# FIN ROT OR FIN NIP? PLEASE HELP!!



## Ben_dover (Feb 11, 2014)

I'm trying to figure out whether my pundamilia nyererei has fin rot or fin nip!  
I don't know what could be causing fin rot in my tank, her tail fin has a bit of discoloration but not much and her. Her dorsal fins seem in normal condition. There's a few factors why I think it might be nipped fins and not fin rot. *Not a single other fish has damaged fins or any other signs of infections out of the 30 Cichlids*

1. She is the only female out of the 30 africans in my tank
2 There is 2 male pundamilia's 
3. She's the smallest and only gets picked on by my alpha punda male
4. I've had fin rot in a different tank and my fish got red streaks and dark tips, and all the fins were receding, she only has it on her tail with slight discoloration

First pic is the female, 2nd pic is the male

The tank is 150gallons, temp 82F, 800ph filtration, Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates 0ppm (using API Freshwater Master Test Kit)

If this is fin rot how should I treat it? My last attempt of treating fin rot didn't turn out well.

*ANY ADVICE WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!! THANK YOU*


ResizedImage_1392124844904 by yungnuts, on Flickr


ResizedImage_1392124845386 by yungnuts, on Flickr


ResizedImage_1390877345851 by yungnuts, on Flickr


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## Ben_dover (Feb 11, 2014)

Forgot to add somethings that might help solve this issue. 
I always treat my water with Seachem Prime
I feed them Hikari Green Herbivore African Cichlid Pellets and Seaweed-Shrimp Pellets once a week (35% Crude Protein)
I feed them once a day as much as they can eat for 20-30 seconds
Do 25%-30% weekly Water Changes on average, when its too cold I slow down to 40% Bi-weekly 
I have a 9watt UV Light on one of my canister filters would that help to turn it on?
PH 7.8 out the tap


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

How long has the tank been up and running and how did you cycle? Only reason I ask is due to the 0ppm nitrate reading. Normally, a properly cycled tank will display a reading above 0ppm for nitrate.
Since this is the only female in the tank, I expect this won't be the last issue with her. I suspect that she will be increasingly harassed in the future, therefore you may want to consider her removal.
From what I can tell in the pictures, it looks like the tail or caudal fin has been nipped at a few times. Because there aren't any other nipped fins in this fish and no other issues with the other fish, I'd guess that this fish is being harassed a bit.


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## Ben_dover (Feb 11, 2014)

GTZ said:


> How long has the tank been up and running and how did you cycle? Only reason I ask is due to the 0ppm nitrate reading. Normally, a properly cycled tank will display a reading above 0ppm for nitrate.
> Since this is the only female in the tank, I expect this won't be the last issue with her. I suspect that she will be increasingly harassed in the future, therefore you may want to consider her removal.
> From what I can tell in the pictures, it looks like the tail or caudal fin has been nipped at a few times. Because there aren't any other nipped fins in this fish and no other issues with the other fish, I'd guess that this fish is being harassed a bit.


I actually took a gamble on this tank, I set it up around christmas 2013, let it run for about 2 weeks, waited for my ammonia spikes, then got 15 africans with a ton of quickstart and had some issues with insane Nitrite spikes, around mid January my nitrites were almost gone so I got 15 more fish and then my nitrates were insanely high, did water changes nearly every other day and before February all my readings went down to 0 and thats when I knew I finished my cycle and the readings have been stable at 0, 0, 0 for almost 3 weeks now with weekly %30 water changes.

I think you may be right about removing her, I wanted to keep it an all male tank but my LFS told me he would sell me all 3 for 15$ and I couldn't refuse that offer haha I was hoping they would breed a little later when they matured but she probably wont make it that long in this tank.


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## Ben_dover (Feb 11, 2014)

This has been solved and I have confirmed it was just nipped fins and no fin rot!
Thank you for the help GTZ!


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

:thumb: Happy to help!


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