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Body Rot

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Bin 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, I'm new to bettafish.com. I've kept bettas for several years without any major problems cropping up, but I have a serious situation with my fish (Milton) and I've been all over the internet trying to figure out how to help him. The advice I've found hasn't worked and I'm at a loss. A few weeks ago I noticed that he seemed to be developing fin rot, so I followed the instructions for treating it with aquarium salt that I found here: http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/fin-rot-101.html

It looked like it was starting to reverse by the end of the treatment, so I put him back in his (sanitized) main tank with daily 50% water changes. There had been this very small white patch near his tail that I thought was somehow related to the fin rot, but it must have been a secondary infection because a few days later he started losing scales and his tail fin got worse again. I put him back in his 1 gal QT bowl and went through a treatment with Maracyn II. It didn't work at all and he's much worse. He's lost more scales and his tail is gone. I started on Tetracycline yesterday, after two days of 100% unmedicated water changes, but today it looks like he has fungus as well. I have Tetra Fungus Guard, but since I've already started on the Tetracycline I don't know what to do. I realize that he's probably too far gone, but I don't want to give up on him. Hoping someone here can help.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gal QT tank
What temperature is your tank? 75
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No (room temp is constant)
What tank mates does your Betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your Betta fish? Top Fin Betta Bits
How often do you feed your Betta fish? 3 or 4 pellets twice daily

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Daily in the QT tank.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100% New water sits next to his bowl overnight to normalize temp.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Top Fin Betta Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No. Getting test strips on Thursday.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your Betta fish's appearance changed? He's missing scales on the back quarter of his body. Tail bones are visible.
How has your Betta fish's behavior changed? For the first two rounds of treatment (salt and Maracyn II) he was spending a lot of time on the bottom, although he would still come to the surface and eat. Since his first dose of Tetracycline last night, he's been swimming around and flaring at me more. His tail is usually higher in the water than his head.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A few weeks ago.
Have you started treating your fish? Yes.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No.
How old is your fish (approximately)? About 1 year.
 
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#2 ·
For some reason fin rot is sometimes totally treatment resistant :( All I can really suggest in addition to what you're doing is putting a heater in there with him and pumping up the temp gradually to 80-82 degrees. The warmer temp will help boost his immune system and help his body fight the infection. Adding Indian Almond Leaves to his tank may also help, it has some antibiotic properties and the tannins it releases make fish very happy.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your help. The heater from his main tank is too big to fit in the QT, so I have him in a small room with a thermostat-controlled space heater. (Jury-rigged, but it seems to work.) I bumped that up to just over 80. Where can I find Indian almond leaves?

Also - I think the fungus is getting worse. He's on his second of four doses of Tetracycline right now. Do you think I should finish this round and then switch to fungus meds? It looks like they have antibiotics in them, too. I don't know if it would be better to keep up treatment with Tetra or switch and get rid of the fungus.

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again!
 
#4 ·
You can find Indian Almond Leaves from members here, eBay, the IBC store, and probably Aquabid too. Some local betta shops have them but you may not have one near you. If you can't get the Indian Almond Leaves fast enough to make a difference, oak leaves will work too but you'll need about 20 of them, and it can be somewhat difficult to find some that you know are pesticide free, but this is the time of year when they're all over the place and you do want them brown and dried :)

I would probably go ahead and finish his round of Tetracycline and then give him a day to rest in clean water before proceeding with the fungus meds. Just so his body doesn't get overwhelmed by all the chemicals. If he suddenly declines significantly let us know though.
 
#5 ·
Pictures would help. Best advice I can give is to humanly euthanize him, once it reaches their body it is near impossible to stop. However if you want to keep trying I understand raising the temp will help probbaly about 80* constant, tannins will help if you cant get your hands on IAL oak leaves died and pesticide free are a great alternative too just add as many as you want I like to make water dark dark brown for sick fish. And I would try a salt bath that would be my best idea. Unfortuntaly sometimes the meds make it worse the goal is to make him strong enough to fight the problem.
 
#6 ·
Well, it looked like he was rallying for a few days, but Milton died last night. I guess it was just too far along. Thank you both for your help, though.

I'm probably going to wait a bit before getting a new betta, but when I do I'll probably be back to learn about planted tanks.
 
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