Hello everyone, first time on this forum. I have recently been posting on a different forum seeking help but have not been successful so far so here it goes...
I'm a college student, went on spring break, one of my roommates watched my tank, probably overfed them which lead to pretty high nitrates when i returned (around 100). Didn't notice anything particularly wrong at the time, but my betta did acquire what appears to be mild fin rot during my absence. The rotting portion appears blackish, something that may not be fin rot??(according to what i've been told) but i believe it to be fin rot. I would also like to note that he is behaving normally and is not at all sluggish
I immediately took action and performed water changes multiple times that week of my return, I managed to get nitrates down to about 10-20 ppm, fin rot stayed the same.
After a week of 0 improvement with very good water parameters I went for the maracyn 1 and 2 combo. I treated with both medications for 5 days, after the first round of treatment, the fin rot was unchanged, but in addition my betta's fins were now much thinner all around, even on parts that were not damaged by rot. I proceeded to extend the maracyn 2 for 5 more days and I saw no improvement, but no significant worsening.
Stopped medicating for 1 week and tried mild aquarium salt, no improvement.
Next attempt was the melafix/pimafix combo, although I have read many conflicting sources of information about these medicines, I made an educated decision to try them. Well, it didn't really matter because they didn't hurt or help my betta, he remained the same after the 1 week treatment.
And finally, I tried jungle fungus clear, which is me throwing S**t at the wall and hoping it sticks at this point, I just started the 4 day treatment yesterday and can't really say I'm expecting it to work, but I have to try.
After all of this, the fin rot has maybe gotten a TAD worse, but all of his fins have remained thin since the maracyn treatment.
I come here in desperation, here are the question answers:
Housing
What size is your tank? 9 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter?yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 1 guppy, they get along well, 2 african dwarf frogs, cherry shrimp
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? frozen blood worms, freeze dried brine shrimp, betta pelets,
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 times per day (usually 2)
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? twice a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? roughly 20-25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? prime
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:5-10
pH: about 7.6
Hardness: dont know
Alkalinity: dont know
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? part of caudal fin has rotted, caudal, dorsal and anal fin have thinned considerably
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no, he acts as though there is nothing wrong with him
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about 1 month ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? yes, described above
Does your fish have any history of being ill? other than this, no
How old is your fish (approximately)? a little less than 1 year
I'm a college student, went on spring break, one of my roommates watched my tank, probably overfed them which lead to pretty high nitrates when i returned (around 100). Didn't notice anything particularly wrong at the time, but my betta did acquire what appears to be mild fin rot during my absence. The rotting portion appears blackish, something that may not be fin rot??(according to what i've been told) but i believe it to be fin rot. I would also like to note that he is behaving normally and is not at all sluggish
I immediately took action and performed water changes multiple times that week of my return, I managed to get nitrates down to about 10-20 ppm, fin rot stayed the same.
After a week of 0 improvement with very good water parameters I went for the maracyn 1 and 2 combo. I treated with both medications for 5 days, after the first round of treatment, the fin rot was unchanged, but in addition my betta's fins were now much thinner all around, even on parts that were not damaged by rot. I proceeded to extend the maracyn 2 for 5 more days and I saw no improvement, but no significant worsening.
Stopped medicating for 1 week and tried mild aquarium salt, no improvement.
Next attempt was the melafix/pimafix combo, although I have read many conflicting sources of information about these medicines, I made an educated decision to try them. Well, it didn't really matter because they didn't hurt or help my betta, he remained the same after the 1 week treatment.
And finally, I tried jungle fungus clear, which is me throwing S**t at the wall and hoping it sticks at this point, I just started the 4 day treatment yesterday and can't really say I'm expecting it to work, but I have to try.
After all of this, the fin rot has maybe gotten a TAD worse, but all of his fins have remained thin since the maracyn treatment.
I come here in desperation, here are the question answers:
Housing
What size is your tank? 9 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter?yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 1 guppy, they get along well, 2 african dwarf frogs, cherry shrimp
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? frozen blood worms, freeze dried brine shrimp, betta pelets,
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 times per day (usually 2)
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? twice a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? roughly 20-25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? prime
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:5-10
pH: about 7.6
Hardness: dont know
Alkalinity: dont know
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? part of caudal fin has rotted, caudal, dorsal and anal fin have thinned considerably
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no, he acts as though there is nothing wrong with him
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about 1 month ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? yes, described above
Does your fish have any history of being ill? other than this, no
How old is your fish (approximately)? a little less than 1 year