[RAZmonkey]

I posted this to TAFF II but didn't get much in the way of response. So I'm asking here.

My tank is a 75 gallon with sump/trickle filtration. It has been set up for about 3 weeks. I have a rockscape and several plants. The tank was cycled before I added the angels, and there were 15 neons and 4 rummynose tetras before the angels were added. I added two angels and 5 flame tetras on 8-9-11. Ammonia and nitrite have remained at zero, nitrate is at 5. pH is 7.2 Water temp is 80F. I tried to raise it to 82 but my heater malfunctioned and it got up to 89. Poor fish...as if moving to a new tank wasn't enough they had to deal with heat stress as well. They actually seemed happier at the higher temps as they were coming out to swim and see what was going on. I'm feeding tetramin flakes twice a day. I am going to the store to get more variety this week.

One angel looks like it has fin rot on the tail. The edge was feathery and white and obviously eroded away. I dosed the tank with API General Cure (metronidazole and praziquantel) for 80 gallons. I chose the general cure because of the fact that it's dosed into the water column and that it contains metronidazole. Metronidazole is an antibiotic with rather decent anaerobic coverage. It also has spectrum against some protozoa which is why I suspect its added to an anti-parasite formulation. I know the praziquantel doesn't have the spectrum that flubendazole does, but I don't have ready access to flubendazole...I'll need to order that. When I saw his tail the next day the white feathery stuff was gone. I will dose again 48h after the first dose, and then follow with a water change per instructions on the box.

My concern is that he is always hiding. He pretty much stays behind the rocks on the left side of my tank. The other angel swims all over the tank and "greets" me. I do not see the injured angel eating. He has come out to swim once a day at about 6pm and I always give him a few extra flakes when I see him come out...to try to make sure he is eating. He seems only mildly interested and then goes back to hide. When he comes out he swims a little with the other angel and doesn't seem threatened by it.

I can't see him this morning....but there is enough space for him to hide completely. My main question is should I move him to an isolation tank (provided I can even catch him) to monitor him better....or should I leave him in the main tank where he has room to hide. The isolation tank would be barebottomed and without any decorations. I am worried that having him separated in a bare tank would stress him more than keeping him isolated would help him heal. That was the reason I didn't separate him immediately.

Also I started with the metronidazole because I figured it would be the safest for my beneficial bacteria being that they are usually aerobic species. Obviously if I separate him I can be more aggressive with antibiotics/antifungals because I won't have the bio-filter to worry about.

If you have other suggestions I'll take them.

Pics are in my tank journal thread in my signature. But if you want me to post any here I can. I just figured my questions were more about theory than the specifics.

 

[kamikazi]

if you have an extra tank, a bucket, or plastic tub handy I'd isolate and treat, wouldn't want it to spread to your other fish.

 

[fresh.salty]

Kinda depends on what is really wrong with it.

With just 1 I'd be inclined to euthanize it if it looks very bad rather than deal with a QT and treating for something you haven't even identified.

 

[wkndracer]

Too late to isolate when you directly introduced new fish carrying ??? what??? into your tank.

IF the fish was carrying parasites or fungus/bacteria it's already in your tank now so quarantine now is a wasted effort (imo). Fins damaged by ammonia burn, split by fighting or ruff handing will die back to healthy tissue and the ragged edge will go white as it's shed. I see it all the time with my DDV.

The female in the picture is the upper fish shown spawning. The damage to her dorsal and caudal fins happened in spawn defense on 7/22 in my 110g community tank. The photo was taken on 8/10 her fins are just now starting to grow back. I also have angels that by nature are timid too.
Really no way to answer based on what you've listed.

Damage or another issue will be better guessed by you seeing things first hand. If erosion and or color loss gets worse or spreads then treatments for it. Treatments again are going to be guess work but fin rot limits the cause some what and 3% H2O2 baths clean the outside of a scaled fish nicely.

Repairing and growing fins back nothing works better than clean water.

good luck OP.

 

[RAZmonkey]

Thanks. I didn't do an initial quarantine because I didn't care enough about the original tetras to worry about what I was introducing with the angels. I figured if the angels got sick I would just treat the entire tank anyway....so I really viewed the angels as the "first" fish in a sense. Yes treating a small quarantine tank would've been cheaper and it would've been easier to see if he was eating or not....but I figured they'd be happier in a scaped tank than a bare quarantine tank. All future fish will be quarantined...I just didn't do it with the initial stocking.

It's good to know that it could've been simply damage and not a true fin rot. I saw the white ragged edge and assumed disease. It did look a lot better after the first treatment. And maybe he is just a hider.

If it gets worse, I'll try the H2O2 bath. For now I'll let him remain in the main tank instead of adding to his stress and isolating him. (And of course water changes.)