Wondering if I should keep using Pimafix...

[AdonisVsqz]

I recently adopted my boyfriend's coworker's red veiltail since she had to move to New Zealand and couldn't bring him along. My first pet! I named him Adonis, haha When I finally got him three days ago, I noticed multiple tears and some blue-ish/grey-ish bits hanging from his tail and assumed it was fin rot. Here's a picture of him when I first got him (don't know if you can see the rips on his tail but they're pretty big and discoloured):



Decided to visit the nearest pet store (a PetSmart) and I was given PimaFix to treat his fin rot. I also moved him from the 1 gallon tank I was given to a 3 gallon tank, got him a heater, some live plants, decor and some tank mates (eight neon tetras who he seems to get along with).

Anyway, I read somewhere in this forum that PimaFix can be bad for bettas but I read elsewhere that it's fine if the fin rot is bad enough. I don't know if y'all can see his damaged tail but all I really want is for Adonis to be healthy! Help me? Please and thanks

[AdonisVsqz]

* Forgot to fill out:

Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 77 F
Does your tank have a filter? Not yet.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No.
Is your tank heated? Yes.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Neon Tetras

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets and fish flakes.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 50% weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Dechlorinator

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Yes, but I need to test again

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? When I got him, he already had a rip on his tail.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? A bit more active, a little bit less scared of me
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Pimafix. Heater.
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[Jully]

Do not use anything with 'fix' in them.

Buy some aquarium salt and treat him with aquarium salt. Make sure he has clean, warm water so he can heal. Clean water by it's self can heal it, but aquarium salt can also help a lot, the heater will come handy too.

[TheCheese909]

Jully is right, usually the medications with 'fix' are rubbish and can do more harm then good.

Aquarium salt for up to 10 days in a 1 gallon hospital tank with daily water changes would be best for right now. It's 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon of water. It's always nice to have 1 gallon containers around, it's the easiest way to treat Bettas (and other smaller fish as well).

I'm very glad you've put him in a 3 gallon tank and not just kept him in the 1 gallon! You're off to a great start, especially since you have the heater as well and are looking for help! :) His fin rot doesn't look so bad right now so you caught it in time. You can't always listen to pet store employees, they don't always know what's best since they are trained in very little and easily can give false information off of what little they actually know.

[AdonisVsqz]

Thank you for the help! When I put him in the hospital tank, does he need a heater? I only have one heater right now

[KevinPham123]

Hmm, try to find a an adequate sized container/tank which will fit a betta will fit inside your main tank. If you do this, you can leave the quarantine tank in the actual tank and both tanks will still benefit from the heater. Let me know if this works out for you haha. I'm doing atm with my betta because i'm "fishless" cycling its tank with food.