Ok, inspired by some of you rescuing little guys with terrible fin rot & such, I am thinking about going back to Petco that is 5 minutes from me and trying to help this little guy out. I said "no more" for a while, but what do you guys think about the condition of his fins? This photo is from weeks ago and he is still there, and his tail looks even worse.
I have the following meds at home as I have been trying to get an emergency kit together for my bettas:
If I go get this guy and put him in a hospital tank like one of my wide-mouthed 1 gallon glass jars, would that be ok and which meds would you use if it were you?
I would get him, and get a Kritter keeper 1.75 gal, make great for Hospital tanks, and only use the Aq salt for 3 days, you should see miraculous results, if it's only fin rot, I did that with my rescue..and I have a beautiful healthy fish, that with 3-4 days salt treatment, was amazing..I hope if you do decide to get him, and treat him, all works out well for you, but in all actuality, you may not need a heater, for 3 days of treatment, just a thermometer, and a warm place. Good luck..keep us posted
A wide mouth gallon bowl would be fine, just remember to change the water daily, for those 3 days, 100% the first 2, and then on the 3rd, only 50-75%, due to stress..but for the first 48 hrs, he will need pristinely clean water and replace the salt as you go
Thanks for the encouragement! Yes, my bedroom where I keep most of my fish is really hot (unfortuntately for me) and I'm in Arizona, so I am not even using heaters for my other fish because the tanks read 79 to 80 degrees already.
Ok, so just 3 days of salt? I will try that. Hopefully he is a survivor because the poor guy has been there forever but I didn't think my mom would be happy if I got him, but she said I could. (Sounds so lame, I'm almost middle aged but I am living with my mom for a time to save money . . except for what I spend on my bettas .. ha ha.)
Oh good for you, you will be astonished what you can do, I will tell you, I was a lil nervous of what I was doing, but I got a lot of info and support from this forum, so I did it, and I could not be more extatic with the results, and this lil guy was living in a vase, cold, dirty water for almost 2 straight mons, and I took him in, did the treatment, and he is thriving, and healthy, and so energetic..and happy!! I cannot wait to take in another rescue..
And also remember, highly nutrishious food, like NEw Life spectrum, or Hakari micro pellets, for nutrition, and in the begining they probably won't eat, but you must keep trying..that's a big part of the process of getting them well, even if they refuse food, just keep trying, eventually they will take it..
that looks more like tail biting to me, rather than fin rot. i can't see red or black edges to the fins, and there's huge chunks missing. 8U get him if you want, but imo, it won't really be RESCUING, since he's far from sick.
in either case, nothing's needed to add to the water. clean, warm water will do wonders on both mild fin rot, and tail biting. be sure to give him a good number of plants, if it IS tail biting, to keep him occupied.
also, meds ending in -fix aren't that great for bettas. they often contain a chemical that can harm the labyrinth organ in bettas.
you can dose for up to 10 days on the salt, some fish take to it better than others. You might be able to get him a few bucks off. When you go in ask to see the "fish guy" or manager. Explain to them you've been dealing with bettas for a long time and you have all of the medicine at home to fix him up. Point out and name exactly whats wrong with him (fin rot, fungal growths etc etc) and say "I have no problem buying the fish, I just have a problem spending this much on a fish that has a good possibility of dying. Here's a picture of him a from a few weeks ago, obviously being here isn't much good for his health." and see what happens. I got 50% off for that, you might get something off too.
Ok, that sucks if it's tail biting but in my original photo which seems to be much larger than what the site loads, it looks like part of the tail is black-ish.
And thanks everyone for the advice. I will try just the salt and very clean water. The betta food- I have been trying ot find the Hikari food someone mentioned once, I thought it was called Hikari Gold or something but I will get the Micro pellets. Usually I alternate between freeze-dried bloodworms, freeze dried brine shrimp, New Life Spectrum small fish formula (because I have platies too), and the Aqueon Betta Food pellets. But any food recommendations are welcome - I know frozen foods are talked highly of but I don't know where to get them near by. I know live foods can carry parasites so those are not a good idea, and I know variety is key. But as far as what brands are best, I do not know.
the pet store should have frozen foods. just ask the fish guy/lady. :U
it's possible that he has fin rot caused by the open wounds tail biting leaves. i *have* seen that before. x: either way, it wouldn't hurt to get him.
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