PlanetCatfish.com

Hi.. I am new to this forum so bear with me.
I have two Acanthadoras C. And one is doing great. The other, a smaller, one seems to have lost his dorsal fin (spine too!!) and its tail is almost a nub. I suspect fin rot and today put in Meafix and Pimafix.. Yes!! I took out the charcoal filter and did a partial water change.
Are these fish susceptible to fin rot?
Are they fussy with the what one uses as a bottom gravel?
What are your recommendations for treatment?
Great forum!

They are not really more prone than other species AFAIK. Also i'm not sure if fin-rot would affect the hard dorsal spine(?)
In order to treat effectively we must firstly determine the cause...
Any chance of a photo as it would help us?

As far as substrate goes - i've kept these very successfully with various sands & also with rounded gravel with no problems at all. My preference is for sand but i would suggest natural is best as opposed to some artificial blue or red or whatever colour gravel ( )

Richard,
thanks for the reply.

Yes sand for substrate is harder to keep clean I find...but the most important thing is the health of the fish. I get that! Smile.
Hmmm no pictures as we speak. I will try to figure that out.
Well not all of his? dorsal spine is gone! But definitely it is definitely smaller and not as full a "fin" as is the other catfish's!! Neither is his? tail as full as the other's.
I do have an Amazon Puffer in the tank but!! it appears that the puffer leaves the other tank inhabitants alone (Amazon Puffers are known to be docile).
I try to keep the tank water as clean as possible without overdoing it. The tank is pretty well planted and I hope has enuff hiding places for the catfish. It is a ten gallon and seems to have matured nicely without much algal growth (but enuff to have a natural look). I rarely have to clean this aquirium.

So I am treating with Pima Fix and Mela Fix. What are your thoughts on these for catfish. I have used with great success on corys.
I hope I am doing right by this fish.
Oh and their diet is varied. I feed them shrimp pellets, frozen shrimp, and algae pellets.
Any help would be appreciated.