So yesterday I awoke to Blue with his tail disintegrating from tail rot.
Amongst other things, I got Melafix to treat it...but wanted to make sure...
The directions say "dose daily for 7 days. After 7 days make a 25% water change. Continue treatment if necessary."
Dose this mean everyday I add another 5 ml of medicine for 7 days [he's in 10 gal tank]?
Blue is filter-less atm until I get his filter this week...do I wait as suggested to make my water change [his tank still not cycled yet either], or should I keep doing regular 10-30% water change every 2-3 days?
need to know soon as if daily means I need to give him another dose tonight [sorry for late post...didnt think about it until I re-read directions today]
Yes, it does mean to dose the same amount every day. I tried that stuff twice, and it never worked for me. Some people really like it though. I have had more luck with fungus clear by jungle labs. It works on both fungal and bacterial infections, so you have a good chance of killing whatever it is. I would continue to do the water changes. It would be terrible to try to save your fish with medications, only to have him die from ammonia poisoning. :(
Kim, what is the difference between Jungle Fungus Eliminator and Jungle Fungus Clear? I have used the fungus eliminator and wonder if the fungus clear was better.
well...Blue's tail hasnt gotten shorter since he lost almost 25% the first day he got Fin Rot.
But it dosent seem to be getting better either...not sure if its still infected, or if when growing back, is still a bit off color?
This is my first case of fin rot owning a fish, so not sure whither his meds are working or not / how you tell the meds are working.
Instead of being the brilliant blue / green / red-pink colors it was before, his tail seems more dull, clear / cloudy at the ends.
Melafix treatment started Sat [27th], making today day 4 of treatment. Directions say treat for a week...
but I hear if not clearing after 3 days, discontinue and treat with another medicine brand. Which should I do?
Also, not sure if his eyes are fully normal or not. Noticed they're a bit cloudy in the middle...but not sure what normal eyes look like from pop-eye?
Are beta's eye suppose to be semi rounded, or flat / smooth against their body? Was looking at pics of him when I first got him...looks the same, just cloudier.
Will post pics later.
Tested water today with new Tera Freshwater Master test kit.
pH: 7.6+ pH [high]: 8.0 NO2: 0 NO3: between 4-5 NH3/NH4: 0 GH: 160-180 KH: 200-240
not sure why NO3 so low...how would I get it higher? What about GH & KH...normal or too high?
I have pH lower/decreaser...should I go ahead and use it to bring his pH to where it should be, or wait while he's on meds?
Hi! Don't know much but I do know that their eyes do protrude a bit naturally. If one is larger than the other be concerned. You can google pics to compare.
The cloudiness could be a secondary infection - I know that it is common fish being treated for velvet so I would assune that it would apply with others.
shoot!
checked on Blue this morning, like every morning, to find his Cadual fin lost another 10% :'S
All the stuff that was clear/ cloudy is now gone, leaving only shredded like fins at the end [the ribs like things]
his dorsal fin looks a bit frayed, but not as bad as his cadual, or when it first appeared, although, his cadual and anal fins are starting to become same clear / cloudy too.
I did my testing last night at 10:30, with results being pH: 7.6+ pH [high]: 8.0 NO2: 0 NO3: between 4-5 NH3/NH4: 0 GH: 160-180 KH: 200-240
Is water hardness to high, and if so, how do I fix?
going to put ph lower in tank as per suggested by reply.
found another beta info site that said this about fin rot:
Quote:
So you start with the heavy duty weapon: Neosulfex (Ampicilex works good too). You change water of jar every 3 to 5 days, and add a new dose of medication at that time. If you can, you change jar every time as well, and sanitize the old jar. This will slow down bacteria as well. Once rot stops and fins start to grow back, you stop the heavy duty antibiotic and switch to something lighter and less 'harmful' for fish. Here again, same system, you change water every 3 to 5 days and add Bettamax every time you change water. After another 3 to 4 weeks in Bettamax, and if your betta shows no sign of relapse, you can stop all medicating. You cannot stop, however the frequent water changes. It has been my observation that once a betta gets sick, it will have a tendency to get sick again more often than another betta. So extra pampering may be needed to keep him in tip top shape.
