Bacterial Fin Rot

Fin Rot starts at the edge of your fish’s fins, destroying more and more tissue until it reaches the base.At this point, your fish will never be able to regenerate the lost tissue, and the disease may start to attack its body.
Bacterial Fin Rot

Fin Rot starts at the edge of your fish’s fins, destroying more and more tissue until it reaches the base.

At this point, your fish will never be able to regenerate the lost tissue, and the disease may start to attack its body.

Physical Signs

  • Milky white areas appearing in the fish’s fins or tail, particularly around the edges
  • Shredded-looking and tattered fins decreasing in length
  • Exposed fin rays

Behavioral Signs

  • Increasing difficulty swimming

Potential Causes

Fin Rot is often caused by several bacterial diseases such as Flavobacterium Columnare, Aeromonas, and Pseudomonas.

However, although it’s caused by these types of bacteria, the root cause of Fin Rot is always due to the fish’s environment.

A poorly maintained tank or exposure to stress is a contributing factor. When fish are moved, housed in an overcrowded tank, or with aggressive fish that chase and nip at their fins, they’re more vulnerable to Fin Rot.

Possible Treatments

There are three ways you can go about treating Fin Rot: environmental, antibacterial, and antibiotics.

Fixing your aquarium’s environment is fundamental and will prevent further issues. Perform a couple of large 20-50% water changes with clean, aged water, and attempt to remove as much debris and detritus as you can.

You should check and clean all your filters, give the gravel a good clean, especially if you’re using an undergravel filter. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates.

Look out for any tank bullies that could be nipping or fighting with other fish. You may have to remove them. If your tank is overcrowded, you’ll need to rehome some of them.

For antibacterial treatments, most commercially available medicines can be effective. Melafix is a good example. If you can, separate the infected fish and always follow the instructions.

If you catch Fin Rot early enough, you shouldn’t need to use antibiotics. But, if you do, you’ll want one that’s effective against gram-negative organisms.[su_divider size=”1″]Author – modestfish