My fish has Fin rot,need help

[Joie]

Housing
What size is your tank?6.6 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 75
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? divided with another betta

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? new life spectrum and frozen blood worm , brineshrimp
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? aqua safe plus

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? red tipped fins,slight tattering and has started to marble.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? it hasn't ,he eats plenty too
When did you start noticing the symptoms? two almost three weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I put him in quarantine in the cup I got him in,with aquarium salt 1 tsp per gallon that I premixed in a 2 gallon jug and floated him in the tank.I changed his water every day for seven days and it looked like it was cleared up but it came back after a day with red tips on his fin.I treated him with melafix with no salt for 7 days(I put the other fish in a different tank while I was treating him).That didn't work ,I only put 2 ml I think I should of put 3 ml.So anyway after that I put him on aquarium salt again dosing 1 tsp per gallon then after 5 days slowly dosing to 2 tsp per gallon(like it says on the disease and treatment sticky basically).Again it looked like it was healing and the rot is coming back again during his treatment.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)?I've had him for about 2 months,I just put him in this tank on 11/7 and I think that stressed him out to get this rot.

Just this morning it looked fine but I went to feed him an hour ago and he has red tips on his tail fin.I guess its good that its only on the fin tips and with a tad bit of tattering.But I think its strange that its coming and going and coming back in different places on like his tail,anal fins.So I'm wondering what I should do.Should I leave him in the salt till friday? Should I medicate and with what exactly? Maybe I should stop the salt treatment and use clean water and stress coat only? I'm new to the forum btw,I visit here a lot but I just now joined.

[AyalaCookiejar]

How long have you had your entire tank set up? Do you know if it is cycled? Fin rot is generally caused by poor water conditions. 50% a week is a basis for cycled tanks.

Even with enough regular water changes, there could be ammonia in your tap water, and it builds up quickly with only one 50% water change a week in an uncycled tank.

It sounds like you are medicating him properly, but I wouldn't use the melafix. Stress coat and AQ salt are perfect, but it should not be used for longer than 7-14 days. I recommend a water test kit.

[Joie]

I've had the tank set up since the 7th of November,so no its not cycled.I'm planning to start doing 20% two times a week,should I do more than that ? I have had him on salt only,for 7 days but with no stress coat because I just bought it and I already used aqua safe for a conditioner,you think it would be ok just using that for now? I plan on getting a test kit soon I need to save up for one.

[AyalaCookiejar]

You mean 20% twice a week and the one 50%? That should work. And yes, you can and should use the stress coat.
I would
1) Turn up the temperature to 78 degrees. This will strengthen his immune system.
2) See if you can take an example of your tap water with your regular additives in to a fish store and ask if they could test your water. Ask for a SPECIFIC number on ammonia.
3) keep up with water changes and use the stress coat.

I hope your fishy gets to feeling better :)

[Joie]

Ok I'll start doing that.
1) I can't I have a tetra preset heater.
2-3 will do
Thank you,Thanks for the help

[AyalaCookiejar]

Whenever you are able, I would recommend purchasing an adjustable heater. I have the 25watt Hydor Theo, and it works great and is highly recommended on this site. You can get it for $15-$25 online depending on where you go.

To keep the water a little warmer, you could put plastic wrap over the top of the tank (making sure to include air holes, of course) to help contain the heat and humidity. You could also wrap towels around the tank to insulate it, and some people surround their tanks with warm water bottles. Of course, those are not permanent fixes, and the water bottle method has to be changed quite often. You could also try placing the tank higher up or raising the temperature of the room, covering any windows or keeping a space heater in the room, as long as it isn't near the tank.

If there happens to be ammonia in your tap water, I would look into getting Seachem Prime water conditioner. It's one of the only ones that will neutralize ammonia, even though it's only temporary (24-48 hours). Live plants also consume ammonia, so they will help. There are a few low maintenance plant choices. Once your tank cycles, the Seachem prime will neutralize any ammonia that may be in your tap water long enough for the BB to get rid of it.

Of course, there's no need to worry about this if there doesn't happen to be ammonia in your tap water.

[Joie]

Thank you for the suggestion,I can't order things online so I'll see if my lfs has it.I do have a cover so their is plenty of humidity over the water.I would like to use a space heater but I have a furnace so my mom doesn't let me.My tank is pretty high up,I do have one broken window I'll see if I can get it covered tomorrow. I do have planted tanks but plants don't do so well in this tank so I have silk ones I'll probably put some marimo or java moss in there.Ok,I'll look into getting prime.

[AyalaCookiejar]

If your LFS doesn't have the Hydor brand, pretty much any brand will do as long as it is adjustable with a thermostat. Elite and Hydor are popular brands, but I have heard good things about regular pet store brands (like petcos brand) or Top Fin. You'll probably want a 25 or 50 watt for a 6.6 gallon, and sometimes it can be hard to find adjustable one under 100watts, or at least IME.

Covering that window will also help. In any case, you are doing a very good job caring for your betta and I think he will most likely recover quickly.

[Joie]

Yeah I just saw the hydor theo heater on the petco website,the price isn't too bad but it would be better if I can get my hands on some coupons haha.But yeah these heaters where ok to start with but I suppose its time for an up grade.I'll be getting one for my ten gallon also but the 50 watt of course.Yeah it will,I mean there is a wall blocking the window from the fish tanks so they aren't getting direct cold drafts.Thank you,I really do hope so.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Oh, yes. They had a huge sale the entire week after black friday, so I got my test kit and heater on sale, but I think it was mostly online deals, anyways.. Don't forget to get your water tested! Generally the first step before treating for anything is to check the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. PH can be checked, too, but bettas usually adapt to PH easily as long as it's stable, which it should be if you use the same water source for every change.
Good luck :)