Ever heard of fin rot? You will if you have an aquarium as it is one of the most common types of fish disease. But it’s not something you need to be worried about. It’s completely preventable and curable.
The cause of fin rot is a bacterial infection; in fact various types of bacteria. It’s not a genetic disease. It has its roots in factors such as unclean environments and stress. So what causes fin rot? If you’ve kept your fish in an over-populated tank physical abuse by aggressive fish.
You could also be over-crowding the tank by putting too many plants, tubes, etc. So be very careful about how you make a home for your fish. Fin rot is serious and can be prevented if taken care of properly.
Having said that, let me break this down for you.
Best Ways To Maintain A Fish Tank!
10 Things You Should Know About Aquarium Maintenance
Table of Contents
Fin Rot – A Common Fish Disease
Bacteria like Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, and Vibrio cause fin rot. It’s either all of them or one of them that causes a bacterial infection. You may not see signs of the disease immediately. Culminating a hard-to-cure disease altogether in fish. So the best cure is prevention!
I’m sure your other fish companions are all asking the same question. “Is it contagious?” Well, unfortunately, it is. If it’s untreated fin rot in one fish and that fish dies because of it. The infection will soon spread to all the fish.
As the name suggests, fin rot looks like rot. Imagine a fruit rotting or bread or a vegetable. The skin peels off, becomes discolored and looks moist or milky oozing out liquids. Now, you can easily spot a rot on fruits as they have open surfaces. But the fins of fish are tiny and often clouded.
So you might only notice it once the skin starts to peel off or becomes inflamed or scaly. The affected fin may bleed, chafe, and reduce in length significantly.
If your fish starts to look frail or has white-edges on the fins. Inspect for a fin rot infection immediately. Here’s a simple rundown of the symptoms of fin rot:
- The fin edges become white, grey, or brown.
- The thickness along the edges of the fin becomes almost transparent.
- Thinning of the edges of the fin.
- Inflammation, redness, or swelling around the fin.
- Flesh or tissue exposure on or around the fins.
Photo credit: wildgecko on Flickr
Treating Fin Rot the Right Way
The prevention of fin rot is in the treatment of it as well. The first few steps to encourage your fish to live a long and healthy life. The smallest to the largest of aquariums are not exempt from fin rot. So that’s why you need a dedicated article about fin rot and its treatment is necessary.
The remaining part of the article talks about various remedies for fin rot. How to prevent it, how to treat it, and stop it from spreading everywhere. It won’t even take a day for your fish to catch fin rot.
1. Keep The Water Clean
Would you breathe unclean and polluted air unless you can’t help it? I didn’t think so! When you bring a fish into your home and set up a fish aquarium for it. You can help to keep the tank clean and hygienic.
A good and effective way to do this is to invest in a water kit. It has sensors that detect the cleanliness of your water. Also, don’t overstuff the tank with too many plants or fish as that may alter the chemistry of water.
The first maker to test water is pH level. It immediately tells you whether the water quality is good. The ideal pH range for a clean fish tank is 7 to 8. And with ammonia and other nitrates, not more than 35-40 ppm.
2. Isolate Infection
If you detect fin rot in one of the fish in the tank. You need to separate the fish from the rest of the pack. Keep the fish in another tank with clean water without chlorine. And since the tank has already been infected with the bacteria, you have to remove the other fish from it as well. And keep them in a tank separate from the infected fish.
Replace the water in the original tank. You can purchase a high-quality water filter to skip doing this all of the time. By isolating the infection, you prevent further infection and spreading.
Photo credit: tech2321 on Flickr
3. Antibacterial Medication
If a simple sweep of the tank and stripping the dirt and bacteria doesn’t do the trick. You need to bring in the medicine. Now, you can’t feed fish antibiotics for fin rot. That’s not realistic. But you can pour antibacterial or herbal medicine into the water.
These are antibiotics specific to treating fungal and bacterial infections. The proper dosage and instructions you must read at the back of every package.
4. Herbal Medication
If you’re a forest lover, and you use herbal treatments yourself, refer to this. A combination of tea tree oil and salt may work as an antibacterial treatment for fin rot. It’s the perfect and natural alternative to commercial OTC medication.
Just add a few drops of tea tree oil in the tank. This preserves the water’s freshness and keeps it sterile. You can do the same with salt (1oz per gallon of water). However, adding salt is only recommended for a saltwater fish tank.
5. Install An Oxygen Tank
Has the vet prescribed oral medication for your fish? What you have to do is install an oxygen tank. Extremely low oxygen levels can cause rapid gill movement and appetite loss in fish. And the thing is that any fish medication reduces the oxygen level of the water. So to balance it out, you can pour the medicine through the oxygen tank into the water.
This is a quick and effective remedy for fin rot in Betta fish. That way, and in proper amounts, can you treat fin rot in all types of fish. Doing whatever you can to create a happy and stress-free environment.
Final Thoughts
Photo credit: Pushp Deep Pandey on Flickr
Learn about aquarium care even if you have a single fish in your tank. Giving your fish the ideal home environment is necessary. This includes proper temperature, water quality, food, and de-cluttering. Otherwise, you put your fish at risk of fungal or bacterial infections and even death!
Fin rot is more likely to progress if the tank is dirty and overcrowded. And it doesn’t take a long time for fin rot to spread like fire! Within 24 hours, to be exact. So be vigilant and prevent fin rot by maintaining water quality and diet.
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