HELP!! Finrot & Fungus? *PICS*

[mybettajaws2010]

Hello,

My male Crowntail Jaws has been suffering from fin rot for a while now. It started off with small breaks in the rays of his fins, and now I'm dealing with pin holes and thinning fins. I have him on Tetracycline and Maracyn 1, and I can't really see any progress being made. He's been on Tetracycline for about 2 weeks now, and just started Maracyn about 3 days ago.
Is there something else I need to be doing?

He lives in a 1 Gal tank (Yes, I know... It's small. I plan on getting a 5 Gal on my next paycheck) that's unfiltered, water is always around 80 F, he has a little castle to hide in and a plastic plant. I used to do water changes twice a week, but now I do a full water change every other day.

Here are some links to some photos of him. The first is from when he was healthy, the second shows the fungus hanging off his rays on his top fin, and the third shows how translucent his bottom fin is and the pin holes in his tail fin. :[

1. http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/a...00808-1109.jpg

2. http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/a...01002-1533.jpg

3. http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/a...01004-1222.jpg

[Adastra]

Oh, my. Looks like quite a bit of a very specific kind of "rot" called saprolegnia. This is not caused by bacteria, this is one of the few true fungi than affect fish and it's very very common in crowntail ray extensions. If you're currently treating him with an antibiotic, finish that course of treatment and then stop using antibiotics, they are only making him vulnerable to the fungus. The key component in his recovery from sapro is going to be supporting him and his immune system in every way possible, clean clean clean water, stable heat, and a high protein diet should help him fight off the fungus and build new fin tissue.

[mybettajaws2010]

Thanks for your help :]
So what kind of foods should I be feeding him?
I usually feed him pellets and blood worms. I alternate between the two frequently.
Also, how often should I do water changes?

[Adastra]

A 100% change every other day should be sufficient.

As far as food, you want to choose a quality pellet that has a variety of meats, preferably whole meats as the first ingredients. Good brands are OmegaOne Betta Buffet Pellets, Atison's Betta Pellets, and New Life Spectrum. If you have frozen food, you could feed him more of that than you usually would for some extra protein. If your local fish store sells live blackworms, they are quite nutritious and fish love them.

[mybettajaws2010]

Where I live, the pet stores have quite the poor selection of betta products. I may end up going to a different city about an hour from where I live because I know their pet stores carry hearty fish supplies.
So about the stringy fungus hanging off his fins... Will it fall off on its own? It just seems to be spreading a little bit more everyday. I tried to pull a little off his fin today while I was changing his water (I put him in a small cup during the water changes) but he kept moving so I was unsuccessful.

[SilverCaracal]

Ares had major fin rot, but I think it's stopped or at least slowed down now. His rays aren't growing back. Clean water always helps! Could the stringy stuff be parasites?

[mybettajaws2010]

It's definitely not a parasite.
It looks almost like little cotton strings hanging off his rays.. I managed to pinch a little off him this evening and it felt slimy.

[Adastra]

I'm fairly certain it's sapro, and probably excess slime coat as well. It should clear up with clean water and lots of rest and yummy food.

[mybettajaws2010]

Alright,
I noticed this morning that he's getting more and more pin holes in his tail fin... He went from about 3 holes to 7. :[ I'm beginning to become a little pessimistic about this.
I bought some MarOxy after work and put in a drop to see if that helps. I've put about $70 into my fish with medications alone D:
I just don't know what to do anymore! I don't want him to die because I can't treat him properly.