Fish with fin rot?

Question

I think my fish my have fin rot but not sure. He is very lethargic, his body looks dusty and he is very bloated. He seems to have a little bit of a balance problem also but he does still have his appetite. His fins are appearing torn, and his scales are sticking out like a pinecone. He's normally very happy to see me but now he just doesn't seem to acknowledge me. Is this more than one illness or am I right in thinking it's fin rot?

I have tested the water and everything is as it should be

He has also just recovered from ich about a week ago

Answer 1

NO, this would be dropsy, the fins sticking out like a pinecone give it away. He's not long for this world, sorry.

Answer 2

It is a combination of things by the sounds of it. Velvet is the dusty look, the bloated body with pinecone scales is swimbladder disease and he has finrot.

You have not mentioned what fish this is or what size tank or what tank mates are in there so it is difficult to recommend medications. Of all the problems your fish is facing the bloat is going to be the hardest to treat as this is generally caused by the swimbladder malfuncioning, usually due to kidney failure/malfunction. (think water retention in humans)

As for the reason for the illness.... finrot and swimbladder disease is usually a sign that all is not well with your water quality. You said you checked your water but did you check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? ammonia and nitrite should be 0 and nitrate should be below 10. The velvet has occured because the fishes immune system is down most likely from the ich you have just treated for.

I would recommend 25% water changes every second day for a start. See if you can find a medication for velvet disease but make sure it is suitable for your fish. If it is a scaleless fish such as a corydora catfish or a loach then you must make sure to read the bottle of medication as alot of meds are not good for these fish.

Answer 3

Make sure the problem is fin rot. If you have another fish in the tank it might be nibbling at its fin. This is a serious problem concerning your fishes health if the fin gets too nibbled at then it will die.

Answer 4

Dropsy
Symptoms: Fish's abdomen is swollen and scales may stick out. Most common in gold fish. Dropsy is not a disease but a disorder caused by internal bacterial infections. It comes in 3 forms:

Acute Dropsy - Internal bacterial infection - see septicemia

Chronic Dropsy (cancer) - Internal organs become swollen. Fish must be isolated in early stage of disease.

Chronic Dropsy (parasites) - Swollen abdomen caused by parasites. Isolating fish prevents condition from infecting entire tank

Treatment : Maracyn-Two® will cure some forms of dropsy. Others require more complicated treatment that is very stressful on fish and not recommended unless under professional supervision. (Remove any activated carbon from filter - it may take medicine out of water)

------------------------------------------------------

Fin Rot (tail rot)
Symptoms: Fins (mainly tail) look jagged and torn and the "edges" are white. Fin rot is brought on by mainly stress but also injury poor eating habits and bad water conditions.

Treatment : If caught before disease reaches fin base, the fish will be able to regenerate the lost fin. Fin rot is easily cured with Maracyn® or Maracyn-Two® medicine (Remove any activated carbon from filter - it may take medicine out of water)

information from the fish doctor.

Answer 5

I would normally agree with all the suggestions made, htey are all very good ones. however, it's unlikely he has ALL of these illnesses. they are all symptoms of fish tuberculosis. i actually just had a female betta die from it (it was very painful and after treating her in every way possible for a week I had to humanely put her out of her misery. I do not suggest this unless you are 100% SURE it's tuberculosis. so treat for everything else first. since betta are tropical fish going from 80degree water to water iced over on the top will kill them instantly. this is what I did to mine. I found a site that listed all the ways that are considered humane and are legal for actual places to use as putting the fish down. this was the humanest one that was possible to achieve at home). try treating your fish for what they suggested, but I'm fairly sure it's tuberculosis, in which case it will die.

I hope it is not tuberculosis and the treatments work, good luck!

Answer 6

Star is 100% correct. take the fish out and bop it on the head to kill it. Be careful as they tend to pop when they have dropsy. Give your tank a thorough cleaning and keep an eye on the other fish to ensure that they don't develop it. you can buy medecines for dropsy but it is not easy to cure.

Answer 7

it is best if you can put the fish in a hospital tank as some ailments can spread to your other fish in the hospital tank you can treat withe the right treament

Answer 8

your fish has got dropsy it is a bacterial disease that will kill the fish you would be better to take it of the tank and changing about 20% of you water.

Answer 9

Star is right! I beleve your fish might be a little to advanced for treatment! but you can try?