tail fin being eaten

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I have this problem in my 1.5 meter tank now i would like to list the fish that are housed together i have four triggers the clown,niger,picasso and the brown/green one with yellow stripes there is also a large twin spot wrass large 20cm a juvenile emperator angle and a matted file fish now the problem is the tail fin on the emperator and the wrass and the file fish have all been bitten to such an extent there is not much of it left none of the triggers tails are affected now all the fish seem to get along nobody is being chased or bullied so what do you think is happening to the tails on all the none trigger fish? any ideas here guys also will their tail fins grow back ?
 
I would move all the fish with damaged tailfins to another tank.
 
I would move all the fish with damaged tailfins to another tank.

I was thinking that its only happening after lights out and its to do with the sleeping arrangements there is not a hell of a lot of rocks in this tank to allow for more swimming space and when it comes to sleep time you are in my spot so move, whats your views on that ?
 
You could have a crab problem. I had this problem where my Goldies tails were bitten so bad that I lost them one by one until I found the crab. Got him out and that was that. No more tails missing. So go at night when lights out and use a small flash light and check all your rocks and caves. Also you can try a DIY trap if you can't see him. It took me a long time to find my crab.
 
would check for late night predator, crab or mantis shrimp.

The sleeping spots could also be a problem. Had the same issue a while back with not enough hiding spots for all. The tangs ended up all fighting for the prime sleeping spot. Rearranged the rocks a bit, created more hiding spots on other side and all sorted.
 
tailfins should grow back, unless if eaten away into the flesh

Anyway, keep an eye out for bacterial infection.
 
would check for late night predator, crab or mantis shrimp.

The sleeping spots could also be a problem. Had the same issue a while back with not enough hiding spots for all. The tangs ended up all fighting for the prime sleeping spot. Rearranged the rocks a bit, created more hiding spots on other side and all sorted.

Thanks i was thinking of adding more rock to create more hiding/sleeping spots i think i will do that tonight also will there tailfins grow back
 
You could have a crab problem. I had this problem where my Goldies tails were bitten so bad that I lost them one by one until I found the crab. Got him out and that was that. No more tails missing. So go at night when lights out and use a small flash light and check all your rocks and caves. Also you can try a DIY trap if you can't see him. It took me a long time to find my crab.

Thanks for the advise i will have another look at night i did take all the rock out the other week to see if i could find anything but nothing, i will try riaans idea about adding more rocks to the tank also dont you think if its a crab or shrimp at lease one of the triggers would have been bitten as well but they havnt been affected at all, also do you know if the tail fins will grow back ?
 
Hi Rick...perhaps check if they dont have tail rot/fin rot...google the term and see how it looks on photo's. I doubt that it's other fish eating away at it.
 
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Hi Rick...perhaps check if they dont have tail rot/fin rot...google the term and see how it looks on photo's. I doubt that it's other fish eating away at it.

Thanks zandy will check because i dont think its a crab or shrimp because the triggers would have taken them out for supper at the first sighting but cant understand why the triggers are not affected in the slightest
 
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Thanks zandy will check because i dont think its a crab or shrimp because the triggers would have taken them out for supper at the first sighting but cant understand why the triggers are not affected in the slightest

Hi Karen i have come to the conclusion its fin rot now if i take out the affected fis and put them into a tank with healthy fish is it contagious and will spread to healthyb fish ? any advise on this
 
have you got a pic? seeing the damage can help assess the cause
 
have you got a pic? seeing the damage can help assess the cause

No sorry no pictures but it looked like the see through parts of the tail are missing just the membrane parts left now what i really need to know here is if i put a fish that has fin rot into a healthy tank will it infect the other fish in that tank ????
 
It is a bacterial infection, that can spread to other fishes. I would place that fish in QT
 
No sorry no pictures but it looked like the see through parts of the tail are missing just the membrane parts left now what i really need to know here is if i put a fish that has fin rot into a healthy tank will it infect the other fish in that tank ????

yes but there is a quick and easy solution
Safety Stop | Blue Life

you can get from @wild on pets as they are closest to you
 
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it does add stress, but so does any treatment...
so before i say its finrot etc, my guess is its the undulate trigger, they are nasty SOB's
is this him?
p-39119-trigger.jpg
 
there are plenty of pictures available on Google image search. Can confirm that you got fin rot or not.

Improve your water parameters.
Best is to remove the affected fish into a QT system. Treat with anti biotic. Broad spectrum will remove both good and bad bacteria. But as you do not know which specific bacteria you got causing the fin rot, broad spectrum might be the answer.

Unless you can get fin rot specific medicine, look in the second link, couple of names given. If you can get those, then use them.

Keep the water quality in the QT system excellent. As you will have a number of fish in there, pollution will quickly lead to other issues. Water changes are a must. Even twice a day siphoning the bottom clean. filter sponges will help as well. Easy to rinse those sponges daily and to get rid of trapped rubbish in them.
 
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