Going from bad to worse...

[Demysta]

My male betta fish, Orpheus, is once more experiencing very bad fin rot problems... and something else now. I'm at a loss for words right now and so frustrated over this... I've been doing everything I know for treating fin rot for three weeks now, I've been doing very vigorous water changes for him, checking decor to see if he ripped himself on something (which isn't the case), and making sure his water temperature stays stable, but nothing has worked. I've tried Maracyn-2 for four days now with only WORSENING conditions, Furan-2 didn't help and neither did AQ Salt. Now his fins are even MORE tattered and there are strings of brown coming off of his caudal fin... I just did a 100% water change right now and even saw clear stringy white things in his tank. What is going on with my precious boy?! He's my favourite betta and he looks so horrible now. Please help me!

Housing
What size is your tank? 4 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 79
Does your tank have a filter? no
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? no

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Frozen carnivore fish food (blend of brine shrimp, daphnia, blood worms, etc.)
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once daily, with one fasting day a week

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once every second day and once every 5 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% every second day with gravel vacuum, 100% every five days
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Seachem Prime

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Very ragged fins on his tail and caudal fin, anal fin has obvious fin rot signs (curling of fins, blackened ends) and now there are brown stringy things coming off his caudal
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Hasn't. Still very active, playful and voraciously hungry 24/7
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Three weeks ago with the raggedness and fin rot, just today with the stringy things
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Tried Fuaran-2 for a full treatment, didn't help. Tried AQ Salt as well, nothing. Now on day 4 of Maracyn-2 with worsening condition
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Fin rot. Always fin rot.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I got him roughly a month ago, so I'd say 5 months

[Tikibirds]

Do you have a picture?

[callistra]

Well I'm concerned that some of it is slime coat shed.

I'm sorry those antibiotics didn't work.. How long has he been on meds consecutively now?

[Demysta]

@Tikibirds: I'll post a picture as soon as I can get a good one XD he gets too easily excited when I approach his tank and won't stay still. The fact my only camera is a phone doesn't help either lol

@callistra: he was on Furan-2 for a full 10 days, then went off medicine for a week because I didn't want to overdose and harm him, tried the max of 14 days on AQ salts with no results, and I'm now on day 4 of Maracyn-2. Nothing's helped. :(

[callistra]

He must need something stronger. You've been dabbling in the weaker of the options.

I'm afraid of overdosing him too.. but if he's going downhill fast then I think you need to take a risk..

I would look hard for Kanaplex. If you can't find it try Triple Sulfa.

But I would really be looking for ways to boost his immune system, because if his immune system is shot then nothing might help. I would be adding vitachem at 1 drop per gallon to his water and I would be soaking his pellets in garlic guard for a couple of minutes (not too long to leach nutrients but get the good garlic in there). IAL is another good one but harder to find locally

[Demysta]

I'll try one of those, thanks callistra! I know my LFS has Triple Sulfa but I'm not sure on Kanaplex. They're ridiculously uneducated on these fish so hopefully they won't "rant" on me again on how their bettafix medications are healthy for betta fish and how I should use those instead. >_____> I'll see if they have vitachem too, and garlic guard. Hope its not too expensive XD
Won't be able to go out and get those until Friday, though. Too many assignments due this week for school. Do you think he'd be okay till then? He isn't acting sick, which is a good thing.

[callistra]

It depends on what you're seeing.. i mean if his fins are getting worse quickly or he's acting lethargic, then it's anyone's guess how long he can wait. If he's acting ok and his fins aren't disappearing quickly he'll probably be ok

[VJM]

Callistra, would you recommend giving vitachem all the time, or only when a Betta is off color?

[callistra]

I put one drop per gallon of vitachem in my betta's tank with every water change.

When they're sick or new I also sometimes soak their food in it

[Demysta]

UPDATE: Orpheus' condition is still deteriorating... went to the only pet store on this dumb island that could carry all the medicines you've adviced, callistra, and all they had was Tri Sulfa by Mardel. I took it home only to find it had expired in 2006!!!

His condition is only worsening and they had NOTHING of what I needed! They didn't have vitachem, didn't even have STRESS COAT of all things, or the Kanaplex, or garlic guard... *sigh* I've ordered Kanaplex online hoping it will get here soon, but the seller on ebay has not even shipped it yet... I'm running out of options here, guys. I desperately need the help! Orph's tail is so bad it looks like he's a raggedly double tail rather than a halfmoon.

While I'm waiting I've decided to take drastic measures while he's still not acting sickly: I gave him 2 days without medications and some darkness to help him relax, and now I have put him back on Furan-2 with AQ Salt (I know I'm dosing more than I should be, but his conditions worsens without it). I've also improved his nutrition by feeding him NLS pellets which he is LOVING, and following that up with the high protein frozen foods to help him have something to work with.