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Fin rot?

931 views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  happypappy 
#1 ·
I just noticed my betta has mild fin rot, after looking through some pictures of him taken a month ago, and comparing them to him now. I immediately did a 40% water change (5 gallon tank, cycled, filtered, and unheated for now, as summer temperatures outside are enough to keep the tank at 77-82 all the time, but I do have a heater for winter months).

Before that, I ran a test on the water, Ammonia was 0ppm, Nitrate is close to 0ppm (I think it was 1-2), and Nitrite was 0ppm. I did find something though- there was some plant growing in my aquarium. It was this odd kind of stringy green thing. I think it might've been from the previous aquarium that seeded this one (when I cycled the tank, I used the seeding method from a friend's tank). I removed it, as I didn't really know what else to do with it, and I don't really want any kind of plant in my aquarium.

Did the plant cause the fin rot? If so, how should I treat it?
 
#2 ·
Are you sure it's fin rot? He might be tail biting. Plants don't cause rot and if there's no ammonia, it can't be fin rot. Tail biting looks like a crescent shaped mark in the tail.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Don't think it was tailbiting. I glance over to his tank every 15 minutes or so, and I've never seen him tailbiting. Besides, no crescent shaped marks, and he doesn't seem stressed. Here's a picture-

http://f.cl.ly/items/2K3j3d1u2r0h3f3T420g/IMG_20120803_125249.jpg

Sorry for the crap quality, I had to take this on my phone since mom has the good camera, and she's out of town :p But compare it to my avatar picture, that was taken a month or two ago. And I was thinking that there might've been some kind of harmful bacteria that was carried along with the plant that was carried along from the other tank.

Other than what looks like fin rot, he seems like a perfectly healthy little guy. Comes up to eat, even tries to snatch pellets from my fingers by kind of jumping up during feeding time :D

EDIT: Sorry, I had to remove the picture from the post, it looked HUGE. Linked you to it instead.
 
#6 ·
Yep. The main causes of tail biting are stress and boredom. Does he have enough decorations? Does your tank have a light? Or maybe he just misses you. You have to find the cause because he'll just keep on biting even if you treated him.
 
#7 ·
He has a little crab decoration friend, a long fake plant that extends the length of the tank (he likes hiding in it), another fake plant that's really for my pleasure, and I make sure to leave a little bit of space between the unused heater and glass so he can swim there when he doesn't feel comfortable hiding in the fake plant. Oh and a question that's somewhat related- is it safe to put a glazed coffee mug in as a decoration? It'd look cool, and serve as another hiding place for him. I'm afraid it'd be toxic though.

There is an incandescent bulb that I leave on for most of the day, just to heat up the tank a little bit, and for easier viewing.

I think he's missed me a bit, since I did have summer school, and was out from 6.40AM-4PM (from my room at least), and I did have to alter his feeding schedule because of that. Usually, I'd feed him 2 pellets at noon, and 2 at around midnight (coincidentally, breakfast and dinner for me too! xD), and then I had to switch to 2 at 6AM, and 2 at ~10PM.
 
#8 ·
Hm. You mean ceramic coffee mugs? Those are great, some members use those. Does the bulb appear to be too bright? Since you already have a heater, I don't suggest the light. When I had school, (It's summer break) I left him. He never bit his tail, though.
 
#9 ·
Yeah! How do I tell if they're ceramic/nontoxic though? I have a few coffee mugs that my mom and dad have had for years, and they don't really want them anymore.

And it doesn't seem too bright... but the reason why I don't keep the heater on is because in summer months, the water hits 75-80 consistently; I only use the light to bring it to an even more optimal temperature (I've heard that 78-82 is optimal), and the heater brings it up to a harmful 84.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Oh darn. xD Oh well, I'll just go out and get a cave like ornament then :p Either way, it should help with stress.

That looks like it could be a case of tailbiting, but it is a pretty blurry picture.
My girl has a ragged tail fin that I think is fin rot and hers look more ragged, like the webbing between the ribs of the fins are gone. I'd think tailbiting would look more like missing chunks. But I'm no expert.
You treat it the same either way. I have my girl in some aquarium salt, which seems to be helping.
Also, true fin rot is caused by bacteria normally present in the tank, but Bettas usually get it if they're stressed, which lowers their immune system. For my girl, I had just tried out a new filter media that made the water gross, so I guess she hated it, lol.
Hmm... what kind of salt do you use? I know you're not supposed to use normal grocery store salt, but I've heard sea salt is okay... the reason why I'm even asking is that the pet store is about half an hour away, and my dad doesn't like driving. xD
 
#11 ·
That looks like it could be a case of tailbiting, but it is a pretty blurry picture.
My girl has a ragged tail fin that I think is fin rot and hers look more ragged, like the webbing between the ribs of the fins are gone. I'd think tailbiting would look more like missing chunks. But I'm no expert.
You treat it the same either way. I have my girl in some aquarium salt, which seems to be helping.
Also, true fin rot is caused by bacteria normally present in the tank, but Bettas usually get it if they're stressed, which lowers their immune system. For my girl, I had just tried out a new filter media that made the water gross, so I guess she hated it, lol.
 
#13 ·
Well, I use API Aquarium Salt, but I've read that an non-iodized salt is fine, Kosher is fine I've heard.
I dosed 1 rounded tsp/gal for a salinity of .1%
The highest you can go is .3% or 3tsp per gallon. But you gotta up the dosage slowly. It doesn't evaporate or get filtered out, so the only way to get rid of it is to do water changes.
And that's all the info I have on it. It's supposed to slow bacterial growth and speed up healing. I use it with Stress Coat too :)
 
#14 ·
I lied, I have more info on it. Important info.
Make sure you dissolve the salt *before* you add it. Get a cup or pitcher of warm water and add the full dose to it. It'll probably take a while to dissolve, but it's important that you do. If you add it straight to the tank, it can burn their gills as it dissolves. Some bettas try to eat it too.
 
#16 ·
I'm pretty sure it would be, as long as its not iodized. The API salt I have is actually described as evaporated sea salt.
Iodine from the salt wouldn't actually harm the fish much, but I've read it's bad for all the good bacteria in the tank.
Just to be safe, I'd start a new thread about whether it's safe, or do some more research on it. Maybe even PM a senior member about it :)

EDIT: I think you'd just check the box of sea salt and look for any indication as to whether or not it's iodized.
 
#18 ·
Old coffee mug will be fine if it's rinsed really well with hot water

Dish soap on a mug can easily be washed off with hot water.

Ask your parents first if they have any kosher salt.

Sea salt is generally more expensive than Kosher & there's a lot of different bodies of water out there. Kosher is manufactured to specific guidelines, so you're more like to get a more consistent product with K.

Also anything that you can also use in the kitchen & occasionally in the aquarium is a HUGE plus.

But keep the high end sea salt for seasoning your own food.
 
#19 ·
what about your fake plants?? you said he likes to get into them -- are they plastic or silk?? I have had a HM betta shred his tail on plastic plants -- not a problem with the silk ones. Also, what type filter -- he may have gotten his tail torn by the intake. It does not look like fin rot --from the photo; fin rot can cause bleeding from the rotted ends and the betta will look ill -- lying on the bottom, closed fins, etc. good luck.
 
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