Single Neon Fin Rot?

[pretz]

Oh no oh no oh no!

We have one single neon in our tank who is showing symptoms of fin rot!!!!

His rear fin and some of his top fin look as if they have been bitten away little by little... I don't think it is another fish but believe it to be fin rot or something. The tail fin is completely gone

I take full responsibility for this, I have been busy and back and forth and the water changes have been slight infrequent. I did a 30 - 40% water change and added "Cycle" and "Start Right" right away when my girlfriend woke me up and told me.

What should I do!??!?! It seems to be only affecting ONE of the fish right now...

 

[Lotus]

Unfortunately, poor water quality is a big factor in fin rot. The first thing to do is make sure the tank is a little cleaner.

You can add some Melafix, which sometimes helps, but not always. It is a lot less strong than other medicines, but is probably less harmful too. If that doesn't work, there are plenty of fin rot meds on the market, and you should start treating with one.

 

[pretz]

I did a large water change of around 40%... and I added the cycle and start right just because I always do when I do a water change.

What else can I do to clean the tank?

 

[Lotus]

As long as you vacuumed the gravel well, that should be enough. The thing is that you have to make sure your tank is cleaned regularly.

 

[pretz]

vacuumed the gravel? with what?

 

[Leopardess]

A gravel vaccum. Its like a syphon that you use to stir the gravel up a bit with and it sucks the nasties out of it - helping to keep the water cleaner. Do you have a quarantine tank you could move him to?

BTW, what size tank is it...and do you mean you only have ONE neon or that you only have ONE out of them all that is showing signs? If you only have one, I wouldn't be surprised that he is sick because they are schooling fish and really shouldn't be kept in groups less than 5-6, though more is better.