Hi. I just got home from work and went to feed my gang and I noticed something a little odd on my 6 inch all white comet. He has had a split in his tail since I got him 2 weeks ago. It was just starting to look all healed. I just noticed now that the split is back and now there are red streaks (look like veins or something) running thru his tail. I did a quick check on the water and everything seems fine. It's a 75 gallon with 5 total goldies in it. Everyone else looks okay...but the problem fish is all white so it's easier to notice. He is used to being in a really warm (5 gallon!) tank by himself, but he's in a tank with other fish that's around 70 degrees f.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Heather

Uh oh, just noticed that my calico oranda has a split in his/her tail as well. And my blue oranda might have a chunk missing...not 100% sure though. The blue oranda is the only female (I think) and sometimes gets chased alot by the guys. I thought my calico was a girl, but the guys don't chase her...Anyway...now I'm starting to get worried!

Nitrates were a little high...I'm doing a water change in a sec (AT 4 A.M.!!! ughh)

Me again...it wasn't the nitrates, but the nitrites that were a little too high. I did about a 25-30% water change (at 4 am with 5 gal buckets...my hubby almost killed me and I've already purchased a python online...between the hours of 4-5 am by the way...) I checked the water again and the nitrites are still a little high. I guess I'll have to do this all over again when I wake up. Should have probably over-nighted that python...

I just checked the water yesterday...how can it spike so fast? Should I fast my fish? Will that help?

I'm assuming the tail problems are finrot from the nitrite spike? I gotta go to the petstore to get some meds.

Oh boy! I gotta get some sleep. Sorry for all the posts...I just got scared and I rely on you guys so much. Too bad no one else is up at this hour...lol.

Thanks,
Heather

Hi Heather,

High nitrites will cause fins to split, but the red streaks definitely sound like finrot has set in as well.

How high did the nitrites get by the way? Ideally they should never be allowed above .5.

If you use antibiotics like Maracyn/Mara 2 to treat the finrot it will affect your cycle and send the nitrites up again, which you want to avoid, so in the first instance I would suggest treating this with salt, which is usually very effective for finrot and won't affect the cycle. Add 3 tsps salt per gallon (subtracting a couple of gallons to allow for water displacement caused by substrate, ornaments etc.) in increments of 1 tsp per gallon every 12 hours - no faster than that. You can use any salt (except Epsom salts) as long as it does NOT have anti-caking agents in it. If you use aquarium salt then make sure it is just plain salt and doesn't have added buffers or tonics - those are more trouble then they're worth.

The added bonus of using salt is that it helps to protect the fish from the effects of high nitrites too.

You'll still need to keep up with the water changes to keep the nitrites down however, so remember to add more salt to compensate for whatever was lost in the change, e.g. if you remove 2 gallons of water, add 6 tsps of salt to the new water going in.

The salt should start clearing the finrot pretty quickly; when the red streaks have gone and the fins are not splitting anymore then perform water changes to slowly clear the salt out. At that stage you can add Melafix to speed the healing process.

Hope this helps.