[huckleberry77]

Hello.

My betta got some fin rot while I was on vacation. I have been doing daily large water changes and adding 1-2 tsp of aq. salt plus stress coat to his water for 10 days now. His fins are ragged at the edges, but there is no evidence of any blackness or white fuzz. He is active, and very hungry.

His fins have not started to regrow at all yet... but I don't see any evidence that the fin rot is progressing either. His behavior is totally healthy.

At this point should I switch him to plain water with stress coat and keep doing frequent water changes? Or move him to a hospital tank and give him Betta Revive (I have that on hand) for 3-4 days to kill any lingering bacteria? I cannot use salt any longer since he has had it for the last 10 days.

The tank is 2.6 gallons, with a filter, heater, and now a Java Fern.

Before Fin Rot:

Current Condition:

Despite the unusual coloring in this photo, he has no black or rotting areas on his fins at all. When I shine a flashlight on him, all the remaining fin looks normal.

 

[PeetaTheBetta]

Hi, I am going through somewhat of the smae thing. My betta Chester, has fin rot but has no fuzz or anything. I have been putting salt in the tank, but that didn't seem to help. Today I went and got bettafix and stress coat to see if that will clear things up. I hope he pulls through! Anyways, I would try bettafix otherwise I don't really know. You can get Bettafix at Petco or probably Petsmart. Good luck with your fish.

 

[huckleberry77]

Thanks. I had to take him out of the salt water this evening, so I decided to put him in the hospital tank for 3 days with Betta Revive just to be sure all the fin rot bacteria is killed. He does not seem happy in there at all though. He is just floating around looking confused.

 

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Are you sure it's fin rot, rather than tail biting?

Fin rot - look for darkened, discolored or "smudged" edges.
Tail biting - look for U-shaped chunks missing, with no discoloration.

 

[Kithy]

I've noticed in my heavy biters that the fins rarely regrow completely. If anything they end up a little deformed.

From the pictures you attached the tank looks rather open. Filling in any open areas with plants or decor will help your betta feel less stressed and maybe curb the biting. Some males need tank makes or a tank nearby to stop biting. Some never stop biting.

If the biting does not stop then your only option is to prevent rot by keeping the water clean and warm. Very frequent changes in smaller tanks or cycling a larger tank, the latter would be my preferred choice because I am lazy and hate doing frequent changes. A biter will rarely get any rot issues in very clean water.

 

[huckleberry77]

Kithy and LBF- I am unsure if it was rot, or a combination of rot and biting. I have never seen him bite, but perhaps deteriorating water quality caused some irritation/rot which led to biting while I was away? He has been in clean, salted, warm water for 10 days now and I am glad that there are no black edges to his fins, so perhaps the rot is no longer active (if there ever was any?).

When the fins went bad he had a big fake plant in the tank. I wondered if the plant (though very soft grass style) might have been part of the problem so I removed it and added a real Java Fern. You can't see it in the pic because I was in the midst of recorating when I took the pic. I will be sure to keep his tank well decorated though to try to keep him calm.

Right now he is in a 1 gallon hospital tank with Betta Revive medicine and driftwood for tannins. I will do daily water changes for a 3 day treatment. He seemed miserable at first and laid on the bottom of the hospital tank after I put him in there, so I added an airstone in a plastic tube to contain the bubbles and then he perked up. I think the blue and green stuff in the Betta Revive can deplete O2. He seemed ok this morning and ate his breakfast. I just want to see his fins regrow already! It's been 11 days now with super clean water and treatments and they are not showing any signs of growth :-(

 

[Kithy]

They like to bite when you aren't watching. They're just awful little things.

 

[timpano65]

If it is fin rot, I hope I can help.

My Betta had INSANE fin rot a couple of months ago. I ran to my local Petsmart and picked up a package of API T.C Tetracycline POWDER packets.

My fish was at the point of missing a huge chunk of his tail so I started the treatment immediately and followed the directions on the back of the box. I completed the treatment and began to wait. I waited about a week, and saw no results. I waited another week, and still saw no improvement. About a month later, I noticed the ends of his fins and tail were smoother! I've found that his fins have completely grown back after the treatment and some patience. I highly recommend the API medicine, or any other fin rot medicine in hopes of helping your little buddy because it definitely helped mine!