Fin Rot has lead to a fungal/bacterial infection

[Jlbfish]

I have been treating my betta for a while for a stubborn case of fin rot.

He has had Kanaplex/Furan2

Maracyn/Maracyn II

Kanaplex/Furan2 again with added salt (1tsp per gallon) and methelyne blue baths.

These treatments have been over the past 2 mos (maybe 3). I recently finished up the Kanaplex/Furan2 and salt. His tank has transitioned back to fresh water with water changes every other day. The fin rot doesn't seem to have progressed. He also shows no signs of new tail growth.

Yesterday he had a fuzzy growth on his tail but it was tiny and broke off. This morning he has a little fuzz again where ideally he would be growing new fins and a fuzzy patch further down on some of his remaining tail fins that were damaged during hte fin rot.

I am hesitant to treat the water again with meds but will if it will help. I'm debating using a Jungle Fungus to cover the fungus side of things.

Any advice? His water parameters are clean and the temp is 80.

Thanks



Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 80.9
Does your tank have a filter? Yes Azoo Palm Filtered
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

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari betta pellets with occassionally brine shrimp and blood worms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3x per day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5
pH: 7.4
Hardness: Not sure I can test going off of my water history the KH is 8 and the GH is 0
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Yes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Yes
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Before Thanksgiving
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Listed above
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? he has lived with us for 1 yr

[callistra]

The hole is a sign of ammonia burns or tear on something. The second photo.. am I seeing a missing tail and black rot all the way down to his body?? Can you take another photo to clarify this?

gh is 0? Do you have a water softening system or what water are you using?

how often and how much do you do a water change.

He has been on so many meds.. I say give the poor guy a break.. There's only so much a fish can take before you toast his kidneys..

[Jlbfish]

I dunno. The ammonia hasn't been past .25 and that was during a med cycle or right after I can't remember. Otherwise it has been 0. Everything in his tank has been sanded or smoothed so I can't imagine where he could tear it. Although their fins are so paper thin I admit it is possible. I was concerned about heater burns and thinking of moving him into a tank (like an evolve or something) where the heater can go behind a barrier. His heater may be cranking some these days considering the season. He is also by a window. I can move him to my kitchen instead of my desk if that is a possibility but I swear he gets lonely and antisocial. But that might just be me imagining it. LOL

Yes we have a water softening system. I have been using SeaChem's Equilibrium in my other tanks (or the hard water from outside) but I have read that Betta's don't need much GH in their water since they are from soft water. I know my KH remains high. Do you know? I do RODI + tap in another tank and would happily do it for him to if it would help.

I usually water change every week. 50% at a time. Temp matched dechlorinated water. Lately I have been doing anywhere from daily to every 2 or 3 days depending on meds etc.....

I don't want to do any other antibiotics if I can avoid it. I started Maroxy and it has already seemed to help. Is that dangerous for him? I have only been giving anti bacterials for the fin rot but haven't used an antifungal.

:/ Not sure what else to do but cross my fingers. He was in salted water for a couple of weeks has been about 1 week in fresh. Should I salt again?

Mostly he is lethargic and hiding in his cave not his log. He comes up for breath every now and again and eats happily. But he is going to lose another big part of his tail when the other parts of the rot fall away.

Does rot normally fall away and then regrow?

Any information you can give I appreciate. Thanks for the response

The first shot shows the top part of his tail missing. During the fin rot (or whatever was affecting him) it ulcerated and then a hole formed and the top part dropped away. The lower hold has just developed and it looks like the 2nd part of his tail (last of the tail affected by the rot) is starting to fall away.

He does appear to have it on his body it hasn't increased but it does look like it is there. The second picture is the close up where you an see the fuzz on him. It is a close up of the top part of his tail fin.

Jana

[Jlbfish]

Tried to get some better pics. It looks so bad :(

[twolovers101]

aww poor guy :( best of luck to him! he's definitely a fighter :)

[callistra]

I don't know what that water softener is adding to the water but a gh of 0 is not ok for any fish. To have a high kh but no gh it is doing unknown things (it's not an RO or DI system) and I've seen this be a big issue for fish depending on the issue used.. It would be best to bypass the softer if you use it for fish. At the very least he needs the equilibrium. How long have you kept fish using this water system?

That kind of rot is indicative of a long term water problem and is slow moving (unless it goes overnight in which case he'd be dead) so he has been like that for a while.. so I am concerned about the tank's water quality.. not only because of the softener but also the ammonia which should easily be gone in 12 hours or less in a cycled tank.. I know for sure now you've totally destroyed your cycle with the antibiotics and you will now have to recycle by testing daily for ammonia and nitrite and doing 50% change any time you see any of either. A weekly 50% with siphon will also be needed. After a period of a month or two you should finally be able to cut back to 50% weekly with siphon. I also strongly suggest using Prime as your conditioner to detoxify the ammonia and make it easier to break down by your biofilter.

That said.. it is not ok to cycle with a fish in this condition. He will need twice weekly water changes, 50% and 100% in something of this size while he is being treated and healing. How long were you treating with Kanaplex and Furan 2? I would go for a two week treatment for this.. salt will not help. It's too advanced. Maroxy is also not an appropriate treatment. I'm afraid he may lose everything that is now black, which includes part of his body.. his recovery at this point is contingent upon keeping his water quality perfect. Is the rot still spreading/changing?