[betta4life]

Ok, so i have had Willie, my betta for a month and 2 weeks. I just noticed that his tail looks like it's starting to fall apart, and i don't know if he has the beggining of fin rot or not :roll:. I have looked up fin rot, but i can't come up with anything, and I do full water changes every 4-5 days. What is the best souloution to have his fins beautiful and flowy again? And how do i know for sure if he does have fin rot? Oh and he does live alone, so no other fish is nipping at him.

Also, i want to get a 5-10 gallon tank for him, but i have heard/read that the filter is not good for bettas, and it can be very harmful if not kill them, is this true? Or would a filter be just fine?

 

[xjenuhfur]

For fin rot:

Tail rot or fin rot
•Symptoms: Betta’s fins and/or tail seem to be getting shorter and shorter or they seem to be falling apart and dissolving, Black or red along the edge of the betta’s fins/tail, Bloody tips, Behavior may not change
Treatment: Conservative: Treat with Aq.Salt at 1 tsp/gal. Increase water changes to 100% daily. Replace accurate amount of salt following water changes. Add Stress Coat to help repair tissue. If there is little to no improvement within the first 5 days, you can increase the salt dosage gradually to 2tsp/gal but do not continue any salt treatments past 10 days. Medication: If Conservative treatment is ineffective use API Tetracycline, API Fungus Cure, API Triple Sulfa, OR API Erythromycin. Also add Stress Coat to help regrowth. Continue until fins/tail stop receding and start showing some new growth.

And check out: http://www.bettafish.com/forumdisplay.php?f=99
Its the emergencies and diseases part of the forum.

Edit: Also, what size tank is he in now? Do you have some dechlorinator and a heater?

 

[betta4life]

ok thank you i'll check that out. and right now i have him in a 1 gallon tank and yes i always add a dechlorinator and have a heater.

 

[xjenuhfur]

Also, take a good look at his fins. He could be munching on himself. There will be little marks on his fins where he was nomming. :|

 

[betta4life]

ok, so i just studied him, again lol and he does have little black dots on his tail and a little white on his body. But his tail kinda does look like he has been chewing on it, just because the ends look like there broken in 4 diffrent spots, but they are notecibly shorter than the others. I will try to post a picture up of him.

 

[Twilight Storm]

welcome to the forum

A bigger tank will be great for him, and probably for you too because it will cut down on a little bit of tank maintenance for you. (and give him a big area to explore and swim around in! Somewhere I read a rough estimate of a normal territory is about a 5 gallon area... I don't remember where I read that anymore or if i'm mistaken, it's been a while.)

As far as the filter goes, as long as the current from the filter doesn't blow him around a filter is good for the water quality. Almost any filter can be modified to be betta friendly though with additions of a baffle and a sponge or nylon (etc) on the bottom of an intake tube.

I'm a big fan of Hydro sponge filters, but they are unattractive to a lot of people visually. If you are interested you can probably find information on the Hydro, and other brands of sponge filters by tossing up a google search or something. They don't create a strong current in the tank.

Edit: For the damage on his fins, think that the disease forum would be best.

 

[betta4life]

Twilight Storm, Yes i am planning on getting him a bigger tank, i just have him in that one for the moment, but i do agree he needs more space because he's such a spunky fish lol. And thank you, i will deffinitly look into that

And yes i just joined and didn't know where to post at i just needed help in figureing this out lol. But in the future i do now know where to post things like this at

 

[betta4life]

Ok sorry the pictures are way big. But there he is. You can kinda see the black dots on his tail, and his fins tearing, is that him just biting them or is it fin rot and need treatment?