Comments on: A Closer Look at Tail and Fin Rot – Part 1 (Symptoms & Causes) http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/ Goldfish Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:37:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Rachel http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-699 Rachel Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:14:08 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-699 We bought 5 goldfish 6 years ago and they all survived until this year, cant figure out whats changed. we now only have 1 left who has now developed a frayed fin and tail, seems to sleep on the bottom alot. Is this fin rot? we have added other goldfish to the tank in the last yr to replace the lost ones for our childrens sake but they always die within the 1st week. Whats going on? We bought 5 goldfish 6 years ago and they all survived until this year, cant figure out whats changed. we now only have 1 left who has now developed a frayed fin and tail, seems to sleep on the bottom alot. Is this fin rot? we have added other goldfish to the tank in the last yr to replace the lost ones for our childrens sake but they always die within the 1st week. Whats going on?

]]> By: Jeff http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-694 Jeff Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:48:13 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-694 We have had the same coy goldfish for about four years. One was very hardy and never seemed to get sick. The other would develop ick, and fungus about two to three times a year. About two months ago, my 12 year old son and I transitioned the fish from a 10 gal. tank to a 30 gal tank and they flourished; very happy in the larger surroundings. Two days ago I noticed our challenging fish’s rear fin falling apart in huge chunks; I have now learned this was tail-rot. The tank was filling up with translucent stringy looking strands, like thick pieces of thick fleshy thread... I mean a lot of it… hundreds of pieces. We decided to clean the tank right away. I scrubbed the tank in our bathrub, and to as I always do, I added a cap full of bleach while cleaning the glass and gravel to insure if there was any disease in the tank, it would be killed. I have performed this same cleaning method each time I clean the tank with no adverse results. I rinse it out thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes. We then added the water back into the tank; added Nitroban, Stress Coat, and Fungus Clear. After everything was set up and tested, I moved the fish from the old 10 gal. holding tank back into the 30 gal tank. The water was clear, everything seemed fine. They immediately started darting all over the tank, acting very unusual. Within 3-4 minutes, they were both upside down in the bottom of the tank. I grabbed them out with my bare hands and tried to revive them in the holding tank. They responded half-heartedly, but after working with them for about 5 minutes and seeing they were basically in a comatose state, I did not want them to suffer any longer; heartbroken I pulled them from the tank. I felt terrible. They were a part of the family. What the heck did I do wrong? When I tested the water, it seemed fine. Several hours later when I reviewed the testing strip, the Acidic pad was hard, crusty and eaten away. The water must have been deadly, but I didn’t do anything different this time than we have done every two weeks for the last 4 years. We had these fish from the time they were less than an inch long until now when they measured roughly 7 inches in length. I can't believe this happened so quickly. If anyone can help me understand what I did wrong, I would be grateful. Thank you, Jeff We have had the same coy goldfish for about four years. One was very hardy and never seemed to get sick. The other would develop ick, and fungus about two to three times a year. About two months ago, my 12 year old son and I transitioned the fish from a 10 gal. tank to a 30 gal tank and they flourished; very happy in the larger surroundings.

Two days ago I noticed our challenging fish’s rear fin falling apart in huge chunks; I have now learned this was tail-rot. The tank was filling up with translucent stringy looking strands, like thick pieces of thick fleshy thread… I mean a lot of it… hundreds of pieces. We decided to clean the tank right away. I scrubbed the tank in our bathrub, and to as I always do, I added a cap full of bleach while cleaning the glass and gravel to insure if there was any disease in the tank, it would be killed. I have performed this same cleaning method each time I clean the tank with no adverse results. I rinse it out thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes.

We then added the water back into the tank; added Nitroban, Stress Coat, and Fungus Clear. After everything was set up and tested, I moved the fish from the old 10 gal. holding tank back into the 30 gal tank. The water was clear, everything seemed fine. They immediately started darting all over the tank, acting very unusual. Within 3-4 minutes, they were both upside down in the bottom of the tank. I grabbed them out with my bare hands and tried to revive them in the holding tank. They responded half-heartedly, but after working with them for about 5 minutes and seeing they were basically in a comatose state, I did not want them to suffer any longer; heartbroken I pulled them from the tank.

