Discoloration or Fin Rot ? - Please Help

[Ross Pelser]

Housing
What size is your tank? - 2 Gallons
What temperature is your tank? - 70 Degrees Fahrenheit
Does your tank have a filter? - No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?- No
Is your tank heated? - No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? - None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? - Shrimp & Krill Flakes
How often do you feed your betta fish? - 1 or 2 times a Day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? - Every 2 Days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? - 80% to 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? - Nutrafin, Oxygen Tablet and Aqua Colour

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? - No

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? - Gray Area on Caudal Fin with black outline
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? - It has not
When did you start noticing the symptoms? - When i got him, 2 Days Ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? - No, Dont know what to do
Does your fish have any history of being ill? - New Fish, Not Sure.
How old is your fish (approximately)? - Bought from pet shop 2 days ago


Hello Everyone :)

This is my first post as well as my first Betta so please help me :)
His name is Notorious and he is a Red Betta and on his Caudal fin there is a see through gray patch and a black lining around the grey patch..

IMage URL's : http://postimage.org/image/ssm8w1gkv/d408745d/
http://postimage.org/image/r0ng5fe4h/a5739815/

Images are a bit sketchy but its the best i can do for now :)

This is my first BEtta fish and i really want him to thrive, im getting a much bigger tank tomorrow.

[Ross Pelser]

Just to add some non professional observations, Notorious (My Male Betta) is eating well, he is extremely energetic as well as inquisative and he doesn't seem to minde the grey area nor the black outlining but I'm still worried :(

[RabidAliver]

Sounds like it may be fin rot. If the tank is 70 degrees, it's too cold, the recommended temp is about 75-84 degrees (I think, the warmer end is negotiable). Also, because you just got him from the store, it IS possible that he got fin rot while in the cups they usually keep bettas in. I'd say dose him with 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt for about 10 days (no more, or else it WILL cause damage to the betta's organs). Seeing as it seems to be a minor case warm, clean water and salt doses SHOULD clear it up if it is fin rot.

[Ross Pelser]

Thank you so much for the reply :) Thanks for the advice and I wish I could follow that procedure but the problem is that I am currently at at boarding school and do not have access to medication for my Betta :( Do you know of anyways that I can cure the fin rot with homemade or easily found items ?

[RabidAliver]

Aah...sadly I don't. I understand the lack of access though, I wouldn't use any household salts though, table salt contains iodine which is bad for fish. I mistook my tailbiter as a fin rot patient for months, so I know a good few of the medicines for both minor and major rot cases before I realized he really was biting his tail.

However, all I really could recommend is trying to find a warm place in your dorm for him, 70 degrees really is cold for a betta even if they are EXTREMELY hardy fish. If you have access to a small heating pad that won't boil him even that could help despite the uneven distribution of the heat compared to in-tank heaters. Fin rot is a combo of cold and poor water quality even despite the 100% water changes, of course for a fish you just got that IS a bit much right away. I'd suggest leaving him be in his tank for a few days to let him de-stress, and if the grey area and black outlining spread then maybe start at 50% water changes weekly.

[Ross Pelser]

OKay, again thanks so much :) You have been really helpful and ill let you know how it goes :) Hopefully Notorious can recover :).. My holidays are coming up soon so I might be able to get some medicine then :) but just out of interest, how long would it take for the Fin Rot to reach a severe standard?

The gray area contains a few white strands and I ave read up that it indicates fin regrowth so is there any chance that the Fin Rot is healing?

[RabidAliver]

Mm, well for it to reach past the point of no return (Meaning there are no fins left at all, and it's progressed into body rot) I would imagine it would take a few weeks provided it isn't an extremely aggressive/fast moving strain of fin rot. I don't know just HOW fast for sure that it moves, I've never truly experienced the fin rot so I'm basing this on research and prior treatment for a mistaken diagnosis.

And you're very welcome :D Just remember that to prevent it from showing up again it's important you get some kind of heater for the tank, I'd recommend shooting for 80 degrees if possible since that's pretty much ideal for a betta temperature wise. However if you do get a heater be sure to do it slowly, raise the temp too fast and it could shock your poor boy and accidentally cause his death ):

EDIT: Also with the possibility of regrowth, do the white strands look like they have a very transparent clear webbing between them? If so then yes it is new growth :D

[Ross Pelser]

Oh okay:) ill follow all your recommendations:D - about the fin regrowth; there is a transparent patch and I'm hoping its regrowth :) if it is, does this mean that his fin is healing?:)

[laynisample]

Originally Posted by Ross Pelser

Oh okay:) ill follow all your recommendations:D - about the fin regrowth; there is a transparent patch and I'm hoping its regrowth :) if it is, does this mean that his fin is healing?:)

Yep. transparent sections of fin are regrowth.

[Ross Pelser]

Yay:D.. I'm hoping Notorious makes it!:D.. On a seperate note, I feed him shrimp and krill flakes, how many flakes should I be feeding him?:)