What did I do wrong?

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Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 2, 2008
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Thailand
My fish is swimming in tight circles trying to bite its tail.
It started with what looked like a rip in its tail fin, (or so i thought) yesterday.
It has progressed a bit over night and now looks like fin rot.
205 gal tank, 40% water changes weekly.
I did a water change and cleaned as per on Saturday. I've not tested the water yet because i didn't have time this morning but because of the regular water changes i would presume its clean.

This weekend i took some wood out of the tank before cleaning and washed the gunk on the wood with tank water, i also added more plants to the wood because some of them were looking old and yellow.
I've also started leaving a light on overnight again because my plants started to die with the lights going off.
That's the only thing i've done differently.
So where has the fin rot come from? This is the second time i've done something detrimental and not known how i did it.

As for treatment I added about 2 cups of salt, i can't bump the heat up because I live in the tropics and don't have a heater, (although if things don't start to get better by Saturday i will try to find one.)
I also have some "White Crane Rot Stop".
http://www.whitecraneaqua.com/Medical_Clinic_English.htm
I don't know whether to use this though because i also have clown loaches in the tank and i know some meds are not good for them. none of them are suffering any problems.

I'm honestly thinking of going back to 50% WC bi weekly, i've had nothing but trouble since i started weekly.
 
well i would go ahead and check your water. make sure theres zero ammonia and nitrites, nitrates less then 40.

24 hr lighting isnt necessarily beneficial to plants, if on a shorter lighting schedule plants will increase the amount of photosynthesis done during the daylight hours. 24 hr lighting may be used by horticuluralist to speed plant growth but it doesnt fix problems, if your plants are turning yellow with 6 hrs of light aday the amount of time isnt the issue.

so its chasiing its tail, something maybe irritating it, maybe more then the fin rot.

you can medicate if it seems to be worsening.
 
btw it might not be something you did if your water quality is good. sometimes stuff just happens.
but heres a few questions.
what temperature is the tank at now? and in the middle of the day?
did you add more fish recently?

how long are you leaving the lights on? 24 hrs like i assumed in the last post? this does stress out the animal, and may weaken it but i wouldnt say this is the cause.
 
Could the fin rot/tail damage be a result of the tail bitting? One of my silvers and my black aro both went through this phase.

Clean water(nitrates under 10ppm) is the best treatment along with salt. If there are open wounds I would go with melafix and pimafix.
 
sostoudt;3380138; said:
btw it might not be something you did if your water quality is good. sometimes stuff just happens.
but heres a few questions.
what temperature is the tank at now? and in the middle of the day?
did you add more fish recently?

how long are you leaving the lights on? 24 hrs like i assumed in the last post? this does stress out the animal, and may weaken it but i wouldnt say this is the cause.
Click to expand...

Never check temperature as i wrote i live in the tropics, it's never been a problem and i don't know anyone who uses heaters in Bangkok. Temperature in the tank will change slightly from day to night but it's a big body of water so it's not going to be massive and it will be gradual.
I have had the fish a year now and been through the seasons here.
I have been leaving one tube on but i only started this since weekend as well, I'll switch them off at night as before.
No i haven't added any other fish.
Bderick67
It started with what looked like a normal ripped tail, so maybe. the problem is only on it's tail and not on fins.
I will check the water but I'm pretty sure it will be good due to the 50% weekly water changes and low bio load.
melafix and pimafix are not available here, but there are lots of Chinese and local made meds. What's the active ingredients?
 
The rot stop by white crane contains formailn malachite green.
It advises to treat the whole tank for 3 days but I'm worried if i use it my clown loaches maybe harmed.
 
well my question on temperature was more asking if its gotten to hot in the tank, sometimes people dont have ac and there tanks can hit almost 100 degrees

i kinda would be concerned to as scaleless(i think clowns are scaleless) fish are more sensitive.
 
sostoudt;3380238; said:
well my question on temperature was more asking if its gotten to hot in the tank, sometimes people dont have ac and there tanks can hit almost 100 degrees

i kinda would be concerned to as scaleless(i think clowns are scaleless) fish are more sensitive.
Click to expand...

That's been a concern I've had in the past. My house is predominantly concrete so it can get hot inside but in the hottest months i have AC on.
At the moment it's not so hot.

CLs are scaleless which is my concern about meds.
 
Thanks, I'll try salt and I'll switch the lights off at night. I'll see what happens between now and weekend. If it keeps progressing in a negative fashion I'll finds some med which won't harm my Cls.
 
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