I felt terrible. They were a part of the family. What the heck did I do wrong? When I tested the water, it seemed fine. Several hours later when I reviewed the testing strip, the Acidic pad was hard, crusty and eaten away. The water must have been deadly, but I didn’t do anything different this time than we have done every two weeks for the last 4 years.

We had these fish from the time they were less than an inch long until now when they measured roughly 7 inches in length. I can’t believe this happened so quickly. If anyone can help me understand what I did wrong, I would be grateful.

Thank you, Jeff

]]> By: alicia http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-691 alicia Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:15:21 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-691 my goldfish 2inch long, has developed the symptoms of fin rot too. his tail edges turned black last month. but then i treated it with melafin. it didnt grow more. then i added 2 silver dollars in the tank.. the next morning i noticed that the silver dollars had eaten away my both goldfishz tails. i removed silver dollars from the tank. both of the goldfish still swim like a healthy fish. they dont seem sick. but the former fish developing tail rot has again got black streaks in his ragged tail.. im still treating it with melafix and do water changes twices a week. the filter and oxygen system of the tank is perfect and the other goldfish is 100percent healthy. kindly help me out.. should i continue melafix (its not working on the fish tail) or should i stop using it.. im worried :( i love my fishy! my goldfish 2inch long, has developed the symptoms of fin rot too. his tail edges turned black last month. but then i treated it with melafin. it didnt grow more. then i added 2 silver dollars in the tank..
the next morning i noticed that the silver dollars had eaten away my both goldfishz tails. i removed silver dollars from the tank.
both of the goldfish still swim like a healthy fish. they dont seem sick. but the former fish developing tail rot has again got black streaks in his ragged tail..
im still treating it with melafix and do water changes twices a week.
the filter and oxygen system of the tank is perfect and the other goldfish is 100percent healthy. kindly help me out..
should i continue melafix (its not working on the fish tail) or should i stop using it..
im worried :( i love my fishy!

]]> By: Suzy http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-690 Suzy Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:32:38 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-690 I am struggling. All my fish have died. The shop said it was fin rot. They also were covered inwhite spots then went all fluffy. Could they have had both rot and ich together? If so how can you treat both? It's so hard to diagnose early. My latest fish are now getting sick. They are pretty lifeless, have some very tiny white spots on fins and body but also have red veins in their tales. Is it fin rot or white spot or both. Help I am struggling. All my fish have died. The shop said it was fin rot. They also were covered inwhite spots then went all fluffy. Could they have had both rot and ich together? If so how can you treat both? It’s so hard to diagnose early. My latest fish are now getting sick. They are pretty lifeless, have some very tiny white spots on fins and body but also have red veins in their tales. Is it fin rot or white spot or both. Help

]]> By: bob24 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-626 bob24 Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:55:40 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-626 One of my goldfish has black streaks on it's fins too. One of my goldfish has black streaks on it’s fins too.

]]> By: Caity http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-616 Caity Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:46:36 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-616 its really strange, I had four fish, Bill, Ben Red and Speckles, Id had Bill and Ben around 2 years and put the other 2 in and all of a sudden Ben died, then Bill :-( but red and Speckles are absolutely fine! noticed about 2 days ago red's fins were shredding, but I got up the next day and they were back to normal!! can anyone explain how the hec he's fixed himself so quickly???? its really strange, I had four fish, Bill, Ben Red and Speckles, Id had Bill and Ben around 2 years and put the other 2 in and all of a sudden Ben died, then Bill :-( but red and Speckles are absolutely fine! noticed about 2 days ago red’s fins were shredding, but I got up the next day and they were back to normal!! can anyone explain how the hec he’s fixed himself so quickly????

