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Growth on Fish Fins - The Problems Continue

2K views 7 replies 2 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
A couple weeks ago I received a ton of help on how to get my freshwater planted tank up to par... was having problems with foamy water, high nitrates etc. Everything has calmed down pretty much (THANK YOU EVERYONE), the tank is nice and clean and I've cut down dramatically on how much I feed the fish and how much light they get per day. However, this morning I went to feed the fish and one of my black skirts has growths on its tail! Seriously, pretty much overnight! I don't know what I should do about this problem. I tried to take some pics but it was next to impossible because he was swimming around so much. The growths are all through the tail fin, these white/pink lumps... HELP please!
 

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#2 ·
Diagnosing health issues is very difficult. But from your photos I would first consider that the fins are being nipped by another fish. Have you seen any evidence of fish chasing this fish, either other Diamonds or another species? Sometimes you need to sit quietly (without moving, literally) in front of the aquarium for an hour or more, in order to get a true picture of the fish interaction. This would be the first check.
 
#3 ·
Hi Byron, Well yes, the black skirts do nip each other and chase each other around. I would like to get a few more (only have 3 right now) so they have more of a school but didn't want to go do so until the tank was 100% better. Do you think it could be ich? I've read a bit about that and I'm not sure...
 
#4 ·
There's your culprit--the Black Widow Tetra (aka Black Skirt Tetra). Check the profile; it mentions this is a species prone to fin nip, and the flowing fins of the diamond tetra are like a red flag to a bull in this case. I would remove the Black Skirts. [Sorry, I didn't twig on these before, don't know why but i was looking at the caudal fin and considered both photos the same, and the second was the Diamond; i see now the first photo is a Black skirt.]

In small groups (certainly under 6, maybe even 8 with this species) this aggression can be heightened. But given the nature of the Diamonds, I would not get more Black Skirts but remove them completely. This is not likiely to change, as once a fish becomes nippy it tends to remain so. Black Skirts are like Serpae Tetra that should not be combined with sedate fish or those with long fins.

At least this was an easy issue to resolve.:)

Byron.
 
#5 ·
Hi Bryon, but I don't have any Diamond Tetras... just Black Skirts... I have had Black Skirts for 8 years and have nevrer seen the white growths on their tail before... I don't think removing them would solve the problem and I don't have anywhere to put them anyhow! :(
 
#6 ·
You're going to have to pardon me this morning, I clearly need to wear my glasses on the PC.:shock: Yes, both photos are Black Skirts.

But, to the issue, this is likely due to the small group, though again, there is never a guarantee that expanding the group to say 7 or 8 will avoid this.

The problem is, they may turn to other fish as well.
 
#8 ·
The fins look to me like they have been nipped.

If you like this fish, then adding another 4-5 might resolve this. But as I said, with fish that nip, once they start they sometimes don't stop, regardless. You take your chances.
 
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