Female betta with NO FINS!!

[lelei]

Yes, and Bettafix, and Melafix are both dangerous, don't use either one..ok..just use the stress coat, and AQ salt...I hope your lil fishy heals up quickly:)

[Tikibirds]

Melefix and bettafix are usually not recommended - many say it can destroy their breathing organ. Personally, I think this only happens when one over doses or does not follow instructions.

However it may be best to remove the melefix as its a stronger version of bettafix and switch to another medication. There are a few that will be good for advanced fin rot. I would go with API Furan 2.

Effective against a wide variety of gram-positive and gram negative bacterial diseases of aquarium fish, including; Furunculosis (Aeromonas), Dropsy, Gill Disease, Fin and Tail Rot, Hemorrhagic Septicemia, Eye Cloud, Black Molly Disease.

I seldom can find maracyn 2 and when I did, it never worked. Its less effective in certain water types

[lelei]

This was my rescue fishy..with severe tail rot..she is in a tupperware container..hard to really see..but you can see the missing tail



and this was after a few days treatment with only AQ salt and Stress Coat.

[RandyTheBettaFish]

Hope she makes it, the poor girl!

[rich e rich]

Ok, babystarz, I'll do that. It's troubling because I bought this ig bottle of melafix.

I read of people that used it for this same purpose, and they said it worked fine. What are your thoughts?

[rich e rich]

Thanks for the info lelei,

I'll use Stress Coat instead. That's a really nice fish!

[BettaQi]

I used a half dose of melafix for my girl for one day and it helped.

However back when I had 5 boys I dosed one full dose with melafix and his fins got "hard" and brittle and never "flowed" again.

[babystarz]

Originally Posted by rich e rich

Ok, babystarz, I'll do that. It's troubling because I bought this ig bottle of melafix.

I read of people that used it for this same purpose, and they said it worked fine. What are your thoughts?

Yes some fish manage to not get it into their bodies, but really it is dangerous in any amount for bettas because if it gets into the labyrinth organ (basically, it's a betta's lung) it can cause damage. The main ingredient in melafix is tea tree oil (a mild antiseptic, not an antibiotic) and if it coats the inside of the labyrinth the betta cannot breathe and may suffocate.

Stress coat is good to use, but it's also not an antibiotic and you can use it in conjunction with a stronger medication to encourage a healthy slime coat, which it important for keeping your fish's scales and fins healthy.

Maracyn II is a gram negative antibiotic that is safe to use on bettas, although not the only one available. Various strains of fin rot are resistant to certain antibiotics, so if one antibiotic does not work you can attempt to use another. I do know that some strains of fin rot are entirely treatment resistant but this seems to be rare. Here are some other antibiotic choices:

The majority of aquatic diseases are gram negative which makes treatments with antibiotics such as Kanamycin or other gram negative antibiotics a good choice, this is no guarantee that the disease pathogen will respond. Sometimes combinations of Kanamycin and Nitrofurazone give a wide spectrum treatment, other times you may have to try very different antibiotics such as Erythromycin or Metronidazole (Erythromycin is often a good choice for usually aerobic gram positive eye infections) while Metronidazole is sometimes a better choice than Kanamycin or Minocycline for anaerobic gram positive bacterial infections with the side benefit of mild effectiveness for internal and some external parasites.

Source: http://www.americanaquariumproducts....edication.html

Usually the use of antibiotics is discouraged unless conservative treatment has failed or is inappropriate given the severity of the situation, and I believe this situation is indeed severe enough to warrant bringing out the big guns to make sure the bacteria causing the rot is dead.

[rich e rich]

That's for the very detailed answer babystarz. I will source Macaryn 2 and Stress Coat

[lelei]

Originally Posted by rich e rich

Thanks for the info lelei,

I'll use Stress Coat instead. That's a really nice fish!

Thanks she is very special, and she is doing soo much better, her tail is fully grown, and her dorsal and anal fin are getting longer too..I will upload a recent pic..you would never beleive she is the same fish.

I sure hope you have the same results with your lil girl