]]> By: Jenifer http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-583 Jenifer Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:44:29 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-583 for your fish with the white fluffy ish looking stuff on his fins and eyes, get this stuff to treat it. its called Ick. Salt will help cure most of anything, but if the salt dont work, get the Ick. It is supposed to take the bad stuff off of his fins and put back the good bacteria. Hope this helps you. for your fish with the white fluffy ish looking stuff on his fins and eyes, get this stuff to treat it. its called Ick. Salt will help cure most of anything, but if the salt dont work, get the Ick. It is supposed to take the bad stuff off of his fins and put back the good bacteria. Hope this helps you.

]]> By: Emily http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-574 Emily Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:11:13 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-574 Hi, I got two fish in August. One of them died about two weeks late. What was weird was that this fish did not float he sank. I know he was dead cause he would'nt wake up. Is that normal? For a fish to sink like that? My second fish I could tell was quite disappointed, he would lay next to the dead one until we took him out. Now this same fish (the alive one who's name is Fishy) for the past week has been acting strange. I thought at first he was lonely. Then he started not moving all day and just being active at night. He was okay at first staying up all night being asleep all day until he just stopped moving. He would move corner to corner but never swam around like he used to. I am really worried, he won't even go to the surface to eat. He stays at the bottom all the time. I noticed last week that he was going a little white on his fins. I thought it was just his color. Today I woke up and noticed that he had this kind of white stuff, I have no clue how to discribe it, over parts of his fins, over the top of his eyes, and a bit on his sides. Its like some kind of white sorta gelly almost fluffy-ish looking stuff. My mom had this book that I quickly looked at. When I read about the diseases none of them really matched. The Fin rot was the closest thing in the book so I decided to look it up. It does not really look like the fin rot. Any ideas what it is or what I could do to help poor fishy? Hope you can help me, Emily Hi, I got two fish in August. One of them died about two weeks late. What was weird was
that this fish did not float he sank. I know he was dead cause he would’nt wake up.
Is that normal? For a fish to sink like that?
My second fish I could tell was quite disappointed, he would lay next to the dead one until we took him out.
Now this same fish (the alive one who’s name is Fishy) for the past week has been acting strange.
I thought at first he was lonely. Then he started not moving all day and just being active at night.
He was okay at first staying up all night being asleep all day until he just stopped moving.
He would move corner to corner but never swam around like he used to.
I am really worried, he won’t even go to the surface to eat.
He stays at the bottom all the time.
I noticed last week that he was going a little white on his fins. I thought it was just his color.
Today I woke up and noticed that he had this kind of white stuff, I have no clue how to discribe it,
over parts of his fins, over the top of his eyes, and a bit on his sides. Its like some kind of white
sorta gelly almost fluffy-ish looking stuff. My mom had this book that I quickly looked at. When I read about the diseases none of them really matched. The Fin rot was the closest thing in the book so I decided to look it up. It does not really look like the fin rot. Any ideas what it is or what I could do to help poor fishy?
Hope you can help me,
Emily

]]> By: Lauren http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-564 Lauren Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:50:07 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-564 Hi I got a goldfish from the fair i clean his water all the time and feed him properly. he has alot of room, and his water has a lot of surface for absorbing oxygen. he has black steaks in his tail and they were not there when i got him. I dont know if this is a disease or his ccoloring, but if it is, i want to make sure, so i can treat him. Thanks Lauren Hi
I got a goldfish from the fair
i clean his water all the time and feed him properly. he has alot of room, and his water has a lot of surface for absorbing oxygen.
he has black steaks in his tail and they were not there when i got him. I dont know if this is a disease or his ccoloring, but if it is, i want to make sure, so i can treat him.
Thanks
Lauren

