[Leopardfire]

My male betta has SEVERE fin rot. It moved slowly the first month he had it, so his tail was just a little ragged, but not any shorter. In the last 2 days, it has gotten super aggressive and it took off half of his tail and anal fins in a single day! I'm really scared that I won't be able to stop it and he will die. His tail is just melting away!
I tried triple sulfa before, but due to ammonia problems, it didn't work. I moved him to a 5 gallon on Sunday and put ammo chips in to get rid of my 1ppm tap water ammonia. I can't really tell if the ammonia is at 0 or 0.25 because my ammonia test kit is horrible. I added triple sulfa again last night even though I don't know if the ammonia is gone in a final attempt to stop the rot.
If the ammo chips won't remove all the ammonia or the medicine won't work, then I don't know what I can do. If it continues at this rate, the fin rot will reach his body in 2 days and he will die. I've been fighting it for a month already and it just won't go away. If the meds fail, is there anything I can do to save my betta or is he going to die?

 

[LadyVictorian]

clean the tank EVERY day.....simple.

 

[Leopardfire]

I can't do frequent water changes because I have 1ppm ammonia in my tap water. The ammonia concentration would be far worse than it already is if I replaced the water every day because the ammo chips wouldn't have time to lower it.

 

[LadyVictorian]

Get spring water from the store, clearly your water isn't safe so you shouldn't be using it for fish. Or get gallon jugs and collect safe water from a friends.

 

[megaredize]

overdose the tap water with prime conditioner? prime detox's ammonia so that might work. you can try it then test the water before you use it

 

[Leopardfire]

How much time does a betta have once the fin rot reaches the body? I think his tail has lost a few mm since this morning and the edges are completely black. I'm thinking he might die this weekend at this rate. I put in the triple sulfa again and tested my ammonia, but as far as I can tell it is 0 or very close. I will get better test strips tomorrow that are easier to read.

 

[MistersMom]

Please for the love of all things betta, listen to them, you need to do 100% water changes every day, you need prime conditioner which cannot be found at walmart, but LPS and petsmart, you will need AQ salt, and you will need to be hoplessly devoted to your fish and its fins healing, now, if your water is unsafe, buy gallon jugs, but NOT distilled, DO NOT get distilled, get dechlorinated, and then you'll need to probably move him to a smaller tank for this whole process, put nothing else but maybe a hammock in the tank because the bacteria will cling to the objects and then you'll have to clean them with distilled vinegar... Your fishes life is in your hands, you should never (i know from experience) bring a fish you cannot properly care for into your home, so from now on either use prime conditioner or dechlorinated water from the store, and those little paper strip tests,although i do use them, they are not very accurate...

And body rot, is awful, i doubt they have much time at all at that point.
Good luck with your fish.

 

[megaredize]

^ +1 Fin rot can be cured is you take the right steps

 

[Kenny G]

If you have a petsmart or petco near you they carry Seachem Prime water conditioner. It's the best investment you will ever make.

 

[MistersMom]

for sure

 

[LadyVictorian]

+1 to all above, this is easily fixed if you follow our advice.

 

[Leopardfire]

Please for the love of all things betta, listen to them, you need to do 100% water changes every day, you need prime conditioner which cannot be found at walmart, but LPS and petsmart, you will need AQ salt, and you will need to be hoplessly devoted to your fish and its fins healing, now, if your water is unsafe, buy gallon jugs, but NOT distilled, DO NOT get distilled, get dechlorinated, and then you'll need to probably move him to a smaller tank for this whole process, put nothing else but maybe a hammock in the tank because the bacteria will cling to the objects and then you'll have to clean them with distilled vinegar... Your fishes life is in your hands, you should never (i know from experience) bring a fish you cannot properly care for into your home, so from now on either use prime conditioner or dechlorinated water from the store, and those little paper strip tests,although i do use them, they are not very accurate...

And body rot, is awful, i doubt they have much time at all at that point.
Good luck with your fish.

Thanks for the advice. I bought some prime, and I will buy some gallons of water at Wallmart as soon as I get out of school tomorrow. I will then move him into a 1 gallon bowl and do 100% water changes daily. Should I continue adding the triple sulfa to the 1 gallon bowl? (I've done 2 of the 4 dosings, but I will add 2 more if I continue in the bowl.) I think his fin rot is too serious for salt. It literally see a difference in his tail from when I go to bed to when I get up. If I do this, do you think there's a chance I can save him?

 

[MistersMom]

there is beyond a chance you can save him, trust me i deal with fin rot all the time, and it always works with just salt, so no, don't use the sulfa.

 

[MistersMom]

have you seen the heart breaker thread? all she did was 100 % water changes and AQ salt.... and he want from body rot to a beautiful fish.

 

[Leopardfire]

How much salt should I use per gallon for fin rot this bad? It hasn't gotten any worse today than yesterday so I think the Triple Sulfa is slowing it down. I'm about to move him into the bottled water now.

 

[MistersMom]

2 teaspoons.

 

[LizzyP]

Make sure your tank is heated, too. Even in the 1 gallon. Set it to 80 degrees to help his body fight off the bacteria.

 

[Leopardfire]

Here's some pics of him I took yesterday. How does he look?

 

[MistersMom]

hes looking good, new clear growth on his fins is really good.

 

[Leopardfire]

Ya it's been 3 days in the salt and his fins are looking good. How long do you think it will take his tail to grow back? He was a beautiful HM with 180 degree spread and the longest tail I've seen on a petstore betta. I really hope it grows back.