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Help, I don't know if my betta has fin rot?.

764 views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  betta4life 
#1 ·
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?
 
#2 ·
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?
 
#5 ·
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.
 
#6 · (Edited)
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.
 
#7 ·
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 :)
 
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