torn fins.

 

Do you have a photo of the tear? And a photo of your tank?
While it could be fin rot, it may also be something far more incidental in the day's events especially if it simply appeared today.

Plenty of people will say clean water is all a healthy fish needs to heal. My gut reaction is to hold off on the drugs - they've handled their fair share. But, since this is the 45 and not the 20, and if an initial does of ich-x will offer your mind some ease, especially since it's a rather safe treatment of malachite green. Take care of yourself, and take care of your fish; No need to give up the fight, we're all here for each other! You're wiser from what you've already learned these past few months, and, goodness, we're all in it at times.

I second UnknownUser's post and questions.

 

Don’t dose based on one white spot. Sometimes it’s a fluke. Wait til you know it’s ich and then try just increasing the temp and vacuuming the substrate for a while. If that doesn’t work go with ich meds. Meds are always a last resort.

I have always had good luck with simple salt baths on fish for fin rot (and fungus), no meds needed. If you are seeing improvement, that’s a good sign. There is a difference between a torn / nipped fin and fin ROT. Rot is a bacterial infection that eats away at fins. It invades torn fins (just like a human cut can get infected if you don’t keep it clean). So if you are seeing regrowth of fins and no rot, that is a good sign. A newly torn fin is susceptible to rot but not necessarily already rotting.
What you really want to ask yourself is, how did this fin get torn? Do you have any fake plants or other fake decorations that may not be as soft as you thought? Can you run panty hose over everything in the tank without it getting snagged? If panty hose gets snagged or cut, so will a fin. Stop the source of whatever is cutting the fins and then you can get rid of the fin damage. But if you don’t find the source, the fins can always get injured and reinfected.

I definitely wouldn’t use all that medication for simple fin rot - it will lower the immune system and make them more prone to reinfecting themselves or getting a secondary infection on top of fin rot. So my advice would be to stop all the actual meds for now.

I’m assuming the Black skirt tetras were the ones that nipped the guppies fins and started this whole thing? They were not nice to my own guppies, either. It is good that you separated them.

What else is in with the guppies? What sex are the guppies? How many guppies are in the 20 gal tank? Lots of questions I’m sorry. Male guppies can fight each other over a female, which can cause torn fins. Not enough male guppies and they will bully each other endlessly, lowering the immune system and leaving them susceptible to fin rot.

Let’s get to the bottom of this and figure out what’s causing the torn fins and fin rot issues, remove the source, and then figure out how to treat them if they indeed do still have fin rot and not just torn fins.

Thanks for your answer. The 20 gal has 7 male guppies and 6 zebra danios. The guppies were actually nipped by rainbows who grew too large. I have lots of plants in all tanks, so I tried to use salts in a QT on the original guppy who had fin rot, but it didn't seem to work. Here is the guppy on July 28th, with fin rot developed 1 day after moving:


Here he is 2 weeks ago, Sept 2nd:


Here he is today:


So, some signs of improvement in this guppy who seemed to be the original source of the rot. Other guppies have shown varied signs of improvement, but even now I see some white edges on their fins. Then yesterday I noticed new white spots and a very large tear in the middle of a Danios tail:




I'll go ahead and remove the last fake plant I have in there. Also one of the guppies developed continuous white stringy poop this last week so I am running paracleanse through the tank, and that will be the last medication. Not sure what to do after that.


So all that is discouraging to see after a month and a half of battling. But even more discouraging is that I noticed a white spot on a tetra in the 45 gallon. It finally managed to hitch a ride into that tank as well. Pictures:




It's easier to see with the naked eye. It looks really minor but the white spots are there. The 20 gal seems to be a lost cause, but I'd like to stop it in it's tracks in the 45 gal. Does it look like ich? You suggest raising the temperature? Thanks again for all your help, I am happy to answer as many questions as needed.

Do you have a photo of the tear? And a photo of your tank?
While it could be fin rot, it may also be something far more incidental in the day's events especially if it simply appeared today.

Plenty of people will say clean water is all a healthy fish needs to heal. My gut reaction is to hold off on the drugs - they've handled their fair share. But, since this is the 45 and not the 20, and if an initial does of ich-x will offer your mind some ease, especially since it's a rather safe treatment of malachite green. Take care of yourself, and take care of your fish; No need to give up the fight, we're all here for each other! You're wiser from what you've already learned these past few months, and, goodness, we're all in it at times.

Thanks for the positive message. Check pics above.

 

I have been battling fin rot in a 20 gallon tank for 2 months now. It has 7 male guppies and 6 zebra danios. The fin rot originated from the guppies old tank, where they had their fins nipped by rainbows. After the stress of moving into a new tank, fin rot developed and eventually spread to the zebra danios. I tried a month of constant water changes, but it kept getting worse. Cut back on feeding... once a day, twice a week, once a week and still worse. So I turned to meds: Maracyn, Maracyn 2, Ich-X, Paracleanse. No luck, the fin rot has continued progressing. Danios are missing large pieces of their tails, and now one the guppies has been removed to a QT tank as he is on the verge of death. What can I do to stop this disease? The only thing I have not tried is salt, as the tank is planted. Any and all advice is appreciated..

 

Pictures linked below.

My guppies have been suffering from some kind of bacteria or fungus that has been attacking their fins for months. It seemed to have started when the guppies had their fins nipped in a different tank, then it turned into fin rot when I moved them into this tank. It’s now manifested as fin rot and white spots on the zebra danios in the tank. I see some of the danios trying to bounce off of leaves and gravel because it’s irritating their skin. I tried Maracyn, Maracyn 2, and Paracleanse and it’s continued to get worse. I tried a week straight of daily water changes and that did nothing, I think it’s past the point where clean water can fix it. The only medication I haven’t treated for is fungal (Ich-X) because I’m hesitant to medicate the tank again; I believe I killed a guppy while dosing the Maracyn. He developed stringy poop during treatment and passed away a week later




Any and all advice is welcomed... thank you!!