I hope above helped you.
dose this mean I should remove Blue form his main 10 gal tank into smaller "quarantine tank"? or should I keep him in 10 gal? He got rot before I got the 10 gal, when he was in the 2.5 gal, so dont think 10 gal tank was the reason he obtained it.
Going to try to find the Neosulfex [or Ampicilex] as suggested, as his Melafix is not doing the trick, and he's getting worse over the 7 day treatment period.
If he is the only fish in the tank, and the plants are fake, it would be much better to leave him in there. Less stress means a faster recovery.
I had the same thing happen to me both times I tried melafix. It looks like it is not getting worse, then they loose more fin. If the edges of his fins are white (not clear which would be new growth) then it may be fungal. It is really hard to tell the difference without access to a lab (which most of us don't have) so I would suggest treating with something that will treat both fungal and bacterial infections. I have never heard of either of the medications that you mentioned, but if I were you I would find out what types of fin rot that they are effective against (fungal, bacterial, or both),and aim for one that will treat both.
As for your pH, is 8.0 the lowest that your high level test will register. If it is, then the actual number may be between 7.6 and 8. This is high, but unless you plan on switching to either r/o water (with the addition of trace minerals) or a bottled (not distilled) water, then your tinkering with the pH will probably make things worse. Because water with a high pH is hard, it has a great buffering capacity and will usually resort to its origional pH within days of adding a pH down product. This just creates pH swings that will stress your fish. Believe me I have tried all of this (my water is 7.6) and nothing worked for me.
If his eyes are cloudy, he may have a secondary infection. Again an antibacterial/antifungal med. should take care of this as well. I would try the fungus clear, it has always worked for me, and will take care of fin rot as well as any secondary infection.
As to the difference between fungus clear and fungus eliminator, I really don't know. It could be the same product just with a different name, as every description that I have read for the two have been identical. I would just go with whatever your lfs sells.
Oh, and if his colors are fading it is because he is sick. When he is healthy again his vibrant colors will return.
It is always nice to hear that a betta is being kept in a 10 gal. tank. :D Good luck, and if you have any more questions feel free to ask.
thanks for the recommendation on med type...just want to clear one thing up first...
I was advised to wait until the 7 day treatment was up [the 4th is last day]. She said it gets worse before better, and stick with what I was doing...but if I should get one that treats both bacteria and fungus...should I just switch ASAP then? Melafix is only an antibacterial.
If yes...then how should I go about switching out meds [100% water change first, 75%, 50%, 25% 0%]?
Reminds me...forgot to ask...since he's now got fin rot, should I be increasing his weekly water flushes of 20-30% every 2-3 days to every day, or dose it just depend on the med type? Melafix only says treat for 7 days then do 25% change.
The water also dose not appear very cloudy...but I do notice some whitish build up starting to form. I dont do gravel cleans every time I do tank flushes of 20-30% as Im still in process of cycling his tank, but rather I vacuum the gravel every other time. Should I be doing it more or less?
I have been doing tank flushes of 20-30% every 2-3 days now, as I got this 10 gal tank the 27, after his fin rot appeared when he was in his 2.5 gal tank.
Could he have gotten the fin rot from the dwarf frog I had? She passed away the 19th this month from [what I thought] my Beta Blue picking on her too much [ate off middle fingers of right hand, and made a few sores on underside]. Before she passed, her eyes too were cloudy, yet Blue's were fine, so took it as she was about to die. After her death I did not do a full water change, but rather continued the 20-30% changes as normal. Was this the right thing to do? It wasnt but a little over a week later when Blue's tail rot made itself known [lost 15% of cadual tail and 10% of dorsal fin].
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
