"Babel Fish" wrote in message
...
"NetMax" wrote in message
.. .

"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 17:03:57 -0000, "Babel Fish"
wrote:

Hello,

I have just lost white cloud mountain minnows to fin rot. I am
guessing
that this is because the tank had not been fully cycled. Now I am
more
clued up on the cycle, etc, what would be the recommmended course
of
action
to take? - take everything out, wash it and start the cycle again,
or
leave
the water in there that the minnows were in and keep an eye on
water
chemistry until it completes the cycle?

Thanks


In my experience fin rot follows fin nipping. Have you got an
aggressive fin nipper perhaps?

Melafix often clears "rot" and is safe for most fish.

Fin rot is a very opportunistic bacteria which enters the open cells
of
the end of a fish's fins (usually the tailfin). The fish has almost
always have to be in an advanced stress condition, so that their
immune
system cannot stop the bacteria from multiplying. If you have lost
all
the fish, then just wait until the tank has cycled, do a large water
change and add a few new fish. If there are still fish in there,
there
are antibiotics available. Melafix can also be used, though it is
more
of a preventative, it does have some mild curative powers (imo), and
I've
never observed it to have any bad effects on the biofilter (unlike
most
antibiotics).

NetMax


Thanks for the info. What would you call a large water change? 30 or
so %
?

If there are no fish, a couple of 60-70% changes will dilute things
nicely. Just match temperature approximately & de-chlor as needed before
you turn on the filter again (which has most of your good bacteria).
Don't leave your filter off too long, or let it dry out.

NetMax