Miss Mouse

I've just had a look at Taro and his fins seemed a little odd and then I looked closer and they seem to have shredded at the ends a bit like split ends when your hair gets too long! Some of the skin has gone transluscent too. Any ideas? It almost looks like he got stuck under a stone or something. I have put some anti fungal stuff in to help...

joe

ya thats finrot. and it is a fungus so it is good that you put the anti fungal stuff in. One of my old swordtails had finrot and i treated it with fungus clear and it was gone. Even tho the fish died a couple months later. Hope that helps

Joe

Butterfly

Its good that your so observant. You caught it right at the start.
Carol

Jason

Hey Miss Mouse when did you get the 170 litre tropical tank?

Miss Mouse

We got it just before Christmas its great!
My bettas fins seem ok now but I've just noticed today he's got a little white spot on his nose so i'm a little worried. the water hasn't been very clear either - it's a little cloudy. I have been doing regular water changes and the water parameters are all norm. I'm a little worried

Jason

If its around hte mouth it could be Mouth Fungus

Miss Mouse

I've seen fungus before but its more of a zit like in someone else's post froma few days ago. It could be an ulcer... anyway I have treated him for that too so keep fingers crossed!

junket

Hey Miss Mouse,
I hope your Taro is getting better! I'm glad I read this post - my betta, Lulu, had similar symptoms - the edges of his tail were getting all translucent & then I noticed a bit of a ragged hole in it last night - I just put some anti-fungal stuff in - hope it works!
Best,
David

chickadee

If you are starting to have some fungus problems, could your water temperature perhaps be on the cool side? Some of the problems you are describing can be started when the water is too cool and only really clear up when the water is warmer. (and medicating for fungal infections in the case of fin rot) I thought my Bettas fins had cleared up until he got sick again and all of a sudden they started turning brown and coming off FAST so they aren't always better when they seem to be. You should watch them really close and make sure the transparency doesn't keep getting worse or the splitting keep traveling to other areas or further up the fins.

Rose

junket

Hey Rose,
His water temp is currently 78F, but I know that it goes down to 72-74F or so during the day. I spoke with someone at the fish shop when I was looking for a heater, but they said that these temps were OK & that a heater was not recommended. Are these temps OK? I'll keep a closer eye on them, as well!
Thanks!
David

Miss Mouse

I think my tank maybe be a bit cool - its on 74 degrees but my bedroom is cold and its been very cold outside the last few days so i'll turn up the heater - thanks for that!

chickadee

I know most pet stores and pet store people who try to sell those little Betta bowls try to say Bettas do not need to have warm water, but they are tropical fish and don't do very well below about 74 degrees and like it better around 78 so I would fix it so it doesn't ever go below 74 and over 80 unless they need medication. When they need medication the medications usually require a raise in temperature to at least 82 degrees to have maximum effect. If the problem is ICH sometimes all that is needed is to raise the temperature to 85 for a week to ten days or so as it is definitely a "cold water" disease and the parasite will not let go of your fish in cold water. It goes free swimming in warm water of 85 degrees and then will die if the water is left that warm for at least a week but ten days is better.

I got some of my information from Butterfly and Gunnie and some from a fish vet I know as well as the people at Aquarium Pharmaceuticals who I will have to say were nice enough to give me the tip about raising the water temp for ich and didn't just try to sell their product, although they said I could use a product if I would feel better. There have also been several books on Bettas I have read and "The manual of fish health" by Dr. Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell & Dr. Neville Carrington. They give a lot of general information but some of it related to Bettas specifically

I hope this has been helpful. I love my fish and so have tried to find out as much as I can to keep them happy as I am sure you are. If you find anything that I may find useful I will welcome the information.

Rose

Miss Mouse

Thank you Rose! I am forever going through books about aquariums and fish keeping as I work in the same building as our library I have been watching Taro very carefully the last few days after turning up the temperature. He still has his little zit on his nose but it has not spread and he's eating and behaving as normal. I have kept a blanket over the tank to keep the warmth in as its a very cold room and the temperatures have been particularly low the last few nights. I presume he's ok - maybe he just bumped himself but because he's healthy and its warmer he's making a recovery. He seems fine anyway thank goodness!

Thanks for all the support x

chickadee

You are most welcome! As anyone can tell you, Bettas are one of my favorite subjects. I am at home with mine 24/7 and they are family. I spend time talking and even singing (poor things) to them and even when they do something really dumb scolding them a little. They are treated more like children than pets in this house and the rest of my family have declare they live better than anyone else in the family.

They even had to listen to me cuss while I did my income tax this morning, but they just sat there swimming so sweetly it helped me keep my cool.

Rose

0morrokh

Bettas are on the extreme end of the tropicals, so their water temp should never fall below 76, or better 78. The ideal temp is 80. In the wild, their water temp can get well into the mid-80s! 74 degrees is a bit too cold for a Betta.

Miss Mouse

My heater only goes up to 80
I put him in the same temp as it was in the fish store cos that's what he grew up in - that was 74.
he's fine now anyway - I got one of the First Aid filters for the biorb and put that in just to be safe and it fixed him up a tear so he's a very happy fish - viciously attacking his live bloodworms!

Neen

I have been having a terrible time keeping my temp. at 78. My betta has been sick & I am sure now that it is partly because of temp. At night it will drop to 72-74 & then during the day it will go up to 80. I turn the lights on in the am & the temp. in the house does get warmer during the day.

My heater just has a + or - . I can't set it to a certain degree. I don't know why I can't keep a constant temp?

I am thinking I should look for a better/different heater. Any suggestions?

I am also going to keep the temp up while I am medicating him.
Thanks for the help. Gina