Please help, I think it's fin rot. What should I do?

[Izzy1226]

None of my past 3 bettas have ever had fin rot so I'm at a loss right now. I took a pic for you guys, but I'm pretty sure that it's fin rot. The rotting just started today. I was busy yesterday, and I saw that his water was a bit foggy(I put too many pellets in his water the day before), but I didn't have time to change it. Also I recently switched him from his about a gallon tank into an about 1/2 gallon bowl(terrible mistake, I was completely going off the looks and the light ) so that didn't help with the water/uneaten food ratio. I had noticed some curling of his fins but I didn't think much of it.

Anyway, I transferred him with clean water into the container that I bought him in for now while I set up his old tank again. What is the best treatment for him? I can't stand seeing his beautiful fins torn up in shreds

[Kithy]

For fin rot I believe it is clean water, warm temp(about 80) and you can use stress coat (double the dose to repair damage) or aquarium salt.

Is your light really orange? o-o Makes it hard to distinguish the ends of the fin with the orange light.

Hope he heals up fast.

[Izzy1226]

Yes that's my desk and the lamp made the pic look orange. What is stress coat?

[Kithy]

http://www.petco.com/product/2896/AP...t=OnSiteSearch

[callistra]

A little more info would be helpful: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233 I want to make sure we don't miss anything. 2 gallon is minimum for keeping bettas btw and even that will require 2 weekly water changes.

A half gallon requires daily water changes alternating between 50% and 100%. 1 gallon should probably be getting 3 weekly changes but some will do two.

In the future, watch your betta eat and make sure no pellets fall to the bottom. If they do, fish them out. I find a turkey baster dedicated just to him (so no soap or chems every touched it) works best.

It's very important at this point to keep his water very clean. If you're keeping him in the 1 gallon do a water change every day of at least 50% and 100% alternating days and the 100% should include a thorough rinse of all gravel and ornaments. To treat minor fin rot like that, I would use aquarium salt, predissolved at 1 tsp per gallon. You can do this for up to 10 days or until you see the fins stop dissolving and you actually see a little regrowth. Aquarium salt should be redosed along with however much water you remove.. so if you remove 50% or 1/2 gallon of water add 1/2 tsp back. If you do a full change add the full 1 tsp back. Then you know you're in the clear. Stress Coat at 1 ml per 1 gallon is also helpful at regrowing fins. If this doesn't work, and it really should, you can try some antibiotics.

[LebronTheBetta]

This seems to be a case of tail biting.
The main causes of tail biting are heavy fins, bright lights, boredom, and open spaces. Your fish seems to have heavy fins so maybe he's just trying to get the out of the way. I don't think fin rot can progress that quickly anyway. He might not like being in a small space, it's up to him.. Note: If this is truly biting, he may continue during treatment. So treating him may basically be useless. Normal warm and clean water is sufficient, but the treatment below just makes it a little bit quicker.

The best treatment for this is aquarium salt and high protein foods. Premix 1 tsp/gallon of AS in a small cup ready to go in the tank. Do daily 100% water changes and add in 1 teaspoon of AS as prescribed. Even if it's a 1/2 gallon, it should be fine. Feed live mosquito larvae or baby brine shrimp if possible.

[Kithy]

When you feed him do you drop all the pellets in at once? When I feed mine I drop one in, he eats it. Drop another in, he eats it. I never add more than one at a time and only do so when he is at the top of the water waiting for food to drop in.

I'm fortunate that I do have time to wait for all my fish to eat their food before leaving my room but I know not everyone is so lucky. Try to squeeze in a bit of time to watch them eating to make sure they are. Uneaten food can quickly pollute your water, especially in a small tank,

[Izzy1226]

I do feed him one pellet at a time, but sometimes he won't see the pellet and it drops into the gravel

Originally Posted by Kithy

When you feed him do you drop all the pellets in at once? When I feed mine I drop one in, he eats it. Drop another in, he eats it. I never add more than one at a time and only do so when he is at the top of the water waiting for food to drop in.

I'm fortunate that I do have time to wait for all my fish to eat their food before leaving my room but I know not everyone is so lucky. Try to squeeze in a bit of time to watch them eating to make sure they are. Uneaten food can quickly pollute your water, especially in a small tank,

[Izzy1226]

Thank you all for the help! :p

[Kithy]

That happened to me when I first got mine. I took a small air tube and siphoned it out. Some fish food can release ammonia as it dissolves into water.