Fin Rot - Pet store or stress related? Poor Fish

[Theadomm]

Hi everyone

I got Nemesis (named after the Greek spirit of divine retribution and wrath) yesterday. He looks like he is suffering from fin rot. I am going in to the pet store today to get some aquarium salts. I think it was either from the breeder or the stress of being moved as he was brand new to the pet store and they keep all their betta fish in large, clean tanks with filters.

I am battling with ammonia levels as the water from my tap has an ammonia reading of around 0.75 I got it down to safe levels but its no where near ideal especially for a sick fishy. I am going to buy bottled water today. Nemesis deserves clean water. It also makes me think I shouldn't be drinking my tap water either. Tested Nemesis' tanks water three times in the last 12 hours and the ammonia level is dropping if anything so I figure I cycled my tank correctly. (PS Nemesis is my first fish I have ever owned)

He is showing signs of stress and keeps swimming in the same pattern around the tank although today he has been less jumpy and more inquisitive of me, plus he stopped his pattern to hide under some of the live plants. He eats very well swimming around the top of the bowl begging for more and scavenging the gravel for left over morsels.

His colours don't show up to well on the photos but he is the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. Light lilac on the body with fins like oil slicks - blue fading into turquoise into bright oil slick green and then a deep red. Wow takes my breath away.

If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.65g or 10l
What temperature is your tank? 25'C or 76'F
Does your tank have a filter? Yes the smallest Elite (see tank pic) I baffled it with a filter sponge but he didn't like it so I took it off and he calmed down. It looks like he likes the current. He is a very strong swimmer and likes to swim right up to the outflow like he is training? Its on the lowest setting
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? No its summer in SA if I heated the water I would cook Nemesis but it will be in winter
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

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

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? So far I have changed his water once but I got him yesterday and need to get bottled water
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I did a 50% change but will do 100% percent changes for the next few days when I get a safe water source
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqua Plus water conditioner & nutrafin cycle

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0.2 (I know I have been working feverishly till the shops open to get it down further stupid tap water glad I bought the test kit now - I could have killed Nemesis )
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? It hasn't changed
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He has looked less stressed
When did you start noticing the symptoms? When I got him home from the store he swam way to fast in the pet store for me to get a good look
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I will with aquarium salt as recommended in the sticky
Does your fish have any history of being ill? unknown
How old is your fish (approximately)? only a couple of months at the most he just got delivered to the store from the breeder

[Leopardfire]

I also have ammonia in my water (1ppm) which caused my betta to get fin rot. He struggled with it for a month until I finally moved him to bottled water.
It does look like your betta has mild fin rot so moving him to bottled water with 100% changes and stress coat may be enough. If you want to be extra safe, add 1tsp per gallon of AQ salt for a couple of days.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Did you do a fishless cycle? I am glad you have live plants as they are probably also contributing to the drop in ammonia levels, but I agree that you should switch to bottled water. Most of his problems are probably from the ammonia levels, and maybe a bit of stress as well.
He is beautiful :) I hope he recovers, soon.

[Theadomm]

I did a fishless cycle I set the tank up a good 3days before with the live plants and I fed the tank. My first mistake was doing a water change before putting him in his new home cause I wanted to get rid of aany ammonia caused by feeding the tank. It probably increased the ammonia instead of helping :( The one plant also has a lot of brand new growth around the base since I put it in the tank. Sigh I am so anxious.

[Theadomm]

I have been to 3 stores and no one has aquarium salt. One pet store guy said I should get un iodated salt from the supermarket? Does anyone have another suggestion?

[AyalaCookiejar]

I had to order AQ salt online and it took two days to get here.
I'm glad you were prepared as it probably minimized the damage. If you can't get AQ salt, focus on getting the bottled water. Get him warm, clean water, as that is often the best remedy for most things, anyway. Like Leopardfire said, the fin rot doesn't look severe.

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by Theadomm

I did a fishless cycle I set the tank up a good 3days before with the live plants and I fed the tank. My first mistake was doing a water change before putting him in his new home cause I wanted to get rid of aany ammonia caused by feeding the tank. It probably increased the ammonia instead of helping :( The one plant also has a lot of brand new growth around the base since I put it in the tank. Sigh I am so anxious.

Cycling takes more than 3 days.

[Theadomm]

I guess as the ammonia was dropping inside the tank the plants must be doing alot of the work. Nemesis is now on 100% bottled water changes, with 1tsp per gallon of 100% natural evaporated sea salt with no additives or iodine. I tested the tank again and its reading 0mg Ammonia. Nemesis has also slowed down and isn't swimming frantically around although is is still very very active. He got very upset with me taking him out of the tank charging me and flaring in his jug.

[ChoclateBetta]

Bottled water is bad.

[AyalaCookiejar]

It's not worse than tap water with .75ppm ammonia.

It still should be conditioned, though.

I would advise against sea salt. They are freshwater fish. You need aquarium salt. Plain, unscented Epsom salt is also okay in some cases, but will not help you in this situation.