fin rot/ velvet/tumors/normal - not sure???

[Gracie6363]

Well this 40 gallon tank that I recently recieved came with 8 fish. 5 red minor/serpae tetra's, 2 leopard cories and a pl*co. I am usually facinated with new fish in the tank, but I had seen these at my sister in laws each time I went over so they weren't anything new to me. Since, I have added a few new fish and I have had more time to sit and observe all the inhabitants now.

The 5 tetras all had nipped fins when I got them and they often chased the other tank mates. That's all I noticed at first. I couldn't even tell them apart. The last few days I have been watching more and seeing differencs.

A few of them have darker color or black right at the base of their body before the tail starts. 1 or 2 of them are swollen in this area. One that is the most swollen, it's top fin also seems either clamped or torn. Hard to tell. But it's been that way since he arrived. They are all active, eating and seem happy, but I am concerned that it's disease. I haven't ever experienced disease really... Had ich once.

Can anyone help me with this?

my tank is PH 7.2 Temp 76 Ammonia .25 PPM Nitrite 0 PPM

[Pac-Man]

is it a common pleco?? if so it may grow too big for a 40 gallon....

[Pac-Man]

why dont you try treating your fish with melafix??? that always a good alternative.

[Gracie6363]

Originally Posted by Pac-Man @ Sun May 01, 2005 8:34 am

is it a common pleco?? if so it may grow too big for a 40 gallon....

Yes it is a common pl*co. My intentions for this 6 inch fish is to trade him at the fish store. He's a poop factory and I am aware he will out grow it as will my Bala's... I will be getting a much larger tank with in a year.

I don't want to sound rude and I thank you for your next post about melafix... but the question had zero to do with the pl*co. But like I said, please don't take that the wrong way... but from previoius posts I have already discussed this topic.

[boroughmal]

If you have these fish nipping each other its more likely a community problem than a desease.
With finrot ,the fins get a reddish edge to them whereas the fin nips dont get red for a couple of days
also the finrot is progressiveand eats a line out all the way round the infection.
Try a anti biotic treatment first and if its finrot they should start to grow back in a week. but the nipping will continue untill you sort the community problem out.
The fin nipping gets worse when there are females spawning and the competition is among the males, some of the more experienced fishkeepers will advise you better as my forte is water quality.
Regards
www.fishkeepingsupplies.com
Aquarium and Fish Supply Tropical

[Gracie6363]

as i had mentioned before, I knew about the tail nipping and such... this is something different.

It's at the beginning of the tail or possibly actually on the body of the fish. It's the tail fin base, the top fn base andt he swimmer fins on the sides at the base... (sorry i never can remember the technical names)... It's dark and swollen at the base of the tail and top fin. One the side fins on one of the tetra it seems fuzzy or something. Difficult to discribe sortof. I hope that helps better.