# Fin Rot or Bite?



## edmlfc1 (Feb 24, 2008)

1. Size of aquarium (# of gallons) 156
2. How long the aquarium has been set up? 2 days
3. How long and how did you cycle the tank? instant cycle
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium (species are important to know) Stars & Stripes puffer 10", snowflake eel 12", GSP 3.5", Wrasse 3.5", Lawnmower Blenny 3"
5. What temperature is the tank water currently? 80 degrees
6. What make/model filter are you using? Coralife 225(?) protein skimmer, 55G sump, mag 18 pump, 3-maxijet 1200 powerheads
7. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? No
8. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed? 2/1/09 50%
9. How often do you perform water changes? Recently Daily for the last month.
10. How often and what foods do you feed your fish? Every 3rd day: mussel's, clams, shrimp, scallops, crab, soaked in vitamins and garlic extreme
11. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on? Odyssea watts unknown, on 6:30am off 8:30pm
12. What specific concerns bring you here at this time? Black spot on the fin of Stars & Stripes puffer, want to know if it's a bite or fin rot. Maybe something else?
13. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, GH, KH and salinity level. Currently in hypo, sg 1.009, amm. 0, nitrite 0, ph 8.2, nitrate 10
14. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips? liquid
15. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank? About 6 months ago. Lfs had it in personal home aquaria, brought it to store where I purchased it. It was fine, ate good and still doing well. 


Now I should give you a bit of history to explain some of my questions:
I moved my sw tank from a 125 to a 156 about 8 weeks ago. I added more sand for a deep sand bed and put the sand that was in the 125 on top of the new sand. I added more lr from an 8 year old tank that had no signs of disease and never had copper meds used. After the move we lost one of our GSP's. My nitrates shot up to 40 right after the move. I have been doing 50% water changes two-three times a week to get the nitrates down. The nitrates were broght down to 5-10. The 125 had been running for about 16 months before the move. No new fish have been added. 

Recently: About a month after the move my stars & stripes had signs of white spot. I then put the tank into hypo because I didn't have a large enough tank to qt my current stock. I took all the lr out and it is now in a tub and a 29 gallon tank. I have been doing daily 50% water changes keeping the sg at 1.009 for the last month. I plan to keep hypo for at least another 4 weeks. I'm 99% sure that the white spots showed up because of the stress from the move and stirring up the old sand plus the high nitrates. My tank just finished a recycle two days ago. I have now stopped the daily 50% water changes but I am still testing my water daily. 

Now: I noticed a few days ago a black half moon mark on my stars & stripes puffer's tail fin. Today when I got home from work this is what I saw. Need advice on what it is and how to treat it?
I looked up fin rot and it says white fuzzy fraying fins. Not the case here but wondering if it might be something else. 

He is still in hypo, sg 1.009, amm. 0, nitrite 0, ph 8.2, nitrate 10


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Did i read this correct? You have a 3'' Green Spotted Puffer?

I think this is a bite.


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## cerianthus (Jul 13, 2008)

If bite, chuk of tail should be missingor broken? I do see white edge. Sign that is beginning of finrot?
If in isolation, can try daily smear of Bacitracin ointment on edge of should take of the tail rot, if it is and getting worse.
Hard to tell from pic to be exact, but seen some specimen with balck edge on tail. If see getting worse, try my method w/o med whole tank. It did wonders on many fish. Remember not to apply too much where excess will just fall off polluting since oil and water dont mix well.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Oh yes, even if it is a bite, you will have risk of a bacterial infection setting in. I agree that treatment is recommended.


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## edmlfc1 (Feb 24, 2008)

A coupld of 50% water water changes and his tail is almost healed. I suspect it may have just been a nip. Yes I did say I have a GSP 3" and the one with a nipped tail is my stars & stripes puffer 10". My little GSP sleeps on my S&S head right between his eyes. I have never seen any agression between the two. When the GSP's not sleeping on his head he's right beside him.


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## lilgirlkat (Jan 18, 2009)

they are soooo friggin cute!!


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## Mike (Jul 16, 2006)

I love your stars and stripes puffer! Ours is the pride of our tank. We tried keeping another type of puffer with our stars and stripes but our stars and stripes bit its face off. :dunno: I guess the LFS was right about that one in our case.

I'm glad to hear your stars and stripes puffer's tail has been healing. How is it doing now? Is your stars and stripes also a messy eater and, err, heavy duty excrement producer? If so, how do you keep your sand bed clean?


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## cerianthus (Jul 13, 2008)

How cute! Did you send them to specialized traing school.
Never seen such bevior among puffers.
Should post on U-tube for others to enjoy such odd and cute behavior of your fish.

btw, glad to hear all is well also.


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