Is this Bacterial Fin Rot, Am I treating Properly?

[cvermeulen]

I moved this silver aro into my 200gl a few of months ago. He refused food for about a month, and then began eating again about 5-6 weeks ago now. I have moved out of town and the last time I saw him was 4 weeks ago. My stepson and wife have been looking after him. He appears to have developed fin rot. Now, he hasn't had a waterchange in 4 weeks, which is definitely not ideal but he's alone in that 200 with a pleco - if he's been fed reasonably, the water quality oughtnt be that bad. My nitrate kit says 10ppm (which I find very low, but it's the best indicator I have).

Anyways, my point is he does not seem to have any cause for severe stress, he eats very enthusiastically and hasn't changed his behavoir at all, despite his fins. The fins do not have white edges, although they have every other indicator of bacterial fin rot. I've done a couple of waterchanges, added salt, and melafix for two days now. Am I doing the right thing?

To add a twist, I have to leave town again on sunday, so if continued treatment is needed, I'll need to be able to dumb it down to the most basic level for an 11 year old to carry out.

 

[Yanbbrox]

I'm no expert here but to me it looks like the fins have somehow got damaged and are healing which is the opposite of what you think. As our gg was growing it would always get bits of fins knocked off and then it would form a layer around the damage and slowly grow back. If you notice in the pic the fins have an orange out line even around the damage which looks as though it's sealed along the fin. I know it's a different fish just offering an opinion, hopefully everything will be alright and you get a good answer.

 

[Bderick67]

Looks ike fin rot to me, I know you haven't been able to see the progress of it, but can your wife or stepson say if it has gotten worse or better to this point?

The only thing I ever treated with was frequent large WCs, but my experience with it has been limited to small 5" black aros.

 

[Bderick67]

This treatment may be helpful, though lots of WCs

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1907431&postcount=14

 

[cvermeulen]

Thx guys. I have a pic of him from 4 weeks ago when his fins were fine. His pectoral fins areabout half gone as well, and his dorsal fin is red with one small hole in it so far. It does appear to be degenerative.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Thx guys. I have a pic of him from 4 weeks ago when his fins were fine. His pectoral fins areabout half gone as well, and his dorsal fin is red with one small hole in it so far. It does appear to be degenerative.

Sorry looks like I got it wrong, i hate to post in this section in case I misdiagnose.

Waiting for other opinions.

Same stands, good luck with a healthy recovery.

 

[Ang]

-extra water changes.
-aquarium salt 1 Tbsp/5 Gallons (unless there are fish in the tank sensitive to salt then 1 Tbsp/10 gallons)
-Malefix ( this stuff will help A LOT) - treat for full 7 days. before water change

 

[cvermeulen]

Sorry looks like I got it wrong, i hate to post in this section in case I misdiagnose.

Waiting for other opinions.

Same stands, good luck with a healthy recovery.

Any opinions and input are valued Mr. Y. Thanks for the well wishing.

Sounds like the improvements I've made in water quality, Melafix, and salt are all on target, so hopefully there is some improvement soon.

Question on Melafix - if I do a big waterchange to further improve the water quality before I'm done treating with Melafix will it screw it up? or is Melafix one of those treatments that breaks down in the water over time anyway?