Goldfish is the most peaceful fish every aquarist prefers to add to their home aquarium. They are low-maintenance and are an excellent choice for beginners.
However, some common diseases like fin rot can lead to severe health issues in your goldfish. Such diseases require immediate treatment for the well-being of your goldfish. So, how to treat goldfish fin rot? Let us find out.
Follow these steps to treat fin rot:
- Clean the tank by siphoning all the solid debris from the substrate.
- Maintain adequate water parameters.
- Provide antibiotics to your fish by consulting with a pet veterinarian.
- Remove carbon from the filter as it hinders the medication.
- Provide high-quality food to your goldfish.
- Keep eyeing the tank’s water conditions.
- Once your goldfish regain their health, you can add the carbon back to the filter.
The article below will discuss the causes, treatment, and prevention of fin rot in your goldfish.
Contents
What is fin rot, and how is it caused?
Fin rot is a condition caused by vibrio, pseudomonas and aeromonas bacteria.
Inadequate tank conditions and stress are the primary cause behind fin rot in your goldfish.
It is a disease that can be prevented easily but is a task to cure once it occurs in your fish.
Fin rot is contagious if caused due to bacterial infection.
In addition, it can also be a threat to the other fishes in the tank if your goldfish is suffering from fin rot disease.
What are the symptoms of fin rot disease?
Here are the symptoms of fin rot disease in your goldfish
- Physical Symptoms
- Behavioral Symptoms
Physical Symptoms
The edges of your goldfish’s fins will start getting discolored and appear milky at the early stage of fin rot.
However, it is a task to discover such issues early until they become worn at the fin’s edges.
The infection will start spreading with time, and your goldfish fins will fall, making an uneven tail shape at the edge.
You will discover your goldfish fins getting shorter, and the affected area of your goldfish will become red and swollen.
So, these are some physical symptoms of fin rot in your goldfish.
- Frayed fins
- Milky Edge
- The whole fin is rotting away
- Swollen fins
Behavioral Symptoms
Here are some behavioral symptoms you will discover in your goldfish
- Your goldfish will become lethargic
- Your goldfish will stay at the tank’s bottom.
- Your goldfish will lose their appetite and avoid eating.
Fin rot can make your goldfish weak and inactive. You will mainly discover your goldfish sitting at the tank’s bottom.
Your fish will also lose their appetite and refuse to eat their food.
Symptoms of bacterial fin rot and fungal fin rot
Bacterial fin rot
If they suffer from bacterial fin rot, your goldfish will have ragged rotting fins.
Fungal fin rot
You will notice uneven fins of your sick goldfish if they are suffering from fungal fin rot.
The fins of your goldfish will also turn milky at the edges showing the symptoms of fungal fin rot.
Usually, both type of infections is seen together in most cases.
Symptoms of mild, major, and severe fin rot
| Mild Fin Rot | Major Fin Rot | Severe Fin Rot |
|---|---|---|
| The fins of your goldfish will turn darker. | The fins of your goldfish will turn extremely darker and will develop white fuzz on the fin’s edge if it is due to fungal infection. | This is also known as body fin rot. |
| The tip of your goldfish fins will change in color, appearing grey, brown, or white. | A major portion of your goldfish fins will have rotted in case of major fin rot. | Your goldfish fins will get wholly eaten up at this stage. |
| Your goldfish fins’ edges will look tattered. | The remaining fins of your goldfish will get discolored. | The body of your affected goldfish will start rotting. |
| The tips of your affected goldfish will appear sore and worn. | The affected goldfish will begin completely dying over time. | You will discover white fuzz on your goldfish base area if it is fungal fin rot. |
| The infection will only be on the edge of your goldfish fins and will not spread to your fish’s body. | You will discover behavioral changes in your goldfish, like losing appetite and staying at the tank’s bottom. | Your goldfish will lose their appetite and become inactive. |
How to treat fin rot disease in goldfish?
To provide appropriate treatment to your goldfish, firstly, you will need to know the severity of the disease.
In the case of mild fin rot, you can provide treatment to your goldfish in the home aquarium.
