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.
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.