sick betta fish - fin rot?

[feathers777]

Hello!
I bought a betta fish [tito] about 2 weeks ago from the $1 shop, I felt an urge to save the poor fish. Tito came in a small container with hazy water. He looked alright... i bought a 1.5 gal bowl and i put some live bamboo with some pebbles in it. As soon as we transferred him to his new bowl, he was a bundle of joy! swimming fast and very active.
I tried to feed him hikari pellets but he just spit them out. So then I tried bonito fish flakes and he loved them always begging for more... I don't overfeed him.. he eats about 3-5 flakes twice a day.
Tito is incredibly inquisitive and swims fast whenever he sees either my partner or me!

2 days after I bought him however he started developing a thin black edge on this tail but I did not think of anything bad because he was very active.

The black edge around his tail however started to get thicker and now his other fins look as if they are melting :( We have been changing the water 40% every other day and started treating him with Melafix 2 days ago.

We also changed him into his new 5gal tank yesterday where he is swimming faster than ever!!!!
Although Tito is still very active and eating well, he is also stays inactive for long periods of time on the top of the tank, sometimes he appears dead.. see picture!

The questions are:
- does fin rot cure?
- how long does it take to cure?
- is melafix the best medicine?
- Are bonito fish flakes ok to feed bettas?

Any other tips and advice would be highly appreciated. I love Tito! I also must confess that I don't know much about fish. i have been reading a lot about bettas lately but I am still very new to them

THANK YOU MUCH

[ChoclateBetta]

Water changes aquarium salt meds help. Be careful with the lucky bamboo it has to have leaves above water or a few months later they rot. You sound like a good owner. P.S. I lave the tank is it fluval.

[feathers777]

thanks for your reply! and thank you about the bamboo tip!
do you think is normal for tito to be all floppy? or do you think the medication is affecting him too much?

[ChoclateBetta]

I think he will recover but flakes are not the best for Bettas varied diet is best warm warm water boosts immune system some pellets and Freeze dried brine shrimp will help.

[LizzyP]

Hi, sorry your betta is not feeling well.

Just a couple quick questions.
-Is your tank heated and do you know the current temperature? Bettas are tropical fish, so they like water 76-82F.
-Do you add declorinator to your water when you change it? There are metals in the tap water which is fine for us to drink, but not good for fish.

I personally do not feed any of my boys flakes. Flakes are like potato chips, or french fries. Not really good for you, but okay to have on occasion. I feed mine Omega One Betta Buffet, but there are also many other good betta pellets as well. Look for a pellet with the first 3-4 ingredients fish of some kind, not wheat or gluten.

You can cure fin rot, but I do not recommend Melafix, anything with "fix" on the end has shown to harm their labriynth organ, which they use to breath oxygen from the surface. If harm happens to it, your fish will suffocate and we don't want that. I do recommend aquarium salt and good, clean, warm water. The dosage is 1 tsp per gallon, I believe. But don't quote me on that one. You will start seeing new regrowth (clear edges) in a few days.

I think I answered all your questions. Good luck and keep us posted :)
Lizzy

[MoonShadow]

Do you have a heater in your tank? Water temps that are too low can lead to inactivity and can also compromise the bettas immune system.
What type of conditioners are you using when you do water changes?

[feathers777]

Hello there,

Thank you for all your tips guys!
I really appreciate it :) Also your fishies look so pretty!

DRUGS:
I discontinued Melafix because it really affected Tito, he just looked so miserable and so ill everytime I put melafix in the tank. Melafix seems to have stop the rot from growing yet the rot is not gone... He even has it on his whiskers and chest :(
- Any magical suggestions?

WATER:
I checked the water with test strips and it seems to be in ideal condition! I also added a little aquarium salt.
Temperature:
- 79 (day) 76 (night)

FOOD:
is a biggie right now. tito is pickie eater...
I tried about 3 different types of pellets but he won't eat it...
Here is the controversy - He likes-loves:
-SHAVED BONITO FISH FLAKES do you know which ones I mean?
not fish food... but the flakes one puts on top Japanese pancake...
These flakes are actual dried bonito fish... Surely fool of protein not carbs!

-Could this be bad food for tito?

PLANTS:
Tito has a fake plastics grass-like plant and real bamboo. Tito loves the bamboo! he hangs out on the lucky bamboo a lot, he goes up and down, he zig-zags in between, in and out, and hides in it. He never hangs out in the fake grass....
I need to find a real plant for him. Any suggestions???

ENERGY:
He is super energetic! Never sleeping or flopping around since I discontinued Melafix....

I hope tito makes it!

Thanks again for all suggestions. I will keep you posted!

[feathers777]

oh sorry i forgot to mention the type of conditioner:
-nutrafin aqua plus (tap water conditioner)
-nutrafin cycle (biological aquarium supplement)

these 2 came with the the tank. but before that we were using:
- splendid betta complete water conditioner

are these any good?

[ChoclateBetta]

Food that comes with the tank is not usually the best. Conditioner with a Betta on the front is the same except worse and costs more.