It is not necessary to isolate your goldfish in a separate tank in such a case.
However, suppose your goldfish suffers from major or severe fin rot disease. In that case, it is essential to isolate your goldfish in a separate tank to provide them with appropriate treatment.
Here are the ways to treat your goldfish in the case of mild fin rot
- Firstly, clean the tank by siphoning out all the debris from the tank’s bottom. Such debris is food to the bacteria in the tank.
- Perform a 30% water change. Ensure to add water conditioner to the freshwater before adding it to your tank.
- Check the water parameters of your tank. Ensure to maintain the nitrite at 0ppm, ammonia between 0-0.25ppm, and nitrate at below 40ppm.
- Now, you can provide treatment to your affected goldfish under your vet’s consultation. Usually, an API stress coat can do that job, but consulting your vet before treatment will be more beneficial.
- Ensure to remove the carbon from the filter before you start treating your goldfish, as it will eliminate the medication process.
- Add carbon back to the filter once your goldfish regain their health.
Fin rot disease can lead to serious health issues in your goldfish if not treated early. It is also contagious and can affect the other tankmates.
Here are the steps to treat major and severe fin rot in your goldfish
- Place your goldfish in a separate tank
- Run proper antibiotics to treat fin rot
Place your goldfish in a separate tank.
Placing your affected goldfish in a separate tank is essential to protect the other healthy fish from infection.
Fin rot diseases are contagious and can affect the other fishes in the tank if you do not place the affected goldfish in a separate tank.
It would be advisable to keep the water parameters of the hospital tank the same as your goldfish tank.
Sudden changes in the water parameters lead to shock in your goldfish, eventually leading to stress in your fish.
Run the antibiotics
After placing your affected goldfish in a separate tank, you can now run the antibiotics according to the cause behind the fin rot.
If fin rot is due to bacterial infection, you can run antibiotics like Seachem ParaGuard or Maracyn.
You will have to provide different kinds of medication if fin rot is due to fungus.
In addition, if the fin rot is due to ammonia burns, then ensure good quality water in your goldfish tank.
Therefore, we recommend you follow the medicine box’s instructions to learn about the dosage and how to apply it.
Ensure to consult your vet before providing any medication to your goldfish.
Here are the things you should ensure before treating your goldfish’s major and severe fin rot.
- Your tank should be free of solid debris as the bacteria use such waste to feed themselves. It will be advisable to siphon the substrate to eliminate all the solid waste from the tank.
- Check the water parameters of your tank. Ensure to maintain the nitrite at 0ppm, ammonia between 0-0.25ppm, and nitrate at below 40ppm.
- If you are applying aquarium salt to the tank to treat your affected fish, then ensure to perform a 100% water change every day and avoid putting the aquarium salt twice in the same water.
- Maintain an appropriate water temperature in your goldfish tank. The ideal water temperature of your goldfish tank is between 68-74°F.
- Ensure to perform a 100% water change in your goldfish tank to protect the other fishes from fin rot.
How to prevent our goldfish from fin rot?
Here are the ways to prevent fin rot in your goldfish
- Provide good water conditions
- Provide ideal water parameters in the tank.
- Avoid Overcrowding your goldfish tank.
- Avoid adding aggressive fishes to the tank.
- Provide high-quality food to your goldfish
- Eliminate all the debris from the substrate of your tank
Provide good water conditions
You should perform a 30% weekly water change to maintain the tank’s water quality and protect your tank from the harmful toxins like ammonia and nitrite that can cause severe health issues in your goldfish.
It would be best to keep eyeing the tank’s ammonia level, as excess ammonia can lead to severe health issues like ammonia poisoning in your fish.
We recommend using an API test kit to check the tank’s ammonia level as it provides accurate results.
You can buy it from Amazon API TEST KIT.
Also read Ammonia Poisoning In Goldfish.
In addition, you can also add a water filter to your goldfish tank as it helps to eliminate the harmful chemicals from the water, making it safe for your goldfish.
We recommend using Fluval High Performance Aquarium as it helps to eliminate harmful bacteria.
You can buy it from Amazon Fluval High Performance Aquarium Filter
Also read: Do Goldfish Need Filters?
