[CatSoup]

My mated male angel has something wrong with his fins. Possibly bacterial or fungul. Are there any plant safe antibiotics I can put in the main tank? 115 gallon with other fish. One blood parrot, two mated pair of angels, 5 ottos, 5 cories, and lots of plants. Will he be stressed if I quarantine him without his mate?

 

[CatSoup]

It's hard to tell from the pic, but the fins are torn with a couple of fuzzy specs. He's been fighting alot.

 

[CatSoup]

A little help please?

 

[Perchance]

I'll put a word in because no one else seems to want to, but some people wont agree with this; I would dose the main tank both pimafix and melafix.

Though it will be a pain in that size tank. The products are entirely plant safe, as the label says, which has shown to be true in my own and other's tanks. They've worked well for me in the past, and are really quite well made to work in conjunction with one another. They're natural remedies too, so that's both good and bad.. Bad being mainly that they aren't very strong against resistive strains and are more inclined to really supplement healing.

The dosage should be limited if there are any scaleless fish, but it doens't look like you have any.. In general these products have really only been helpful to me when the infection/fugus/damage or whichever is new and fairly minor..

However, I would think it would be easier to quarantine the angel if I didn't have any fears that whatever the infection is had already spread to other fish... If you did separate and quarantine any of the fish, a stronger antibiotic could be used..

What's the reason for this outbreak? New additions to the tank?


Edit: there are also homemade versions of the above mentioned medications, a quick google should tell you how people make them

 

[Hardstuff]

I would consider taking out the Angle. I know its not easy & stressful on the fish & you as well. If you take him out make sure he has a good temporary home. Meaning cycled , even if you get an internal canister & grab some media from your tank filter. 5 gallons would be wise for a larger fish. Now you also need to look into the main tank as well as far as its condition. The fish may only have rotting fins because of fights, but there could be hygiene issues with the water quality. This could add fuel to the fire. Are all filters clean & have you been keeping up with water changes? Are the plants looking & growing well? Has the substrate been cleaned every week. Angles like soft water. Low Kh & Gh. Some say if they are raised in hard water they should stay in it. I myself feel they should be kept in their natural water conditions.
Now as far as meds, I am not an expert. Someone needs to chime in for that. Probably something to treat bacterial infections. I would rather treat the fish outside the tank & deal with getting the tank in tip top shape before the fish returns. Methylene blue should work as an option since it would appear fungus in nature. But this medication will harm plants. I believe a hospital tank is in order.
You also need to take a closer look at the fins , maybe in the dark with a flashlight to rule out velvet. Probably not but make sure you are not dealing with a parasite. Does the fish scrape against leaves or anything? If the PH is too high fins can rot also. Make sure the ph is not too high first before doing anything. Any higher then 7.2 is high for angles. They should be below 7.0. Good luck.

 

[CharleeFoxtrot]

I would pull the angel out and treat it in another container rather than treat a huge tank like that. You don't need to cycle another tank or have anything elaborate, just be prepared to test for ammonia and do small daily water changes as needed to maintain water quality. Another plus is that by using a smaller container you won't have to spend as much on the medicine.

I used to do reef tanks, and regularly quarantined all new fish sometimes for as long as 12 weeks using ordinary containers rather than a standard glass tank. I've used everything from a 5 gallon bucket to a 20 gallon rubbermaid storage container as quarantine/treatment "tanks". Just use a heater and a small HOB filter-minus the activated carbon as that will take out any medication you have put into the water. Or you can use a simple sponge filter. Or if its more convenient you can get an el cheapo 10 gallon tank :icon_smil

Put some rocks or other hidey spots in the container and I throw in a few hardy floating plants like cabomba (sp?) to give a sense of security. Good luck!

 

[CatSoup]

Thank you guys!
I think I will go ahead and quarantine him after the meds arrive in the mail, just to give him a good dose and not harm my plants. While he is healing up I will use a little mela and pimafix to make sure the rest of the tank is good. He may be stressed because of the move to the bigger tank. My ph is probably higher than 7.2, but no higher than 7.6. We have very hard water with lots of naturally occurring limestone here in OK. :/ I've started buying distilled water in jugs for water changes, that way they can acclimate slowly to a lower ph.
Thank you for the responses.

 

[Diana]

I also have used Melafix and Pimafix for ragged fins on an Angel Fish. Works just fine if you catch it right away. If the infection has gone deeper then these will not help.
The only fish not to use these on is Anabantoids (Betta, Gourami, Paradise fish)

I would start with some extra water changes and emphasize vacuuming the floor of the tank. When the organic load rises many medicines will attack all sorts of things, like decomposing organic matter instead of the disease organisms. The water changes do not need to be large, but really work at removing debris. Clean the filter, too.

If it turns out you have more than one fish in need of treatment then try to find or make food with antibiotics. Much more cost effective than treating the water in a large tank.