]]> By: liz http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-559 liz Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:32:00 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-559 if you are suspecting fin rot, it's maybe because of poor water quality. buy a freshwater test kit (or 3-in-1 test strips, cheaper) to measure ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH. ammonia and nitrite should be 0, you might get faint nitrate which is ok, PH can be 7.1-7.6 for goldfish. if ammonia and nitrite levels are higher, do a 30% partial water change every day for 4 days. then measure it again. is your tank properly cycled? please read up on nitrogen cycle in fish tanks. adding extra water conditioner helps with stress relieving, but don't think it works for fin rot. your water conditioner should be used for removing chlorine from tap water, that you put in your fish tank. never, never put tap water in tank BEFORE adding water conditioner in it. for partial water changes, let the water age for a day or two before adding it to tank. if you are suspecting fin rot, it’s maybe because of poor water quality. buy a freshwater test kit (or 3-in-1 test strips, cheaper) to measure ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH. ammonia and nitrite should be 0, you might get faint nitrate which is ok, PH can be 7.1-7.6 for goldfish. if ammonia and nitrite levels are higher, do a 30% partial water change every day for 4 days. then measure it again.

is your tank properly cycled? please read up on nitrogen cycle in fish tanks. adding extra water conditioner helps with stress relieving, but don’t think it works for fin rot. your water conditioner should be used for removing chlorine from tap water, that you put in your fish tank. never, never put tap water in tank BEFORE adding water conditioner in it. for partial water changes, let the water age for a day or two before adding it to tank.

]]> By: jack http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-556 jack Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:38:42 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-556 hi i also have a gold fish with fin rot .i am only twelve and me and my dad went to our local water gardens we got a medicen specified for fin rot .we also got some water condishener and mixed them with clean water and put that water in the fish tank.if this is any help to you hi i also have a gold fish with fin rot .i am only twelve and me and my dad went to our local water gardens we got a medicen specified for fin rot .we also got some water condishener and mixed them with clean water and put that water in the fish tank.if this is any help to you

]]> By: Fi http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-519 Fi Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:27:08 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-519 Hi, I've had a goldfish for 6 years and it belonged to another owner for a number of years beforehand so I am led to believe he is quite old. A few months ago I noticed that one of his fine was a lot smaller than the other (about the size of a pinky finger nail) whereas the the larger is about the size of half a pinky finger. But when cleaning him out the other day I noticed that bits of his tail had disappeared, looking as if they had been ripped off; tail and fin rot is the closest match I can find. He used to live with another goldfish who died a few years ago so he is now single who admittedly I do not clean out as often as I should but still fairly frequently. Is this tail and fin rot? I'm 14 so I have no idea how to check for the pH of water or what would help him. Please please help I love this fish so much and I hate to think that I might be losing him. Hi, I’ve had a goldfish for 6 years and it belonged to another owner for a number of years beforehand so I am led to believe he is quite old. A few months ago I noticed that one of his fine was a lot smaller than the other (about the size of a pinky finger nail) whereas the the larger is about the size of half a pinky finger. But when cleaning him out the other day I noticed that bits of his tail had disappeared, looking as if they had been ripped off; tail and fin rot is the closest match I can find. He used to live with another goldfish who died a few years ago so he is now single who admittedly I do not clean out as often as I should but still fairly frequently. Is this tail and fin rot? I’m 14 so I have no idea how to check for the pH of water or what would help him.

Please please help I love this fish so much and I hate to think that I might be losing him.

]]> By: ChrisLeonard http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-486 ChrisLeonard Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:56:30 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-486 I have the same problem with a ryukin goldfish I bought a week ago. I've had two shubunkin, one is five, the other is 7 months and already 6 inches long. I have a Marineland tank with the BioWheel filter which they say never needs to be replaced, but it looked really grimy and I almost replaced it before putting the new fish in. Now I wonder if I should have. I just went to the pet store and got Maracyn and started treatment. I'm also moving the tank into the bathroom which is warmer; it's been in the 20s and teens here lately and while my older fish doesn't mind cooler water, this guy was in a really warm fish room and the change in temps may have been bad for his immune system. He's got, or had, a beautiful fantail and it was fine as of two days ago when I was showing him to a friend, but this morning he was sitting on the bottom and when I fed him and he swam upward I saw he's missing half his tail (he's a very small fish, not even 2 inches.) He can still swim but doesn't except when feeding. I just did a 1/3 water change yesterday, but the water already looks a little cloudy; again, I'm wondering about the BioWheel. Plus with Maracyn you have to remove the carbon from the filter, which means less goldfish poop getting filtered, and this ryukin is even poopier than my shubys were at the same size. Luckily he's in a starter tank, I always put new fish in there to protect my other fish. When I first started with fish I lost two little goldfish to fin rot within a few days of getting them, but the first one was dead before I noticed the fin rot because their fins were transparent and it was too late to save the other who died the next day. This one has a mostly black tail so it was really noticeable that it was rotting off. I'm hoping to save him with the Maracyn, water change again tomorrow before I put in the second dose, raising the tank temperature. I even bought him a new kind of food, I asked the pet store what they had been feeding him and got that (I'd been giving him flakes, which my shubys love, but they'd been feeding pellets.) Some sites say to try Melafix first, but I figure if he's lost half his tail in two days it calls for tough measures. You are doing all the right things but you may need antibiotics. My fish dealer recommended the Mardel line (Maracyn etc.) Hope our fishies make it! I have the same problem with a ryukin goldfish I bought a week ago.

