Windchaser

Hi guys. I just got home form work and I am freaking out right now. I turned on the light of my Crowntail Betta's (Stewie) 10 gallon tank and to my horror he barely has any fins!

He is banged up bad and is having problems swimming! The only two fish in his tank is a Yoyo Loach and a Dwarf Bushy Nose Pleco. Would either of those 2 have done this to him or is something else going on here?

What should I do to help heal Stewie back to good health and get his fins to grow back?

Windchaser

Further inspection reveals that Stewie's fins are all darkened/blackened at the very ends of what fins he has left.

chickadee

Both of those fish are peaceful and I would say no matter what you are going to have to make a hospital tank and treat for fin problems. Triple Sulfa or Tri Sulfa or Maracyn/MaracynII combination or Maracyn Plus being the strongest and most likely to help right off. The sulfa products would be my first choice in this situation and then some Fish Protector and VitaChem to help regenerate those fins. But he is going to have to be in a tank by himself where he can have absolutely clean and clear water and lot of Tender Loving Care. The temperature is going to have to be kept at or about 78 to 80 and he is going to have to have protein foods like bloodworms or daphnia.

Please do keep us informed of his progress. I really do not see how either of the other fish could have done this though.

Rose

Windchaser

Thank you so much!!!! I'll go grab some medicine from work and get him set up right away. I'll turn his old 5g tank into a hospital tank.

What should I do with the hospital tank set up wise? I have never done one before since I'm still a newbie fish hobbyist. Should I take water out of his current tank to fill it or put in totall fresh water?

Allie

Yuck that sounds like fin rot...do what Chickadee says. It sometimes takes awhile to get your fish back to full health. It took 3 months for me to get rid of my Jasper's fin rot issue....I am still waiting to wake up to frayed fins. He'd get better looking than worse, 3 times before he has been fin rot free :knocks wood: for 2 months.
Remove any decorations out and inspect them for sharp pieces...or harder plastic plants. When the fins are healing they are very thin and tear easily which starts the fin rot all over again.
Good luck

Windchaser

The dwarf pleco's fins look a little ragged too. Should I put them both in the hopsital tank or jsut watch the pleco for now and clean up the water in the tank more and only treat if his fins look really damaged?

Allie

Maybe you should treat the whole tank.

chickadee

I would start all afresh and remember that it is all about cleanliness so this is going to mean keeping the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate levels down so this is an uncycled tank and that is going to mean doing water changes to keep the ammonia levels and the other levels down while medicating. NO CARBON in the filters. It removes the medications. Put both the fish in the hospital tank and medicate and test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate every day and you probably have to do 50% water changes every other day or so which is going to complicate the medication schedule. Something like this:

Day one give according to box directions:
Day two give according to box directions:
Day three do a 50% water change and give one and a half of the amount you would be giving to the fish this day.
Day four give according to box directions
Day five do a 50% water change and give one and a half the dose that you would be giving this day.

If you need to repeat for more than 5 days just keep going this way with a 50% water change every other day and give one and a half times the dose of medication on that day. You can give most of the meds for up to 14 days.

After 14 days put a carbon filter in the the filter and remove the medications and if they still need medications you will have to try another medication as the one has done all that it will. But let the carbon filter run for at least 3 days before trying another med. Discard the carbon filter before starting another medication.

Rose

Windchaser

Thanks so much for the help. We had a bad snow storm last night and I wasn't able to get his little 5g hospital tank medicated until today. He is doing better it looks like in the calmer water. I put some Trisulfa in the tank and replaced the carbon pad with a piece of sponge.

Later Im going to break the 10g down and clean it really thoroughly. Pull out all of the decor and soak it in super hot water, etc and do some deep deep gravel vacuuming.

Also replaced the filter media on that filter today as well. Big time snail issue with the tank too.

Hopefully everyone will be ok. They are my little buds!

chickadee

Your Yo-Yo should help with the snail problem unless he is not reacting without a partner. They do like to be kept in pairs at least. I have 3 and they made quick work of my snail problem and grew huge in the process. They are fat little mites in the process and I now have NO snails. The snails have to go in my humble opinion as they will attack the fins of the betta when he is sleeping if they can get to them. Once this starts this will continue until the snails are gone or until they get so overwhelmining fot he Yo-Yos that they willl not be able to catch up.

Rose

COBettaCouple

The tank had snails in it? I'd not be surprised if they started or had something to do with the fin rot.

If you can, I'd order some Fish Protector and Vita-Chem. I've not found them locally. Both will help in healing and improving their strength to fight off the problem. Rid-Fungus is a herbal organic treatment that I use with the Triple Sulfa for treating fin rot.

Best of luck with getting them all healthy and healed up.

Windchaser

He is doing a lot better in the hospital tank! He is eating like a little pig again and he is crusing (albeit slowly) around the tank and playing in the bubbles.

More of his fins fell off that were severely damaged but I am not seeing anymore new damage.

He's my little trooper. Don't want anything bad to happen to him hehe.

COBettaCouple

Glad to hear that he's doing better. I hope it won't be long before you see fin regrowth.

Windchaser

He is doing much much better now! He is being an even more fiesty little guy than he has been lately.

It's been five days now since I've been treating him with Trisulfa. His fins are lookign better and his old 10g tank has been super cleaned, etc.

Should I keep him in the hospital tank and continue to treat him? I bought an 8 pack of the trisulfa and have 3 packs of the powder left.

chickadee

I would continue to treat until his fins heal. I am so afraid of chronic finrot that I do not like to stop treatment until they are back to normal. The bacteria that cause finrot is normally present in ALL tanks and just waiting for a weak spot in a fish's fins to pounce and cause an infection. I would be too afraid to have you put him back just yet. Maybe others would say to do so, but I would rather err on the side of caution.

Rose

Windchaser

Thanks again, Chick. I went ahead and treated him today anyhow. I didn't feelr ight putting him back in his home just yet either. His fins are looking better and I do beleive I am seeing some regrowth already.

chickadee

Good am glad to hear of it, but it is extremely fragile for a while after it starts and will need to be protected from full filter current and all for a bit. He sounds like a sweetheart. I am so glad he does not seem to know that he is sick. Good luck and enjoy him.

Rose