Fin rot

[KwLDeL]

Hello, unfoutinatly my fish has fin rot. I sick to my stomic. I know nothing about fin rot but hate it my fish was doin great. Is fin rot hard to treat? Will he be 100% the same fish he was ever again? Does fin rot effect his moods eg. Make him sluggish or not want to eat? Does it bother him or is it something he wouldn't feel? And did I give it to him by adding a tentra in with him on sat.? I take it I stressed him out. Bit he didnt seem to mind, he didnt act different he seemed fine with it. I clean my 3 gallon ever other week and do 1/4 water changes once every 4-5 days. so please shed light on this for me and please respond ASAP I'm heading to get whatever I need in 3-4 hrs. And feel much better with the knowledge of you all before going. So if its six day untreated is that really bad? I'm giving the tentra to my niece. I'm going to get salt clean the tank once a day and other them that I don't know what I can do. Again please help me. I know I asked a lot but I don't know what this does to a fish will he be forever changed?. Thanks so much for the time I really hope to hear back to I can get the best products for him at 3pm.
I appreciate tremendously
Respectfully, dust
Ps. I feel as if the tank, plants and what not are contaminated. That no so is it? I can clean it and put it back no worries? Lastly in a 3 gallon tank do I put the salt in and then clean it out every 24hr or do I use a differnt bolw. And just leave him I it for a certain amount of time? ...So clueless

[aokashi]

Hi~ most of the time, all you need for fin rot is warm, clean water. If your tank is not cycled, I would recommend doing a weekly large water change where you dump out all the water can clean the gravel.

a little API stresscoat may help with the situation.

Tetras can be little fin nippers, so you probably don't want to keep one with your betta. A 3-gallon tank is not appropriate for tetras as they are schooling fish and should be kept with a group of 6 or more of their own species. for this you will need a larger tank, preferably 10 gallons or more ^_^

You won't need salt just yet, he may have just been nipped by the tetra. just good clean water for now... and the fish should be by himself~ no tank mates for a 3 gallon!

Fin rot should not affect the fish's behaviour, but bad water parameters will :)

As for your last question.... what do you have in your tank? Do you know your water parameters (Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and temperature?).

[ryancalif]

I didn't have time to read your whole post since I'm in a rush to get out the door for work, but...

Fin rot is bacterial in nature, so a good broad spectrum medicine like maracyn or melafix should do the job. For the non-medicine cure, try adding aquarium salt. I would recommend a separate quarantine tank for treatment.

For medicine, follow the instructions.

For aquarium salt, add 1-3 teaspoons per gallon to the quarantine tank. Change 100% water per day, and treat for about 10 days.

From what I know, fin rot is not lethal to the fish, so don't stress about it too much.

[Catw0man]

I would try something like API Triple Sulfa....personally, I don't have much confidence in treating fin rot just with salt (if is indeed fin rot, not his tail being bitten by the tetra or him biting his own tail). And I wouldn't use Melafix or Bettafix or anything with "fix".....these products often do more harm than good.

A picture would be helpful to know for sure if it's fin rot....would you be able to post a clear picture of his tail?

[ryancalif]

And I wouldn't use Melafix or Bettafix or anything with "fix".....these products often do more harm than good.

Do you have references to support that?

[Catw0man]

There is a lot of debate about the merits of Melafix....much of that debate can be read here on the forum (here's one link http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....hlight=melafix). Feel free to do your own research into it (as I have) and form your own opinion, which may be different than mine. My opinion comes from personal experience....having at one time tried these products on the recommendation of pet store employees. Anything I've treated with Melafix has not improved and I've always had to switch to something else to see improvement. I've had great success in treating fin rot with API Triple Sulfa.

[ryancalif]

Originally Posted by Catw0man

There is a lot of debate about the merits of Melafix....much of that debate can be read here on the forum (here's one link http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....hlight=melafix). Feel free to do your own research into it (as I have) and form your own opinion, which may be different than mine. My opinion comes from personal experience....having at one time tried these products on the recommendation of pet store employees. Anything I've treated with Melafix has not improved and I've always had to switch to something else to see improvement. I've had great success in treating fin rot with API Triple Sulfa.

Thanks for that!

There's just a lot of "he said, she said" information on these forums... it's nice to see some references.