New Betta owner: Fin Rot not improving

[Otterfun]

Originally Posted by DarkMoon17

The Four Most Important Aspects of Betta Care Are:
1) Proper Water Changes: I have been doing it daily 100% since 1/2/13
2) Warm Water (78*-82*F): yes, around 78F
3) Varied Diet : switched from Hikari (12/20/12 to 1/1/13) to Omega One since 1/2/13
4) Quarentine New Fish/Plants/Tankmates: yes

If you do these 4 things, you can greatly reduce the chances of your betta getting sick.


Conservative Treatment Versus Medication:
There are two ways to treat a sick fish. One is the conservative route. It involves increased water changes and (usually) salt treatments.


Tail rot or fin rot
•Symptoms: Betta’s fins and/or tail seem to be getting shorter and shorter or they seem to be falling apart and dissolving, Black or red along the edge of the betta’s fins/tail,

Treatment: Conservative: Treat with Aq.Salt at 1 tsp/gal. Increase water changes to 100% daily. Replace accurate amount of salt following water changes.

Add Stress Coat to help repair tissue. If there is little to no improvement within the first 5 days, you can increase the salt dosage gradually to 2tsp/gal but do not continue any salt treatments past 10 days.

From 1/2/13 to 1/6/13:
Been using 1 tsp/gal or 5 cc/gal.
Black tips on the Caudal fins are turining into dark grey and some are slightly transparent. But found new rot last night, see below.

Started using 2 tbsp/gal last night.
Seems like the grey parts got lighter this morning or it could be I was not fully awake. The affected area is about 1/8 inch with some tear in the Caudal fins and showing transparent regrowth between the torn threads of the fin.

Medication: If Conservative treatment is ineffective use API Tetracycline, API Fungus Cure, API Triple Sulfa, OR API Erythromycin. Also add Stress Coat to help regrowth. Continue until fins/tail stop receding and start showing some new growth.

Should I start using this if the Caudal fins are not improving by 1/12/13 given the new issues below?


Advanced Fin and Tail rot
•Symptoms: Fins and or tail start rotting away, usually starting from the edge, but sometimes it starts at the base of the fin (especially dorsal) and attacks the body directly.

I noticed 2 strands of the Anal fin (closest to the ventral pelvic fin, gills side) are detached from the body and have black tips in the areas closeest to the body side. I did not notice this until last night because this area is hidden from sight by Fred's ventral or pelvis fins when he swims around.

But there is no rot on the body as in black spots, etc.

•Treatment: If the rot has advanced onto the body, skip conservative treatment. Do 100% daily water changes. Use a combination of Fungus Eliminator and Tetracycline. Continue until fins/tail stop receding and start showing some new growth. It may take up to 4 weeks to work, so don’t give up.

Please help, I provided some info from a clip under the Sticky Part 1 above in blue font.

Not sure what to do, am I on the right track or am I killing Fred with my daily water changes thus far?

Oh, I used the following anatomical references for my red VT, Fred:
http://nippyfish.net/bettas-101/betta-fish-anatomy/

Oh, here is the form info:
Housing 2.5g Acrylic Bow Tank, 2g filled.
What size is your tank? 2 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 78F
Does your tank have a filter? yes, but I am not using it today
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? none, an old mug and a leaf hammock for QT

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets at night, maybe 1 in the morning if he is up to eating.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Last night, and will continue daily 100% for the next 8 days for QT with AQ salt.

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
100% for now, AQ is not cycled.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?
Aqueon Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? Not yet.

If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? just got mild fin rot around 12/26/12.

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No changes: swims around, curious with the mug, and rest on the hammock

When did you start noticing the symptoms? 12/26/12
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?AQ salt and daily water change, the black tip are falling off and his tail is not receding.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? No idea

How old is your fish (approximately)? No idea

[Laki]

Well, if you see re-growth that is a great sign! THe aquarium salt should be used for a MAXIMUM of 10 days. After that just keep him in freshwater with daily 50% changes. Have you tried any of the more aggressive medications like API Tetracycline, API Fungus Cure, API Triple Sulfa, OR API Erythromycin?
Can you provide a picture? Perhaps his ventrals are supposed to be black edged? I remember my old Lakitu's ventrals would show bright red when he flared but when relaxed they were blue. Scared the bejeebies out of me at first.

[callistra]

If you're seeing growth and the rot part isn't continuing to spread you may be okay.. Can you share photos.

If you want to use an antibiotic for fin rot I suggest Kanamyacin, Maracyn Plus or Furan 2.

Tetracycline is not very helpful anymore because it's so overused stuff tends to be resistant to it and it's harsh.

Erythromycin is a gram positive drug and fin rot tends to be gram negative.

Triple Sulfa could work.

Maracyn II could work - Minocycline but again harsh

Fungus Cure has a bunch of carcinogenic anti parasite meds... malachite green and Acriflavine. Not good choice for fin rot

[Otterfun]

Hi,

I am not sure how to attach the photos, let me figure this out and post ASAP. Thanks.

[Otterfun]

This is the caudal fin rot, see the edges and tips
http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?a...ictureid=33008

[aemaki09]

I couldnt see the first pic but in the 2nd that doesnt look very bad.
Stick with the salt and water changes.
If you notice it get A LOT worse then start medicating. Try to avoid medicating when possible so that if you really need them your fish haven't become resistant to them.

[Laki]

Agreed, the edges are not bad at all. Bit of clean water with strict water changes should clear it up. It won't happen overnight but it shouldn't continue spreading.

Go on ebay and order some Indian Almond Leaves. They are dirt cheap and really an excellent preventative water treatment safe for all time use. Again, it does not prevent illness, it just helps strengthen their immune systems and slime coat.

[Tikibirds]

Generally it should clear up with clean, warm water - unless sometihng special is going on OR he is bitting his fin and it got infected with rot.

Once you get rid of the rot, stress coat at 2X the recommended dose can help the fins regrow. They will of course regrow on their own but it seems to happen quicker with stress coat or Krodon's fish pretector.

[sunlight]

Are you sure it not his normal coloration? Is it something he got while you have him or you bought him like that? One of my betta looks the same but it his normal coloration

[Otterfun]

Phew, thanks to all, I thought he's is bad shape. I will keep up with the water change.

Would 100% water change without AQ salt after 1/10/13, followed by 50% every other day, and 100% in 7 days be enough ? I may or may not turn on the filter.

Some background:
I drowned my cactus and plants died under my care because I do not have green thumbs and I surely hope I do not kill poor Fred.