Treating fin rot after Maracyn 2.

[Leopardfire]

I don't know how to post my own pics but he looks kind of like this but with deeper gashes on the tail. The deepest ones go about halfway.

http://i44.tinypic.com/dnzs4j.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/anj8sy.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2qcm4jo.jpg

How bad would you say he is?

[Leopardfire]

Does this work? I don't know how to post my own pics but he looks kind of like this but with deeper gashes on the tail. The deepest ones go about halfway.

http://i44.tinypic.com/dnzs4j.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/anj8sy.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2qcm4jo.jpg

How bad would you say he is?

[Sakura8]

Do you see blackened edges where the tears are? And how fast are the tears happening? If you don't see blackened edges then I think perhaps your guy may be tailbiting.

To post your own pics from a website like tumblr, first right click on the image you want to use and click on the option "copy image address." Then come back here and in the message box, click on the little yellow box that is second to last in the options. It kind of looks like a postcard. Paste the image address you just copied in there (remove the httml:// that's already there first). Then click okay and that should do it.

[Leopardfire]

Thanks for telling me how to do it! Here are the best pics I was able to take. They are kind of blurry but my camera was terrible and my betta wouldn't sit still. How does he look?

[Sakura8]

It looks like he may have bitten his fins a bit but the bites then got infected. With his particular coloring, it's hard to tell if the edges are really really black but the tears don't look like the really ragged edges of serious fin rot.

Is he still in the triple sulfa?

[Leopardfire]

Yes, he's still in the triple sulfa. The weird thing is that his tail hasn't really gotten shorter. It just keeps getting tears in it. Some of the tears seem to be deepening too, but I'm not sure if that's from the filter. It was meant for a 20 gallon so in some places it's kind of powerful and I can see him straining. He does have some quiet areas too.
The edges of the deep gashes are blue and don't really have any black. His tail seems kind of clear at the ends if you look at it hard but it's kind of hard to tell. I look at him along time every day, but I just can't tell if he's getting better or worse.

[Sakura8]

If his tail is clear at the end, that could be new growth coming in. You can adjust the filter flow on Aqua Clears by pushing the intake tube to the right. This lessens the flow. It might not be enough but you could always baffle it with a plastic bottle if necessary.

Another thing is to check all of your plastic plants/decor and make sure there aren't any sharp edges he could get caught on.

[Leopardfire]

He had some really sharp plants which were shredding his tail. I removed them, but I think that is why he got fin rot. It's really hard to tell if he has black tips because in some light they look dark, but in some light they look colorless. How soon should I see a noticeable improvement in his fins? Is it so gradual that you can't really tell on a day to day basis?

[Sakura8]

If he had true, really bad fin rot, the black edges would probably be unmistakeable. It would be like someone took a lighter and charred off his fins. New growth is usually noticeable as clear tissue. In most cases, the regrowth is really fast, surprisingly fast. But if his immune system is a little compromised still or there is some bacteria left in the tears, growth could be much slower.

[snazy]

To me, it looks like he is biting his own tail being stressed from the non-cycled tank and toxic ammonia and nitrIte. You've treated with maracyn2 which is a gram negative bacterial treatment. It didn't help, now you are treating with triple sulfa, which again is a gram negative bacterial treatment so I doubt it will help either. If he does indeed have an infection, then you should get a gram positive bacterial treatment. You should have treated with Maracyn 1 and Maracyn 2 at the same time in the first place. Maracyn 1 treats gram positive bacteria, maracyn 2 treats gram negative bacteria, so you have yourself covered for all types possible. Ammonia and nitrIte free water is the best though.