I’ve had two shubunkin, one is five, the other is 7 months and already 6 inches long.

I have a Marineland tank with the BioWheel filter which they say never needs to be replaced, but it looked really grimy and I almost replaced it before putting the new fish in. Now I wonder if I should have.

I just went to the pet store and got Maracyn and started treatment. I’m also moving the tank into the bathroom which is warmer; it’s been in the 20s and teens here lately and while my older fish doesn’t mind cooler water, this guy was in a really warm fish room and the change in temps may have been bad for his immune system.

He’s got, or had, a beautiful fantail and it was fine as of two days ago when I was showing him to a friend, but this morning he was sitting on the bottom and when I fed him and he swam upward I saw he’s missing half his tail (he’s a very small fish, not even 2 inches.) He can still swim but doesn’t except when feeding.

I just did a 1/3 water change yesterday, but the water already looks a little cloudy; again, I’m wondering about the BioWheel. Plus with Maracyn you have to remove the carbon from the filter, which means less goldfish poop getting filtered, and this ryukin is even poopier than my shubys were at the same size.

Luckily he’s in a starter tank, I always put new fish in there to protect my other fish. When I first started with fish I lost two little goldfish to fin rot within a few days of getting them, but the first one was dead before I noticed the fin rot because their fins were transparent and it was too late to save the other who died the next day. This one has a mostly black tail so it was really noticeable that it was rotting off.

I’m hoping to save him with the Maracyn, water change again tomorrow before I put in the second dose, raising the tank temperature. I even bought him a new kind of food, I asked the pet store what they had been feeding him and got that (I’d been giving him flakes, which my shubys love, but they’d been feeding pellets.)

Some sites say to try Melafix first, but I figure if he’s lost half his tail in two days it calls for tough measures.

You are doing all the right things but you may need antibiotics. My fish dealer recommended the Mardel line (Maracyn etc.)

Hope our fishies make it!

]]> By: sheridanT http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-tail-and-fin-rot-part-1-symptoms-causes/comment-page-1/#comment-484 sheridanT Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:46:02 +0000 http://www.happy-goldfish.com/blog/?p=45#comment-484 can anybody help? we have 9 goldfish in a 78 litre tank.. one of the fish has tail rot.. his fins were clamped for a few days and today his tail has rotted and is white.. the tank is cleaned often and has plastic plants and one ornament, bubble snake and lights on about 8 hours a day. no hidey holes. water was changed yesterday and pH level today was in high sevens - am bring the pH down as we speak.. are the other fish at risk of being infected? he is too far gone to save? thanks for any help can anybody help?

we have 9 goldfish in a 78 litre tank.. one of the fish has tail rot.. his fins were clamped for a few days and today his tail has rotted and is white..

the tank is cleaned often and has plastic plants and one ornament, bubble snake and lights on about 8 hours a day. no hidey holes.

water was changed yesterday and pH level today was in high sevens – am bring the pH down as we speak..

are the other fish at risk of being infected? he is too far gone to save?

thanks for any help

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