drooping tail fin in goldfish, also slight fin rot?

Answer 1

Fin rot is caused be a bacterial infection. While this can be treated with salt at proper levels an easier route is to treat with an over the counter antibiotic. Fin rot is easily treated and most antibiotics available at the pet store will take care of the problem in 5-7 days.

MM

Answer 2

Fin rot occurs when the fish is stressed for some reason. The most common cause is poor water quality. Overcrowding the tank, feeding outdated food or overfeeding, and moving or handling the fish can also cause stress leading to fin rot.

Treatment should include:
Water change
Exam of the aquarium conditions
Avoid overfeeding

For the food: start dating your fish food, as it loses the vitamin content fairly quickly after it is opened. Feeding fish fresh, high quality food, in smaller quantities is far better than frequent large feedings of stale foods.

Check the pH and water temperature of the water, and make sure it is appropriate for your fish. Incorrect pH is very stressful for fish, and can lead to disease. Low water temperatures, particularly in fish with long flowing fins, can trigger fin rot.

When the aquarium, food conditions have been addressed, then a vet should be consulted if there is not any improvement. Antibiotics are the next step in treatment.

Good luck

Rik
http://www.vetstoria.co.uk/templates/home.html

Answer 3

Sign of stress. More information is needed. The behavior is called fin clamping. Along with the fin erosion sounds like stress. After stress comes illness, if the what is causing the stress can't be identified. Check ammonia, nitrite, either one, if it has any reading at all, that could cause it. Nitrates over 40 ppm could also cause stress. Poor diet. Water too cold. Not enough oxygen. Too infrequent water changes. Too over crowded. Too small of a tank. Ph unstable. Those are some things that come to mind. Most likely the problem lies with the water. Poor water quality can lead to all kinds of bad things. Keep the water balanced and you will have happy fish. You may need to change more water a little more often. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Water is key.

Answer 4

I know this sounds silly but, if the fish fin is drooping, it means the fish is depressed!! It's true. Fin rot is treatable, you have to get something from the pet shop or better still the vet.

Answer 5

Fin rot normally comes from bad tank conditions. Give your critter a 60-70% water change, with the addition of some aquarium salt. If you want to play it safe (and I would), add some antibiotics now rather than waiting to see if it gets better.