Fin rot? How serious?

[ethenardier]

Hey guys. My fishie has a tiny bit of fin rot (I don't have a camera) and I'm not really sure how conserned I should be.

I was told by the people at the pet store I can change his bowl every 2-3 weeks, though I've read some people on here saying 2-3 times a week for a tank his size... 2-3 weeks has been working for him for over a year now. But the last time I changed his water I was kind of distracted and only filled it about half as much as I normally do, so I think the concentration of flith built up faster.
I was just thinking "Its probably about time to change his water" when I took a good look at him and noticed the rot. Needless to say I dropped what I was doing to change him. I sterilized the bowl with boiling water, replaced his gravel, tossed out his rotting plant, the whole cleaning shabang.

With that said and done, how concerned should I be? Now that he's nice and clean the rot should stop, right? What should I do if it worsens?

I do have him on "aquarium salts" for freshwater fish. Not sure exactly what they are, the box doesn't say, but they did do a good job of clearing up an ick infection he had when I first brought him home. I assume its just eplsom salts.

Also, how often should I really be changing his water? He's been healthy (until now) on an every two weeks cycle, and he gets really stressed when I do change him so... IDK, you guys are experts.

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
What temperature is your tank? room temperature (the room is probs 75ish, so his actual water is probs 70ish)
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice daily

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 2 weeks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? "api aquarium salt" and "splendid betta complete water conditioner"

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Minor fin rot
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Not really.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Cleaned his tank immediatly
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I think he had ick a while ago, I started him on salts and he perked right back up.
How old is your fish (approximately)? At least a year.

[bahamut285]

2.5 Gallon needs:
50% Water change - 2 to 3 times a week
100% water change - once a week

Grab a heater, he's cold and his health will be compromised (much like how humans get sick in the winter)

I notice you said you add aquarium salt every time you change the water...I'm no expert but I don't think this is recommended....

As for his current treatment...you'll have to wait for someone else to see this. I know only a little bit and I don't want to give misinformation

[ethenardier]

When he had ick, the guy at the petstore gave them to me and said I should always be using them, so I have been for about half a year now.. Hrm, I wish I knew exactly what they were.

How exactly do you change 50% of the water...? Just scoop about half out and refill? Should I remove the fish first? Thats the part that stresses him, the net.

[bahamut285]

Yeah you just scoop out half the water and refill it with conditioned water.

I know that I, personally, dislike catching them with the net. I keep the cups that they came in and gently scoop them out, so they spend zero time out of the water.

Ich is a parasite that lives through three stages of life. The stage you see on your fish is only one of those stages. They also live on your plants and gravel, and also have a free swimming stage (which is where you kill the parasites). I'm glad he got better with the AQ Salt, though. Heating up your tank will prevent future outbreaks of it.

[ethenardier]

The way my tank is, its impossable to catch him without a net, I've tried the cup. Wide tank, small hole, can't manuver enough with a cup.

But I'll totally get him a heater when i get paid on friday. :D Thank you so much

[bahamut285]

Ahh okay, well you do what you can, haha XD!

I'm surprised nobody has seen this thread yet...in any case, what I've read from curing fin rot is:

1) Keep the water very very clean (mild finrot)
2) If you have a smaller quarantine tank (QT) premix a AQ salt solution of 1 teaspoon per gallon, then put it in the QT, then put your fish in there. Change ALL of it everyday for 10 days (severe finrot)

How do his fins look? Are they REALLY ratty? Or just a little...fin rot is usually caused by poor water quality so try just keeping the tank a little extra clean. Netting him might also technically cause his fins to rip a little so it might not be fin rot at all. How soft is the net? Some places sell special nets for betta that have a silky feel rather than rough.

[ethenardier]

Theres a tiny chunk missing out of his back fin, its for sure mild. I doubt its the net, because its been two weeks since I had to net him and I just noticed this morning.

I'll make sure to keep his tank extra clean.

[Wyvern]

If you want to instead of netting him or cupping him (my boys I cant catch in a cup - they are to fast but they love the net). Just get a piece of airtubing / hose, stick it in the bowl and suction the water out. That way less stress on the boy. When I do a 100% change on my 5gallon, I net them (I have to catch them in anycase to swop their sides of the tank weekly - but both of them swim into the net and never struggle whilst in the net) put them in jars, since our Betta's dont come in cups. Then I siphon about all the water out except I leave enough to cover the gravel (I do use a gravel vac tho). Replace the water, add my prime, stability and flourish to the tank. Let it stand for 5 mins and then the boys go back. They have never showed stress stripes nor lost colour if I do it this way. The best tip with a net is, do it slowly. Let him swim into it and then slowly bring it up and out.