Provide ideal water parameters
You should provide ideal water parameters in your goldfish tank to prevent such issues in your goldfish.
| Particular | Goldfish |
|---|---|
| Water Temperature | 68-74 °F |
| Ph Level | 7.5 |
| Ammonia Level | 0-0.25ppm |
| Nitrite | 0 ppm |
| Nitrate | Below 40 ppm |
| TDS Level | 170-250ppm |
Also read: Best TDS For Goldfish?
Avoid Overcrowding your goldfish tank.
You should avoid overcrowding your goldfish to prevent such issues in your fish.
Here are the cons of overcrowding your goldfish tank
- There will be no space for your goldfish to swim properly in the tank leading to stress in your fish.
- As goldfish are messy fish, overcrowding your goldfish tank can frequently contaminate the tank’s water.
- An overcrowded tank can lead to oxygen deficiency in your goldfish tank.
Therefore you should follow the one-inch-one-gallon rule, which means one gallon of water per inch of fish, to avoid overcrowding your goldfish tank.
Also read: How Many Goldfish Can You Keep In A 10-Gallon Tank?
Avoid adding aggressive fish to your tank.
You should avoid adding aggressive fish to your goldfish tank to prevent such issues in your goldfish.
Placing your goldfish with aggressive tankmates like betta can lead to severe aggression in the tank, eventually leading to physical injuries in your goldfish.
Non-compatible tankmates can also lead to stress in your goldfish, making them weak and prone to several diseases and parasites.
Here are some compatible tankmates for your goldfish
- Guppy fish
- Zebra Danios
- Snails
- Rosy Barbs
- Giant Danios
Also read: Can Goldfish Live With Guppy?
Provide high-quality food
You should provide high-quality food to your goldfish to prevent such issues in your goldfish.
Low-quality food can make your goldfish lose their appetite and other several health issues to your fish.
Here are some best food options for your goldfish
| Goldfish Diet | Serving Quantity | No. of times | Advisable for proper development of your goldfish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brine Shrimp | One pinch | 1-2 times a week | HIKARI BRINE SHRIMP CUBES |
| Tubifex Worms | One pinch | 1 time a week | HIKARI FREEZE DRIED TUBIFEX WORMS |
| Veggie Pellets | One pinch | 2 times a day | HIKARI SINKING FISH FOOD |
| Blood Worms | One pinch | 1-2 times a week | HIKARI FREEZE DRIED BLOODWORMS |
| Boiled peas | Half a pea | 2-3 times a day | Feed fresh pea |
| Daphnia | One small pinch | 2-3 times a week | Feed fresh daphnia |
| Blanched Cucumber | One small slice | 3-4 times a week | Feed Fresh cucumber |
| Blanched Zucchini | One small slice | 3-4 times a week | Feed Fresh zucchini |
| Apples | One small slice | 2-3 times a week | Feed Fresh apples |
| Bananas | One small slice | 2 times a week | Feed Fresh bananas |
| Mosquito Larvae | 12-15 | 2-3 times a week | Feed live mosquito larvae |
Also read: What Do Goldfish Eat?
Therefore, you should always feed the quantity your goldfish can consume in under two minutes to avoid overfeeding your fish and for the well-being of your fish.
Eliminate all the debris from the substrate
It would be best if you eliminate all the solid debris from the tank’s substrate to prevent such issues and provide a healthy environment in the tank.
Conclusion:
- Fin rot is a condition caused by vibrio, pseudomonas and aeromonas bacteria. Inadequate tank conditions and stress are the primary cause behind fin rot in your goldfish.
- Your goldfish losing their appetite, turning lethargic, and sitting at the tank’s bottom are signs of fin rot’s behavioral symptoms.
- Frayed fins, milky edges, and swollen fins are some signs of physical symptoms of fin rot in goldfish.
- Fin rot disease can lead to serious health issues in your goldfish if not treated early. It is also contagious and can affect the other tankmates.
- You can prevent fin rot in goldfish by providing good water conditions, adequate water parameters, and high-quality food to your goldfish.
Reference: ResearchGate