Fin nipping v Fin rot?

I have a 65L tank with one blackmoor and I added a tiny fan tail to this two days ago... he’s half the size of the Blackmoor but I noticed a few days ago that the new addition was chasing the blackmoor around. I also witnessed him ‘nipping’ at the tail of the blackmoor.

I was under the impression the nipping and chasing had stopped and was just the usual adjustment behaviour of a new fish. I noticed my blackmoor has been clamped fin and sitting in the corner of the tank at the bottom. He does occasionally swim around but he ends up sitting down again. Upon further inspection I realised his tail is ragged..... I am not sure whether this is from the other fish nipping at him or fin rot!

I am inclined to believe it is just the nipping because I can see on one of the s part of the fin is still half attached and I feel like in fin rot it’s a gradual rotting away which wouldn’t present like this?

 

Just an update he has just started doing twirls and somersaults in the bucket he is currently in so I think it may be serious, the underside of his gills also seems a lot redder than usual

I took my blackmoor out of the tank and into a bucket to inspect his tail wounds. He has just started somersaulting and twirling in the bucket and the underside of his gills is a bit redder than usual.

Ammonia seems to be between 0-0.25.... I have added a new tank mate which would account for this but I am going to do a partial water change now.

Any suggestions on the somersault behaviour :-(

 

It looks like the result of fin nipping to me. Do you know what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are?

 

In relation to another thread I took my blackmoor out of the tank and into a bucket to inspect his tail wounds. He has just started somersaulting and twirling in the bucket and the underside of his gills is a bit redder than usual.

Ammonia seems to be between 0-0.25.... I have added a new tank mate which would account for this but I am going to do a partial water change now.

Any suggestions on the somersault behaviour :-(

What is your tank nitrite and nitrate level? He looks very thin from the top in your other thread. Has he been eating?

 

It looks like the result of fin nipping to me. Do you know what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are?

I’ve only had time to test ammonia as I am frantically trying to change the water it was around 0.2 so I am worried it may be due to the ammonia

What is your tank nitrite and nitrate level? He looks very thin from the top in your other thread. Has he been eating?

Wow really, he does eat but maybe not enough

 

Ok, are you using test strips or a liquid test kit? Try to test nitrites and nitrates as well as this will be helpful.

 

Wow really, he does eat but maybe not enough

He looks thin from the top. But he may be fine from the side. What is your nitrite and nitrate levels?

 

He looks thin from the top. But he may be fine from the side. What is your nitrite and nitrate levels?

I will get onto the testing now but I put him back in the water and he laying on his side and his gills are pumping like mad

Ok, are you using test strips or a liquid test kit? Try to test nitrites and nitrates as well as this will be helpful.

Here is the nitrite and nitrate

He looks thin from the top. But he may be fine from the side. What is your nitrite and nitrate levels?

Here are the levels

 

0.25 ammonia isn’t so harmful that it would kill a fish or impair them this much. It isn’t good, but it also isn’t terrible in the long run. Some API test kits also appear to read about 0.25 ammonia when it is actually zero. Sometimes shaking the ammonia bottles before testing can help with this. So... I don’t think ammonia is the issue. Still, it doesn’t make sense that there would be zero nitrates if the tank was cycled. How long have you had the tank up and running and how long have you had the fish?

 

View attachment 632331

Here are the levels

Hmm. How long have you had the black moor? How long has your tank been set up? Those tests are weird. I thought you'd had the tank running with fish in it for several months. What is your pH? Have you fed the fish live tubifex worms or any worms from local ponds or streams? How often and how big are your water changes?
Important: did you follow the API instructions exactly for performing -the nitrate test? ie shake nitrate solution #2 vigorously for 30 seconds before adding it to the test tube then shake the test tube with both solutions in it for 1 full minute then wait an additional 5 minutes to read it?

 

0.25 ammonia isn’t so harmful that it would kill a fish or impair them this much. It isn’t good, but it also isn’t terrible in the long run. Some API test kits also appear to read about 0.25 ammonia when it is actually zero. Sometimes shaking the ammonia bottles before testing can help with this. So... I don’t think ammonia is the issue. Still, it doesn’t make sense that there would be zero nitrates if the tank was cycled. How long have you had the tank up and running and how long have you had the fish?

This is a new tank.... the previous one was cycled and then I transferred everything across to the new tank which is just over twice as big as the old one, by everything I mean the substrate, fake plants, water, filter and components were transferred so this could have caused the cycle to go off a little?

 

This is a new tank.... the previous one cycled and then I transferred everything across to the new tank which is just over twice as big as the old one, by everything I mean the substrate, fake plants, water, filter and components were transferred so this could have caused the cycle to go off a little?

The cycle is off big, not little according to the tests. The tank may not be cycled. When did you switch tanks? Did you do the nitrate test exactly as the API instructions say? The black moor has many of the symptoms of nitrate poisoning/shock especially the weird episode ...when you moved him into the bucket and he started the spinning thing. Was the water in the bucket fresh dechlorinated water? It may be something else entirely but when I read that he started doing that after being put in the bucket, that's the first thing that came to mind.