fin damage.

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hoofy888

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2018
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i got three red hook silver dollars a few days ago. My green terror immediately was attacking them. It seamed to stop a little so i gave it til the morning and he was still attacking. I pulled him out and gave him to a friend with larger fish and a larger tank. The silver dollars seam a little skittish but seam to be doing better. They are eating fine as well. i do notice there fins seam to be off colored and damaged. Is this do to the attack from the GT or is it a disease? Can i do anything to help it? Thank you.

silverdollars.PNG
 
Looking at it and reading what transpired.... it looks more like a physical damage due to the attack by the GT.
To be on the safer side , do a couple of 30% water changes in the next 3-4 days , see if it begins to heal , before going the medication way.
Are there any other food she’s other than the 3 silver dollars ?
 
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i have a red severum that does not bother them at all. The GT was messing with him too so he had to go. didn't want any dead ones or any unnecessary stress.
 
Looks like your new Red Hooks are suffering from something in addition to the GT fin nipping attacks.
The slime coat looks just as ragged as the fins.
As noted, pristine water will help in the healing process. A quality water conditioner w/ Aloe Vera would also be a plus.
Stressed out SD' s tend to make them Ick magnets. Be ready to deal with parasites if things don't level out soon.
 
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Damaged fins can lead to fin rot. Keep water and add aquarium salt. If they don’t improve, try meds.
 
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It’s hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like it could be a possible fungal infection starting up due to the physical damage and added stress of the attacks. I agree with the above advice. Do a 30% or so water change every day for the next bit, keep water tip top and hold off on the meds for a few days until you know what your dealing with. Many times taking away the stressor and clean water is enough to get a head of these things.
 
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I've dealt with this many times with different species. With groups of some species that aren't especially aggressive you might still see this when they spawn. I don't see anything in your photos beyond the scuffs and fin fraying you'd expect if they've been chased or nipped at, relatively minor, nothing to panic over, and nothing out of the ordinary for what they've been through.

Everyone's going to have their own protocol for dealing with this and that's because more than one way works. There's not one single 'right' way and over the years I've used more than one successfully. The thing to keep in mind with aloe is, yes, it can help heal and is mildly antiseptic, but it can add to the organic bioload, so you don't want to overdo it. My typical protocol is as follows:

Water change. I'll do a big one, minimum 50%, usually bigger, sometimes 80-90%. This may not be a good idea for everyone, but with my water, my tanks, big water changes have never been an issue. Also a filter rinse (non-chlorinated water) if they're dirty or due. Besides the general benefit of clean water, you're reducing the load of organics and the level of potential bacteria that might attack the damage. Salt is proverbial, though I've read articles saying it doesn't do much. Ime it does appear to help, but you don't need much, hardly the tablespoon per 5 gals aquarium salt packages recommend-- I typically do more like 2-4 tablespoons per 100 gals. Melafix-- low dose, like 1/4-1/3 what the bottle says. This is enough for minor scuffs and fin damage ime and it reduces the Melafix bugaboo of causing rapid breathing. Melafix can temporarily foam a little if you have good surface agitation, and even at a lower dose you might still get some accelerated breathing, but it's mild and temporary with the lower does ime.

Old school-- methylene blue. I still use it occasionally if a fish doesn't seem to be healing or there's a persistent spot of some kind. Meth blue is pretty effective ime. Used to buy into common wisdom that it damages your beneficial bacteria, but then I read it shouldn't be a problem with well established filters with permanent bio media and I've since found this to be true with low to moderate meth blue doses.

Like I say, everyone has their own approach, this is what works for me. I've done it more than one way over the years, but the bottom line is I've never had a case of 'fin rot', with the rare exception of a diseased fish with something else going on or an old fish nearing the end of its life (at which point I would normally euthanize the fish, anyway).
 
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