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I sure hope someone can help me with this. Within the past couple of weeks, the dorsal and pectoral fins of my 3 younger c.similas have become ragged. One of the the pectoral fins on one of them is down to a spike . The 2 older kiddos are fine. Tails seems unaffected. Here are the specifics of my tank:

1. Water parameters
a) Temperature range: 72-78
b) pH: 7.2
c) GH: 6 dH
d) KH: 4 dH
e) Conductivity or TDS (if GH and KH aren't provided): approximately 219 ppm
f) Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite levels (Most LFS's will check your water and give a list of readings): Ammonia=0; Nitrate=0; Nitrate=5-10
g) Water change frequency: approximately 25% every week
h) "Routine" water treatments (e.g, chlorine/chloramine or ammonia neutralizers; pH or hardness adjustments, anti-stress chemicals, tank-cycling bacterial mixes): I use RO water reconstituted with Equilibrium and Baking Soda to bring the water to a GH of 5-6 dH, a KH of 5 dH and TDS of about 200 ppm

2. Tank set up
a) Size: Eclipse System 12 - 12 gallon
b) Substrate: Caribsea Black Tahitian Moon Sand with an under-layment of Caribsea Eco Complete
c) Filtration: Eclipse System integrated filtration system; external Nitrate Filter
d) Furnishings: Live plants and small terra cotta pot "caves"
e) Other tank mates: Only c. similas
f) How long has it been set-up?: about one year
g) Food used and frequency: TetraMin Tropical Flakes; API Bottom Feeder sinking nuggest. Fed every morning Monday-Friday.
h) Recent changes in the tank which occurred shortly before the disease/problem appeared (if any; e.g., changes in water source or water treatment, changes in decorations or substrate, replacement or changes of hardware (filters, heaters, etc.), and additions or removals of live plants or live fish): added a marimo ball and a Cryptocoryne 2-3 months ago

3. Symptoms / Problem description or history: ragged dorsal and pectoral fins, beginning about 1-2 weeks ago.

4. Action taken (if any): started adding Melafix and Pemafix 4 days ago.

5. Medications used (if any) / changes in fish observed since treatment began (if any): Melafix and Pemafix. No change. In fact, the condition appears to be progressing.

I try very hard to keep my water parameters at healthy levels and stable. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Please. Any advice is welcomed. I hate to see them like this.

The first picture in Mol_PMB's "Chronic Cory fin rot problems" posting showing a cory with a chunk out of its top fin looks very similar to the issue with one of mine. I did not see this posting until after I posted. Sorry if same issues.

Try to cut back on feeding (every other day) and increase the size and frequency of water changes (more than less the same advice I gave to Mol_PMB). I presume having an underlayment means that you don't gravel vac? If you don't and the substrate is deep its very possible your tank has developed anaerobic conditions but thats a whole nother can of worms.

Hmmm...I'm not sure I like the sound of that. How does one vacuum sand without sucking up the sand. I think fish are beyond my knowledge, and I feel bad that I got these. Poor guys! I'm not sure what to do now. If it's an "anaerobic condition," do I start all over?

cowboyish1 wrote:Hmmm...I'm not sure I like the sound of that. How does one vacuum sand without sucking up the sand. I think fish are beyond my knowledge, and I feel bad that I got these. Poor guys! I'm not sure what to do now. If it's an "anaerobic condition," do I start all over?

Sorry I could be the bearer of bad news I should first point out that this is largely based on my own experiences and research and that you should probably wait until someone with more experience comes along or with some fresh eyes as to what else may be causing or contributing to the problem.

Well I'll be completely honest- thats what I had to do. I had my 55 gallon running without any problems for 2 years but upon getting some new fish It all went to hell. I lost all but 2 tetras out of thirty some odd tetras and 12 plecos. The tank laid empty for some time before I learned about "Old Tank Syndrome" and Anaerobic conditions as well as the negative affects they have on bottom feeders. The more I looked into it the more I learned about how they are created, how to remove them and how to avoid them. All my tanks now have a finer layer of sand (1/2-3/4 of an inch) with the exception of my 30 gallon with my group of . Between their burrowing shenanigans and my thorough and strict gravel vacuums I haven't had any issues (besides diatom growth but thats a good excuse to get another catfish in my books ) I get away with about one and half or two inches of substrate. After cleaning the new sand (something else I didn't do the first time) and doing my first Gravel vac it felt like I was loosing a lot of sand but it was really just the particles that were to heavy for the initial clean- they were still much smaller than the average grain size. You will always loose some sand so its good to keep a bag of it lying around but my 55 gallon has been running for 9 months without needing to add more sand and without incident (besides my forgetting to plug in a heater). I have one of those 'Python' water changing rigs that I hookup to my sink so I can vary the pressure of the suction which helps but I find simply pinching the hose works best (when draining- DO PINCH IT WHILE FILLING). All my tanks are planted either via a section with ADA aquasoil held in place with a barrier of drift wood or stone or with Java Fern tied onto some wood tangles in which case the substrate is 100% sand. You should NOT attempt to remove it while fish are in the tank as the release of the toxins from doing so will most likely be fatal.

This is my most recent set up for my new group of . I only added this tank to my profile 8 days ago but it was running for 2 months prior to getting the fish. This tank has a fine sand substrate layer of 1/2-3/4 of an inch and most of the sand is exposed for ease of maintenance. The cave that is formed by the dragon stone pile harbours about 1/3-1/4 of the tanks total sand but is impossible to access with a syphon unless I reconstruct the pile every week. as fun as that sounds... I simply remove one piece to insert the syphon and stir up the substrate via some angled plating tweezers so free any debris for they syphon and keep the substrate from settling. I also wanted to show its possible to have a decent looking planted set up while still being able to clean a sand substrate.
For further reading on OTS look here:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/f ... k-syndrome
For further PC related threads Look here:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ic#p289653
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ic#p291855 (Thread I made when I had to remove mine) and also the page that comes up if you search anaerobic on PC
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/sear ... mit=Search
It could be related to gas exchange (more a lack of). Are you running an air pump on the tank or do you have some form of surface agitation? if it looks like there is an oil slick on the surface then the answer is no but that can easily be remedied with either the addition of an air pump with a diffuser or air stone or by angling/elevating the filter output (may or may not sound like niagra falls...)

I hope this helps!

No air pump, but the integrated filter does do a good job of moving the water and causing surface movement.

cowboyish1 wrote:No air pump, but the integrated filter does do a good job of moving the water and causing surface movement.

As long as there aren't any protein build ups on the surface then this probably isn't the cause.

Nope. No protein buildup.