treating in quarrentine tank

[SkarloeysMom]

I was wondering how long to leave a fish in a quarrentine tank when you're treating for fin rot. My newest Panda that I got just a couple weeks ago looks like he's got it. I don't know why I even bought the fish. They had very few of them and I'd been waiting for a long time to get one more and when the lady showed them to me it was like I felt obligated to buy one? What? I should have just said "no, thanks." because they all looked a little worse for wear. I didn't realize how bad he really looked until I got him home and noticed how much shorter his tail fin looked than my others. This week I noticed that one of his side fins looked to be almost gone!

I fished him out of the 10g last night and put him in one of my 1g tanks with some Jungle Fungus Clear (says it treats fin rot). Its not a cycled tank. I just put him in declor. water with a thin layer of rocks on the bottom and an air stone. How long should I leave him in there before returning him to the 10g?

[Lady Hobbs]

Does it say anything on the directions as to how long it should remain? Seems to me I left the fish in it for about 3 days, did a 25% water change and treated again leaving them 5 days the second time. Make sure you remove any charcoal and replace when treatment is finished.

[SkarloeysMom]

The box didn't say how long to treat just that you could repeat after 4 days with a 25% PWC. I'm using the Jungle meds because they are easier to dose than the Meracyn-2 that I have. I successfully treated fin rot on Skarloey with Meracyn-2 but its been a year and a half and I don't remember how I did it. I think he was in his own tanks so I didn't have to quarrentine him. I can't remember how long it took before I saw the fins start to regrow. This little panda is so small its gonna be hard to see that his fins are regrowing. That's why I'm wondering how long to quarrentine. Also I hate to keep him away from his friends any longer than necessary. He seems fine and is eating well but I don't want him to get depressed and lonely.

[Lady Hobbs]

The box didn't say how long to treat just that you could repeat after 4 days with a 25% PWC. I'm using the Jungle meds because they are easier to dose than the Meracyn-2 that I have. I successfully treated fin rot on Skarloey with Meracyn-2 but its been a year and a half and I don't remember how I did it. I think he was in his own tanks so I didn't have to quarrentine him. I can't remember how long it took before I saw the fins start to regrow. This little panda is so small its gonna be hard to see that his fins are regrowing. That's why I'm wondering how long to quarrentine. Also I hate to keep him away from his friends any longer than necessary. He seems fine and is eating well but I don't want him to get depressed and lonely.

Sounds like instructions to me. LOL

[SkarloeysMom]

I let him sit in one dose of meds for 4 days and then how do I decide if that's enough or should I repeat? Will I see some regrowth of fins in 4 days? Do I just do 4 days and then put him back in the 10g and see what happens?

I do want to minimize the time in quarrentine but not at the expense of curing the fin rot. That's why I'm asking.

[RobbieG]

I'd give the meds the 4 days and see how he is doing. There may be enough of an improvement for it to be obvious on that small of a fish.

Be careful with that small of a tank with no equipment (heater, aeration etc) the water quality could go south in a hurry if I were you I would keep a close eye on it.

[SkarloeysMom]

Thanks Robbie! I guess I'll get out my magnifying glass to see if I can see any changes in the next few days. His is such a small fish it is hard to see him especially with my bad eyes.

I will keep a close eye on the water quality. I'm checking for ammonia everyday. Don't need anymore stress on that poor guy. I do have a bubbler in there but that's it. That's another reason I didn't want to have to leave him in there any longer than necessary. Man, I hope he gets better quick.

I have had a run of bad luck with sick fish since I set up this 10g. Mostly fish that were very likely sick when I got them. I'm having to learn where to buy fish all over again and its been the hard way!

[Lady Hobbs]

Agree with above poster. Often just good clean water will repair the fins on their own.

[SkarloeysMom]

I changed the water and added new meds in quarrentine yesterday and tested this morning. There's 0 ammonia. I'm pretty sure that clean water alone will not cure this case of fin rot or he'd be fine by now. My 10g has perfect water parameters and excellent filtration with the new AC50 installed.

2 more days of treatment and we'll see how he looks. So far I'm not seeing any progress but I probably look at him too much. LOL! He does seem fine though. Swimming around and eating just fine.

[RobbieG]

It sounds like its off to a good start anyways! Good luck to you and your fishie!