# Fin rot



## littlebit627 (Oct 19, 2013)

Hi! I am new to having an aquarium. I have a 30 gallon tank where I have 4 orlandas and three small fancy goldfish and a male betta.
My tank stays pretty clean. I have two filters I use. Admittedly, I have had a problem with keeping the temperature of the water at a constant. The heater I had sucks, so currently I have no heater in it. I understand the goldfish need no heat but I do worry about the betta.
Anyway, one on my orlandas has serious fish rot. 
I plan on cleaning the tank tonight and adding aquarium salt. I would also like to buy a better heater today along with a antibiotic to treat fin rot.
Also, the ph of the tank is high. Do I add drops to lower ph or should I just leave it be... I read that messing with water ph can be dangerous. Also, if I do try to correct ph, do I add that with the medication??
Im clueless right about what to do.


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## fishboy (Jul 15, 2012)

Do you have a quarentine tank? If so, put the goldfish in.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

First you have to have the right enviroment for fish to stay healthy.
1. Get a 5 gallon tank with appropriate heater/filter and get the betta out of the 30.
2.Do not get a heater for goldfish!Warmer water brings lower dissolved oxygen levels and goldfish require HIGHLY oxygenated water.
3.I would not mess with your pH as it is dangerous and goldfish don't mind "higher" pH.
I see no mention of any water parameters or waterchanges?Do you own a test kit to check ammonia,nitrite and nitrates?I'll bet one of them is off the chart or the tank is new and the filter uncycled.
Antibiotics to treat fin rot are the way to go with large(I said large) water changes,at least every week.
The goldfish and orandas are already overstocked in a 30 so water changes of 50% a week would seem minimum to me.I might be inclined to do 50% twice a week if you can not provide a larger tank in the very near future,or be prepared to lose fish till the stocking level is appropriate for the tank(I would say start saying good bye to the orandas as they can't compete with ccommon goldfish for food even when healthy).
Sorry to sound so bleek,but this seems to where you and your tank are at.Major waterchanges and I really wouldn't mess with the filter unless it clogged up(visually running slower).With regular waterchanges of the right volume you may not even need meds as fin rot is usaully a secondary infection from poor water quality.
Good luck(sorry I sound so mean).


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## littlebit627 (Oct 19, 2013)

Okay, will change water tonight. Add aquarium salt and medication. And take the betta out and put in a smaller tank


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

Bandit is right on every point. But large water changes are your best friend right now.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Just want to say how glad I am as to how receptive you are to my message.Many would be mad,I'd like to help you solve your issue so you can enjoy fish keeping as much as I do!
Your betta is best in at least a 5 gallon tank ,but you will probly find that 10's are cheaper so go for it!The betta prefers 82-86 degrees and if kept warm it is proven he will be more active and enjoyable.
If you search our forums in the tool bar you find a thread of why 30 gallons is needed for 1 goldfish!The orandas may seem to be doing well but they are slower(look at the shape) then the commetts(common goldfish) and will have a tough time competing for food and feeling safe.The orandas are a "balloon" and the commet a "torpedo".
Dechlorinate your water for changes.It is best to change as much as possible at one time as that is how you quickly remove "nutrients"(not good).The % of water you change is the % the nutrients will be reduced,so if you have(I'll hope 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite) nitrates of 100ppm(they are the end result of the nitrogen cycle and can not be avoided by even the best of us) then if you change 50% of your water you would still have 50ppm nitrate.If the next day you changed another 50%(and we'll assume for simple math that you did not gain any nitrates{we all do!}) then you would be down to 25 ppm nitrate.That is well within acceptable limits.If your tank has been set up for a couple months and your filter is cycled then you really only need a nitrate test kit(this is important).Testing should be done at least weekly until you understand your tanks pattern.Once you know how much the nitrate goes up every week waterchanges can be done the same every week.
I have around 1,000 gallons and change at least 400 gallons a week (sometimes as much as 800).
I do still test some of my tanks and others just as much as I can do.
I live by Charles(inkmaker's) signature;Change as much water ,as often as possible!
Chnaging water is the cheapest ,best thing any keeper can do.Most here use Prime(by seachem) to dechlorinate, as it is a great product and very economical and efficeint(even for us with WAY TOO MANY GALLONS).
Keep us posted on how the oranda is doing and ask any other questions you have,MANY HERE TO HELP YOU AND YOUR FISH!
Good luck!


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