sick fish

[texastech]

I have had my aquarium for 4 weeks. One fish has developed white stuff on its fins and tail but not on its body. I assume it is tail and fin rot. Is it and what is the medication to cure it?

[arcab4]

i'm not to sure, but it sounds like ick to me. you can buy medication that'll treat that.

[Bombay]

Hi,
First, it is pretty difficult to accurately diagnose most fish diseases/ailments.  With that said, I will try to help...

First, identify the fishes behavior.  Does it act normal?  Does it flash and dart around...rapid swimming?  If yes, it could either have parasites (sometimes appearing as whitish areas on fins) or a type of body fungus.

Does it act sluggish...hiding?  Is it eating well?  If yes, This could point to a bacterial infection...including fin and tail rot.

With these things in mind, go to a pet store and look at the various medicines and diseases/symptoms they treat.  You may have to buy one or two different medicines to treat the main problem...and any secondary infection.

I highly recommend MARDEL medications...they give good info (much of which I used here)...and can be combined fairly safely.

If it is fin and tail rot, you can simply increase the frequency of water changes...increasing the water quality.  If you do this, you will see improvements within a week.  My wife purchased some "cute" goldfish...but she neglected to closely scrutinize their fins...they were all ragged...from living in dirty, infected water in the pet superstore.  We kept them in a large bowl (two gallons) and changed the water every other day...and the fin and tail rot was greatly reduced within two weeks.  Don't forget to condition the water and bring it to a temp that is consistent with the water they are currently in...to avoid shock and stress.

In the midst of all this, keep the temp and water quality stable.

Long winded, but help it helps.

BOMBAY

[Bettaman shane]

I'd say Ich my platy's and Swordtails got it. It started on there tails and then one day it was every where on one of the Platy's so i treated the tank and haven't had a problem since ;D ;D

[clothahump]

Are the white patches "fluffy" .If yes you have a case of fungus.
Salt baths will help, the old cure is pottasium permanganate 1gram in 100 litres of water, for ten to thirty minutes(monitor fish for stress)also raising the temperature helps.
Visit your local store and purchase a fungus cure. ???

[Matt Nace]

Texastech
..out of curiosity what size tank are they in? What fish are they??

White "dots" usually means ick....usually just one or two specs before it gets way worse.

Cotten-like is a fungus. This usually only affects stressed or injured fish.

Fin/tail rot, usually appears as frayed  or the fins look ragged, then gradually eroding away to nothing

I would say raise the temp slightly and if it looks like a wool , then get a fungus treatment. Maroxy or Maracyn have always worked for me, depending on what you have, and what fish it is affecting. Maracide for ick or use salt.