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Does Gilly have fin rot??

452 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
Hi, everyone!

Gilly (Galifinakis, because he is a lone wolf) lost a lot of fin shortly after I brought him home from the pet store. I had him in a filtered, heated 5 gallon tank. He also had what appeared to be ich (I noticed the sprinkling of white specks on him), which I treated. I haven't seen any indication of ich since then.

However, Gilly's fins just got worse. His coloring paled greatly, and he frequently had stress stripes. After waiting for a time after treating for the ich, I tried to treat Gilly's fins - I have tried Maracyn 2 and after that didn't seem to work, I gave him some "off" time and tried Betta Revive.

In an effort to try and control his environment a little more while I treat him, I bought Gilly a 1 gallon tank. To my surprise, some of his color came back and he has the stress stripes much less often once he was placed in the smaller tank. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much improvement regarding his fins. I tried treating with a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2, but it didn't seem to help.

This is Gilly when he had just come home (the plants were replaced by silk plants before very long - so I know constant catching isn't this issue):


This is Gilly after he paled and had stress stripes almost constantly:


This is Gilly in his new (hopefully temporary) home - his color is back, but his fins are at their shortest. They have been this way for at least a week. They have not decreased at all, but I haven't seen any regrowth, either.


Sorry my pictures aren't very high quality - I just had my phone to take the pictures with. I can't find my digital camera. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I'm trying my best, and I feel like a fish-mamma failure.
 
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#2 ·
Hi spookyhobbs and welcome to the forum.

First, don't feel like a fish-mamma failure, you're doing a good job. You got him a nice heated tank and when that didn't work, you found him a tank that he liked. It seems like Gilly might be one of those agoraphobic bettas who doesn't like big tanks. He probably got stressed and began tailbiting which is why he lost a lot of fin.

You don't need to do any more medication, I think he is fine now. Just keep the water clean. In a 1 gallon tank you need to change part of the water every other day or, if this is easier, 1 50% and 1 100% a week. But in Gilly's case, the cleaner the water, the healthier he'll be. Since his fins are torn up, we want clean water to minimize the chance of infection. I don't think he ever had fin rot because you would have seen big blackened edges on his fins so that's good news. In the future, if his fins get all torn up like this again but without blackened edges, don't use medication. You'll actually have better results using aquarium salt at a dosage of 1 tsp per gallon. Plus, it's a lot cheaper. ^_^ Let the salt pre-dissolve in some tank water before adding it in.

My only concern with his new smaller home is how you'll heat it. Best of luck to you finding a heater that can reliably heat 1 gallon of water. If you find one, tell me, I've been searching for such a heater myself. :)

Good luck with Gilly and keep us posted.
 
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