Florida gar fins shredding - out of ideas!

[Gar-J]

Hi all. I have an 8 year old 17" florida gar. It's alone in a 75 gallon tank and recently I noticed it's fins are shredding a bit. There is no discoloration, no fungus, no oddball signs of any type of fungus or infection, just basically the fins shredding at the ends. Also, the tail fin and front fins behind the head do not seem to be affected, but the lower center fins, and upper and lower rear fins are.

Ammonia level is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is 0. Only thing slightly high is PH which is about 8.2 but I blame my hard water on that. Would a high PH do this to a gar?

Also, I was feeding him solely cooked frozen shrimp for months and in the last few days started to insert hikari jumbo carnisticks into the shrimp for added nutrients. Could this possibly be an outcome from a poor diet when I was only feeding it the shrimp alone?

At first I assumed it was because he brushes his fins against the substrate in the tank which is black diamond blasting media. However that doesn't explain why his front fins don't seem to be affected or how the upper rear fin IS affected. I really want this guy to be healthy because I've had him so long. He's my baby! His feeding habbits and overall activity are perfect so I know he's not sick or anything. Just concerned a bit about the fin issue.

 

[kno4te]

It could be issues with water quality as ur tank is cycled. So keep an eye on ur water daily.

Poor diet can result in this and will not look better overnight so will be a long term thing.

Also a 75g is a bit small for a 17 inch gar. So a new tank or pond is in order. Could be a combo or cramped space and bad water.

Would suggest get some hydrogen peroxide and get a qtip to dab the affected areas and return to clean water.

 

[Gar-J]

It could be issues with water quality as ur tank is cycled. So keep an eye on ur water daily.

Poor diet can result in this and will not look better overnight so will be a long term thing.

Also a 75g is a bit small for a 17 inch gar. So a new tank or pond is in order. Could be a combo or cramped space and bad water.

Would suggest get some hydrogen peroxide and get a qtip to dab the affected areas and return to clean water.

Thanks for the tips! I would love to get it into a bigger tank but unfortunately it's located in an upstairs room and I'm at my "comfortable" tank size limit being upstairs in the house. Theres nowhere for a tank downstairs so if I go bigger the gar will unfortunately be thrown down in my basement

Water quality has always generally been good in my tank whenever I've tested it so I'd have to think it's not really the issue. I will continue to insert the carnisticks into the shrimp and do my water changes. Really hoping it's fins heal up with that change. Like I mentioned, it still has a huge appetite and has shown no odd behaviors or uncomfortableness, and is very active.

For the hydrogen peroxide application, do you remove the whole fish from the tank when doing that? Seems like that could be quite the battle haha.

 

[tlindsey]

You have no nitrates something is wrong.

 

[kno4te]

Thanks for the tips! I would love to get it into a bigger tank but unfortunately it's located in an upstairs room and I'm at my "comfortable" tank size limit being upstairs in the house. Theres nowhere for a tank downstairs so if I go bigger the gar will unfortunately be thrown down in my basement

Water quality has always generally been good in my tank whenever I've tested it so I'd have to think it's not really the issue. I will continue to insert the carnisticks into the shrimp and do my water changes. Really hoping it's fins heal up with that change. Like I mentioned, it still has a huge appetite and has shown no odd behaviors or uncomfortableness, and is very active.

For the hydrogen peroxide application, do you remove the whole fish from the tank when doing that? Seems like that could be quite the battle haha.

Yea cause you want to get the peroxide on the effected fins. Plus it might get diluted out too quick if partially in the tank.

 

[pharmaecopia]

I would double check your water parameters. Zeros across the board is highly unlikely for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Do you have any pictures of the gar.

Without more information I would recommend stepping up your water change schedule, while adding some salt and increasing the temperature.

 

[Gar-J]

You have no nitrates something is wrong.

I followed the test kit instructions to the "T" and those are the numbers I got. I do keep the tank very clean though and stay up on filter changes, plus it's the only fish in the tank.

I would double check your water parameters. Zeros across the board is highly unlikely for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Do you have any pictures of the gar.

Without more information I would recommend stepping up your water change schedule, while adding some salt and increasing the temperature.

I will try testing again and see what happens. I can also try to get pictures, but getting half way decent ones has proven difficult. Believe temp is around 80-82 degrees and I have already added 1 tbsp per 20 gallons to the tank to try to help the issue.