My guppies have fin rot

Just a few of them, on their tails... trouble is, I have shrimps in the tank, and I can't go to the expense of getting a carbon filter and temporary housing for the shrimp just for medicating. I'm poor enough already! So is there any fin rot medication which would help without killing my shrimps? ??? I think it is the copper in the meds that they are sensitive to.

Thanks

~Bill

 

Well, you could add liquid vitamins like: to the water for fin regrowth & strengthening their immune system and be safe for shrimp. Do you have a pic of them to determine if it's fungal or bacteria finrot?

you could also look for this med, although I don't know how easily it can be found: - no copper in it and it treats finrot.

 

This is one of them, this was like a week ago and the grey has spread a bit further up his tail; two other males also have it on their tails now. One of the males also has it on his top fin.

 

Melafix -- safe for everything in the tank excepting Betas (and other labyrinth breathers). Specifically says its safe for invertebrates, so your shrimp should be ok. It's one of those things you should have as part of your basic tank supplies. I had a zebra danio that was hanging in a corner with clamped fins, not eating much, and a three day treatment of Melafix brought her back to her old self.

You can get it here: , but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it at any fish store or pet store that carries fish (I got mine at PetSmart).

 

Thanks for the help - but I think I can't use that either :-\ I have a gourami in the tank.

 

Time to run to your LFS and get a 5-10g hospital/quarantine tank then -- put the guppys in it and treat them there. Or move the gourami out to the other tank while you treat the main tank (probably the better idea). It usually takes less than a couple of hours for the carbon on the filter to clean up any Melafix left in the water, which is why they recommend removing the carbon when you use it. I just took my cartridge out and let the bio-wheel in the Penguin do its thing for the 3-4 days it took for my fish to recover -- the water got a bit dirty, but it cleaned up in a day once I put the cartridge back. Or you could make your own fiber-only cartridge for your filter (many discussions about how to do that in the equipment forum here) so you keep the water relatively clean while you're treating the fish.

 

Thanks fro the advice, I might give that go.

 

Can you find that ParaGuard there? If so, you could treat the entire tank with it, from the product description.

If not, perhaps the easiest thing would be to remove the shrimp to a small pet carrier or plastic storage container. daily water changes should keep them in order while you treat the main tank with a finrot med?

 

I'm going to look for it - I might be able to get it online (I got Prime, which is a SeaChem product, off eBay), but probably not in my lfs.

 

Found some! From the same seller I got Prime from It's pretty expensive (about $20 inc. shipping) even for the smaller volumes God I wish I wasn't so poor.

 

yea, they sure hit you for meds.