Betta fish fin rot! HELP!!

[itamag]

Here are some new pics. See the white parts. Are they the start of new splits or tissue regeneration? I couldn't be more worried at this point. I don't think the splits are from the plant, because when I compared the photos I noticed that the start of a split which is now bigger is visible in the photos from 3 days ago. HELP!!!!

The white parts are on the edge of the tail. In the second picture you can see the fuzziness to the left of the betta. White fin is most visible in the last picture, on the tail. I feel so guilty for the little guy. I ask again - Is it lethal??? What happens if he'll have body rot? What if he remains with no fins?

[itamag]

On the package of the food it says to feed "2-4 times a day the amount the betta can eat within 5 minutes". How can that be true? I just woke up (morning where I live). The white fuziness on the front bottom fin is gone, I don't know if it disappeared or just fell off. Is that a good sign? He was playful now and poked around everything in the aquarium. I'm afraid he'll become bored - because I took out his plants so now he only has his gravel and stuff I put around the aquarium for him to look at. I can't explain it, but now he seems better some way. What do you think? He ate like a little pig. The past few days it took him about two tries to catch the food, but now he got it right away. Also, from what I have seen, yet ?I weren't with him for a long time, he swam less "akwardly", or at a weird angle. What do you think? I'm much more calmer now. One more thing, I think he has more splits in the bottom front fin, but I'm not sure.

[callistra]

Live plants won't cause splits. It's probably the small size and lack of water changes that have caused this. Have you upped your water changes? We've already suggested you do alternating 50% 100% changes until this stops, and then after that he needs a minimum of 2 and ideally 3 a week - 50 50 100.

I don't see white parts, but I see some fin rot and an extremely clamped skinny betta.. White fuzzys on the tips is generally a sign of shedding the slime coat and is due to poor water conditions or not acclimating to the water properly after a water change.

Have you gotten the epsoms? Have you found the antibiotics?

That's a low quality wheat based pellet that uses only fish byproducts. I would switch to a protein based whole fish pellet like Omega One (feed 3-4 a day split up into two meals with one fast day) or New Life Spectrum Betta (feed 5-8 split up into two or three meals with a fast day). But that said.. as much as you feed.. I really gotta wonder if he's got internal parasites. What's his poop look like?

[itamag]

Originally Posted by callistra

Live plants won't cause splits. It's probably the small size and lack of water changes that have caused this. Have you upped your water changes? We've already suggested you do alternating 50% 100% changes until this stops, and then after that he needs a minimum of 2 and ideally 3 a week - 50 50 100.

I don't see white parts, but I see some fin rot and an extremely clamped skinny betta.. White fuzzys on the tips is generally a sign of shedding the slime coat and is due to poor water conditions or not acclimating to the water properly after a water change.

Have you gotten the epsoms? Have you found the antibiotics?

That's a low quality wheat based pellet that uses only fish byproducts. I would switch to a protein based whole fish pellet like Omega One (feed 3-4 a day split up into two meals with one fast day) or New Life Spectrum Betta (feed 5-8 split up into two or three meals with a fast day). But that said.. as much as you feed.. I really gotta wonder if he's got internal parasites. What's his poop look like?

How can I see his poop? Tomorrow I am going to buy him a heater and a bigger tank. It says on his pellets that they have atleast 35% protein. I never thought he is skinny , I think he always was like this. So how can I get him better? Besides the tank and heater. Sometimes I see a brown roundish thing at the bottom. It is not small, and it is thinner in the middle.

[callistra]

He needs cleaner warm water. That's the key to his recovery. As long as that's not address it is impossible for his fins to heal.

2.5g requires 2 water changes a week 50% 100%.
When you reach 5 gallons you can do only one 100% a week.
If you want to add a filter to the 5 gallon or go even bigger with a filter you need a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. They need to be tested and monitored daily and a water change needs to happen every time you see ammonia or nitrite hit .25ppm. In addition to this one 50% weekly water change will be required. Once the tank is cycled you'll only have to do about 25-50% water change a week (depending on how large the tank is) but cycling could take up to 2 months this way. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

There is no substitute for water changes and fin rot happens because of poor water quality.

