How To Treat Tail And Fin Rot In Goldfish

July 29th, 2007 Goldfish Care none Comments

Fin rot like many diseases that are prone to goldfish has the inept ability to strike at any given moment. There are things however you can do as an owner to reduce the chances of this disease from affecting your goldfish. This article will discuss how to treat tail and fin rot in goldfish.

How It Occurs

Fin rot is one of the most common, and at the same time most preventable, disease in goldfish. The main factor that causes the onset of fin rot is often linked to several different types of bacteria that have the ability to thrive in a less than pristine clean tank.

Although the bacteria linked to this disease can easily be preventable, sometimes it may just crop up when we least expect it. One of the other main causes of fin rot is also linked to wounds that may already exist on your fish. Goldfish constantly acquire lacerations, whether it be from fighting or coming into contact with sharp object in the tank or pond.

Once wounded, it only takes a slight decrease in the immune system to trigger an outbreak of fin rot. This usually occurs when the fish becomes overly stressed due to poor living conditions. As you can probably tell, the easiest way to stop an outbreak from occurring is to always have a clean environment for them to live in.

How To Treat Tail And Fin Rot In Goldfish

Fin rot, fortunately can usually be cured but if left untreated, it can kill the diseased fish and infect all the others in the tank. Therefore as soon as you see symptoms in the form of either blood spots or white edges around the tail and dorsal fins, you must take action to remove the infection.

Antibiotics will be needed to remove the infection completely. Some of the best antibiotics used to remove fin rot include Chloramphenical, Oxytetracycline, and Tetracycline. You can pick any of these antibiotics up from your local vet. Each will have suitable instructions for use so make sure you read the labels correctly and only apply the required amount.

Another treatment method that many people have found successful is adding aquarium salt to the tank. Make sure you don’t add too much however as it may disturb the Ph levels of the water in a negative way.

Hope this helps,

Dane

If you want to learn more about how to treat tail and fin rot in goldfish, the my book “Goldfish Secrets” will show you how in much more depth. You can grab a copy by clicking here.