# possible fin rot?



## Fishnoob34 (Feb 19, 2011)

Hey! I have a ten gallon tank with 4 small neon tetras, a snail, and 2 mystery fish (about the size of the tetras) that I got from a friend who was moving. I can't figure out what kind of fish they are, but seemed to be doing well in the tank with the tetras. I attached a picture for reference.

One looks great, large beautiful fins and he is very active. The other was a darker color when I got them, with slightly smaller fins. It seems to be getting worse, not as active this past week, and over time I have noticed that his fins seem to be damaged. Not sure if it could be fin rot or not. the other fish don't seem to pick on him at all. he's hanging out at the top of the tank lately and isn't very active. Any ideas? Thanks!








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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Both are male Guppies. The one on the left just looks like his fins are clamped and that is it. Fish will clamp their fins from stress to some type of ailment. Could it just be that or are his fins really damaged? Hard to tell in the pic.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

agreed with jr man. if it were fin rot, it would look like a white mucousy fin tip thats melting away.


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## Fishnoob34 (Feb 19, 2011)

His back fin is a bit shredded at the end, but no white on the edges. The top fin however has white on the end of it. And now that I'm look closer, the tetras have a white edges on their top and bottom fins that I hadn't noticed before. is it something that can be contagious? Sorry if the questions seem a bit naive..i'm very new the the aquarium scene.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

If they start to look like they're getting worse, get some medication. I used melafix on a red tetra that i had and it was better in a few days. BUT, if you have any kind of fish like gouramis (fish that have labyrinth blatters or are reffered to as Anabantoids) then do not use it, it may kill them. If you do have those in your tank, either remove them while you medicate or move the fish you are going to medicate. You'll have to do water changes after you're done medicating before you reintroduce them. Otherwise, im not entirely sure if its contaigous but i'm sure if its the same species under the same conditions, they will be all suceptible to it even if its not contaigous.


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