Torn Fins

[Lionheart]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

Torn, splitting rear and side fins on 2 discus

been combating white particles in tank as described here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?135682-White-specs-particles-in-aging-barrel


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).

Just the torn fins. Seem to be behaving as normal.


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

melafix as prescribed for 5 days. no change in fins.


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
55 gallon, 6 adults about 1.5 years old, ranging from 4-5.5" (guess)


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
100% once a week

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
10 months. bare bottom.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
aged, one week, ph swing is 1 before aging


8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
prime. added to tank when doing water change. never to aging barrel. as prescribed.


9. Parameters and water source;

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp __86.5___

- ph __7.4___

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __5__

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- well water ____

- municipal water _X___

- RO water ____


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
no

11. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.

FDBW 2x a day, biogold a few times a week (picky bastards wont eat much else, suggestions welcomed)


12. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.


125121

[Second Hand Pat]

This doesn't not appear to have happened recently? Is this true?
Pat

[Lionheart]

Maybe 2 weeks, 3 at the most.

[Second Hand Pat]

Maybe 2 weeks, 3 at the most.

So at this point whatever happened is done so really nothing to treat I think. You could see if the fins grow back naturally to you could trim them. Al has a thread where he demo's how to do that if that interests you.
Pat

[Lionheart]

I think I am looking for a cause. This is where it is today, but it has been getting worse of the past 3 weeks. So it started with one small tear, then a little longer, then a new one, etc. I have heard other responses such as "it happens" and "they will grow back", but I am first focused on stopping the damage.

[Second Hand Pat]

I think I am looking for a cause. This is where it is today, but it has been getting worse of the past 3 weeks. So it started with one small tear, then a little longer, then a new one, etc. I have heard other responses such as "it happens" and "they will grow back", but I am first focused on stopping the damage.

Have the fin edges been white? It looks like old ammonia burns to me.
Pat

[Lionheart]

The photo is making them look more white. But I can see what you are saying. The shape of his are a little different than the others. Perhaps I did not notice the shape change and only the tearing. Still new to discus.

[jeep]

I'm not seeing that aluminum sulfate would have this effect on aquarium fish but I wouldn't rule it out. Those look like ammonia burns but your ph is too high for that and ammonia too low. At a ph of 8 or above, aluminum sulfate can become toxic but more of an irritant to gills and respiration. Since you do only one water change per week, have you checked the tank water ph before the water change as opposed to the stored water?

As far as repairing the damage, I would follow the link Pat showed you and increase water changes to large daily to keep the water very clean during the healing process. There's more to water quality than nitrates alone. The problem is, we don't know what exactly caused the damage.

I tend to agree with Tom on your other thread and recommend filtering the tap water through a 5 micron then carbon block if this is an option for you.

[Lionheart]

Yeah, pH is steady at 7.4 in both tank and aging barrel. My water ages in a few hours. I actually have a drop from 8.4 to 7.4, not a rise like most others.

I was leaning towards the increased water changes as well. I was waiting to finish the melafix course, but maybe I should start the WCs instead.

[jeep]

Melafix is basically a waste of money. Snake oil. I would increase the water changes and add about 3 TBS salt per 10g. If you'e comfortable do it, I would trim the fins up. It's easier to regrow from fresh tissue than old. But since it is fresh tissue, clean, clean water is the key.

[Lionheart]

Could this be caused by excessive aggression in the tank? The fish in the photo is at the bottom of the hierarchy and gets picked on all day long. In fact, my fish are constantly attacking each other. Is that normal? I thought after 10 months of being together (same breeder, all purchased at same time), it would have settled down. Seems to be getting worse.