Mysterious Cut among other things

[redoctober]

Our betta, Red October, has a small cut on his side and a couple raised looking scales next to it. We have no idea where he could've gotten the cut. He's been spitting food out alot lately but will go back for it. We tried to put him in a salt bath with betta fix in it to maybe speed his recovery ... when he was in the salt bath he swam around crazily and would gasp for air something we've never seen him do. So we put him back in his real tank as fast as we could... this is obviously our main concern although we also wanted to address the fact that since we've had him (we bought him from PetCo 4 months ago) his fins have been really frayed and hes had a permanent shiny film on some of his fins.


here's his specs:
He lives in a 5 gallon tank with a filter and a heater. His tank is between 70 and 80 at all times.
He has no other "tank mates."
He eats 3 blood worms on Tu/Thur and 3 (Tetra Betta) pellets on Mon/W/F/Sat. We fast him on Sundays.
We change his water once a week - about 50% or less. We add a solution - Betta Bowl Plus when we change the water and while his water is being changed we put him in a light salt bath.
We tested our water at Pet Smart and they said everything was fine. He has a stick-on Ammonia Alert that will change colors if his ammonia levels are bad. Its fine right now.
When we first brought him home he hid from us and wouldn't eat. Thats when we first put him in a salt bath solution and hes been fine ever since (which is the reason we turn to a salt bath if he ever seems ill)

soo...anyone with thoughts about the cut/the frayed fins/and or the shiny film fire away...we're out of ideas here lol :) Much appreciated!

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum....

I can tell much from the pic...it may be my old computer...anyway....

The 10 degree difference in temp is not good-temp changes to that degree can be stressful-you need to try and keep the temp stable in the 76-78F area

To understand he has tolerated salt in the past for treatment-but today it caused him stress....was the water temp the same in the QT salt bath as the main tank-how much salt did you use in what amount of water

Was the water in the QT salt bath fresh or from the tank

Look up or google Velvet and see it that fits the shinny look he has-use a flash light in a dark room and shine on him and see if you can tell what color it is

Has he always had tattered/frayed fins or is this new

Has he been flashing or rubbing his body on objects in the tank

[redoctober]

ok...its not a 10 degree difference I didn't mean to say that. It truly is around 76...I was just reading the "safe zone" off his thermometer...his heater works very well and has always kept him in a good stable range
The salt bath was a little higher than usual - we thought about that. We used about the same amount of salt we always do (we have this cap we measure with)...perhaps there was already a salt-residue in the container and it made it extra salty. I was under the impression that a salt bath was good for them when they were sick/injured from this website. Should we not be giving him any/or as frequently?
The salt bath water was fresh.
I'm pretty sure its not velvet because it does'nt look spotty. Its just a smooth metallic looking streak on his fin but its always looked like that. Sometimes theres less metallic stuff and other times theres a little more. He's not rubbing on anything. The frayed fins have been around since we got him we've tried to fix them but from what we understand its difficult to get them back to normal after they've been damaged so bad. I dont think the metallic stuff is bad or hurting him but I wanted to see what anyone thought about it. Thanks for the help. Maybe this picture shows the metallic stuff better.

[redoctober]

[Oldfishlady]

What a pretty fella he is......

Aquarium salt is a great short term treatment for a lot of different things that can affect our tropical fish when used correctly, for the right reason, right dosage and duration....its not good for long term care however...

He looks like a crown tail...is that correct...if so, they can have special problems sometimes in regard to the fins-

The Best treatment for any tail type is fresh, dechhlorinated, like temp water from lots of water changes-and if you suspect secondary infection like fin rot-doing a 10 day aquarium salt 1tsp/gal treatment along with 100% daily water changes while in QT can sometimes be helpful and all that is needed...adding tannins to the treatment water can also be helpful in the healing process along with good nutrition and time....it takes time and depending on how bad and reason for the damage to the fins they may never look the same or return to their full glory......