You see on the package it says fish meal? That's fish byproducts ground up. Right after that you see wheat. In a good pellet you should have the first two or three ingredients as whole fish. You should see his poop on the bottom and it should be obvious when you do the 100% water changes and clean the gravel.

So to get him better
--------
Right now:

* Clean his bowl and up his water changes (be careful about acclimating)
* Get him heated up (acclimate)
* Look for the antibiotics or you can also use aquarium salt, predissolved at 1 tsp per gallon along with very frequent water changes. AQ can only be used up to 10 days. It will not leave the water and will only be taken out with your water changes and you must replace it along with your water changes. http://www.petco.com/product/1697/AP...t=OnSiteSearch no you know you're in the clear when his fins stop receeding and you see some white growth on the tips.
* Adjust his diet and monitor his poop

[itamag]

Originally Posted by callistra

He needs cleaner warm water. That's the key to his recovery. As long as that's not address it is impossible for his fins to heal.

2.5g requires 2 water changes a week 50% 100%.
When you reach 5 gallons you can do only one 100% a week.
If you want to add a filter to the 5 gallon or go even bigger with a filter you need a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. They need to be tested and monitored daily and a water change needs to happen every time you see ammonia or nitrite hit .25ppm. In addition to this one 50% weekly water change will be required. Once the tank is cycled you'll only have to do about 25-50% water change a week (depending on how large the tank is) but cycling could take up to 2 months this way. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

There is no substitute for water changes and fin rot happens because of poor water quality.

You see on the package it says fish meal? That's fish byproducts ground up. Right after that you see wheat. In a good pellet you should have the first two or three ingredients as whole fish. You should see his poop on the bottom and it should be obvious when you do the 100% water changes and clean the gravel.

So to get him better
--------
Right now:

* Clean his bowl and up his water changes (be careful about acclimating)
* Get him heated up (acclimate)
* Look for the antibiotics or you can also use aquarium salt, predissolved at 1 tsp per gallon along with very frequent water changes. AQ can only be used up to 10 days. It will not leave the water and will only be taken out with your water changes and you must replace it along with your water changes. http://www.petco.com/product/1697/AP...t=OnSiteSearch no you know you're in the clear when his fins stop receeding and you see some white growth on the tips.
* Adjust his diet and monitor his poop

I change his water twice a week now. When I went to the pet store the seller gave me Tetra General Tonic. It says to do a full change, give the med, and 3 days later (tomorrow change 20% and give more meds). Right now, I think it'd be best to follow these instructions. When I think about it, I did see a white hair like thing in his water. I assumed it was a hair from my dog so I took it out. Could that be his feces? What does that tell?

[callistra]

White stringy poop is indicative of internal infection. It could also be him shedding his slime coat though.,.or it could have just been your dog. It doesn't really look like hair.. In order to watch his poop more carefully you could take the pebbles off the bottom and leave it bare for a few days to be sure what it looks like.

If his poop really is white and stringy he's going to be needing actual meds.

[itamag]

Originally Posted by callistra

White stringy poop is indicative of internal infection. It could also be him shedding his slime coat though.,.or it could have just been your dog. It doesn't really look like hair.. In order to watch his poop more carefully you could take the pebbles off the bottom and leave it bare for a few days to be sure what it looks like.

If his poop really is white and stringy he's going to be needing actual meds.

What do you suggest? How does normal poo should look like? Actual meds from a vet? General Tonic can't help?

[callistra]

Normal poop will be brown, like the color of the pellet you feed. It'll also be thin little pieces. If it's round like a ball he's constipated (doubt that looking at him) if it's another color that's infection.

I wouldn't use general tonic. It's a toxic little bunch of drugs thrown together, most of which appears to be aimed actually at external parasite infections.

[itamag]

Today I'm buying him a bigger tank and a heater. I was planning to buy anti parasitic drugs for internal parasites, because I saw another string yesterday in the water, more thin that a hair. What is more urgent? Fin rot or internal parasites? The general tonic, it says online, can do wonders to fin rot.