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A plan for treating fin rot.

765 views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
So the betta I've had for about a month now has a increasingly bad case of fin rot. I suspect that he may have already had it when I got him as his top fin was a folded mess then.

Anyhow, the fin rot has since worsened and he has two holes in his tail and the edges of his tail or are blacked color and the top and bottom fins are curling and stripping.

His behavior wasn't very bad though as he was active and curious and generally normal until about two days ago when he started acting mopy. One thing I did notice though is that ever since I got him he hasn't been a big eater. I'll usually feed him and he'll leave the floating pellets alone until they sink to the bottom where I'll find him picking at them later on searching through the gravel.

I've done a ton of searching on the subject of treating him and when I stopped by a small local pet shop the owner suggested Melafix. So I bought a small bottle of that and started using it according to directions. He did seem to perk up a bit but it did pretty much nothing to help the fin rot.

Other research I've done on medicines to help him turn up a mix of results it seems. Half the time people seem to say this or that helps a lot, while the other half say to never use it, it killed their fish. So i'm really lost of what to try as far as a medicine although I've familiarized myself with Maracyn I and II, tetracycline, and all the likes that seem to be suggested normally.

So in wake of the confusion I also read that increased water changes do a big deal of helping as well as a bit of aquarium salt. So my plan for now is putting Berry (the beta's name) into a separate, easier to clean and a tad smaller place, and changing at least half the water daily. I want to try adding a tiny bit of Aquarium salt in as well whenever I can get to the store and buy some.

His usual 1.5 gallon tank (with what is supposed to be an undergravel filter) is going to be cleaned from top to bottom while he's out of it and get it set back up for when he shows some signs of improvement. If I can get to that stage then I plan on starting 50 percent water changes twice a week with that and I kinda of wanted to buy two or three ghost shrimp to add as well as I hear that help with food on the bottom and I think they would be adorable friend's for Berry.

So, the big question is...do you guys think I might be on track to helping get rid of his fin rot? Am I missing something huge? Does my plan sound like it will help at all. I'm sorry this is my first post and it's long and I'm babbling but I want to make sure I cover everything.

I already moved him over as I wanted to get him in some cleaner water as soon as possible but I've been planning this for a while now so I made sure to treat the water with dechorinater and have it setting out ready since this morning.

um what else can I say..oh! I don't have a heater for his tank, I'm trying to find one that would work for it still all the smaller heaters seem to have bad reviews that i've looked at. Although I hate the anything below 70 personally and I have a portable heater for the room itself going half the time as it is.

I also I might look into upgrading his to a tank between 2-5 gallons in the future. It's not really a matter of money (although I really don't have much to throw around) just space. I think if I can clear my dresser off I could fit a bigger one there.

But yes I'll stop typing now. Any suggestions and comments are appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Hi TopHatViolet and welcome to the forum. :)

First, do you think you could post a pic of Berry?

For now, I think your plan of treating him with AQ salt sounds perfect. The dosage you want is 1 tsp per gallon. Also, see if you can find API Stress Coat. This also helps stimulate fin growth and the production of slime coat. Don't keep him in aquarium salt longer than 10 days, 14 absolute max. If his fins haven't gotten better or have gotten worse during this time, we'll haul out the big guns for treating him.

Yeah, small heaters are hard. Try to find an adjustable one, not a pre-set one. There may come a time when you need to get the heat up higher than 78. Also, preset ones can be really unreliable. Some don't heat at all and others get the water up to 90. o_O Hagen Elite 25w Sumbersible heaters are good; just be sure to get an extra thermometer because the dials don't have numbers.
 
#3 ·

There's a picture I toke when i first got him.

I tried to take a picture of him this morning but he wouldn't sit still so it's blurry. Which I guess is a good thing, considering he's pretty active again now that I moved him over to another place.


Thank for you for advice, I'll look out for those things when I get to the store. ouo
 
#4 ·
Your treatment plan sounds good, but I want to know about the conditions you generally keep him in. Chronic fin rot general is caused by poor water conditions, so it'd be a good idea to figure out what is wrong with the water conditions in his regular home

I know you said you keep in in a 1.5 gallon tank, but you didn't mention your water change schedule. How many times a week do you change his water, and how much do you remove?

Also, how much food do you feed him? Does he eat it all? If he doesn't, do you remove the uneaten food?
 
#5 ·
I usually changed about 50 percent of the water once a week and tried to get out what I could of the uneaten food on the bottom. I didn't take out uneaten food right away because he wouldn't eat it until it sunk to the bottom and I was worried about that. I wasn't feeding him tons but I cut back on the amount I fed him though so that were wasn't too much left in. I only put in like 4 or five pellets now. Does that help? ;u;
 
#6 ·
TopHat, do you think you could get your water tested at a pet store? The stripping/tears in his fins look symptomatic of either high nitrite or nitrate levels.

The edges do look black but they don't look bad, like the fins are dissolving overnight. This doesn't look like full-blown rot, thank goodness. We can treat it with the AQ salt and maybe if you up the water changes from 1 50% a week to 1 50% and 1 100%, we can get the ripping under control.

Berry is a very handsome guy. If it helps you feel any better, I have a red betta who has fins almost identical to that, right down to the curl on the dorsal. He's healthy and happy and I came to the conclusion that he had weak fins from bad genetics.
 
#8 ·
I haven't been able to get the water tested yet but while I was at the store I picked up the salt to start using and a few other things. I got him some flakes instead of pellets just to try and oh goodness! I've never seen him eat so much before! He wouldn't touch the pellets but he loves flakes apparently. I'm so happy to see my baby eating finally!

I also picked up a smaller filter that says it's for 1-3 gallons. I thought maybe I could try that and take out the under gravel filter since it doesn't seem to do nearly anything but bubble. Worth a try and if it doesn't work I'll just change it back. I also got a thermometer for the water. ouo
 
#9 ·
Just so you know, I honestly have to say that filter's don't do much for keeping the water clean because a cycle can't be maintained in tanks as small as your 1.5 gallon. It isn't the mechanical process of cleaning (removing small bits of this or that) but the chemical process of cleaning (such as when cycles convert ammonium or ammonia to nitrites to nitrates) that do the trick. However, if you want a filter just because they're nice and keep the water moving, then they're really nice.
 
#10 ·
It's true the filter won't be as beneficial biologically but it will help by mechanically filtering out the small particles. And keeping the water surface moving is good because it helps to prevent protein films.

But just a word, if it's the Hagen Elite Mini Submersible filter, return it now. That thing is soooooo powerful, it could probably filter a 10g. I'm not kidding, I tried it in my 3g with the flow rate set on low and it literally created a whirlpool that sucked my poor betta in. Set it on the high flow rate and it's like a typhoon hit the tank.
 
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