Sharkitty

Hi everyone,

Yesterday Finny's fins were still on the mend (they'd been growing back or at least looking better for nearly a week after triple sulfa, garlic, and a vitamin block). Tested his water yesterday, got .25-.5/0/0 and did a 50% water change with gravel vac and plenty of stress coat +.

Today his fins are shredding right in front of me.

What do I do? I have more antibiotic and a fungus treatment as well.

Lucy

Poor thing, you must be worried.
I moved this to the betta forum.
Some betta parents don't venture into the beginners forum, maybe someone will have some ideas for you.

COBettaCouple

I would recommend ordering fish protector, vita-chem and garlic guard. 1-2 drops of each daily per gallon help heal fin damage as well as fight to prevent infection.

I would treat all water with both prime and fish protector, 1-2 drops of each per gallon. The prime will help with the ammonia, but will be more effective if added daily since it's effect on ammonia lasts about 24 hours.

Stock triple sulfa and rid-fungus. If you want to treat for fin rot, use both as fin rot can have origins in either or both infection and fungus. Fish protector actually helps improve the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Thawed frozen bloodworms (Hikari brand is what we use) should be his diet. The protein helps strength his system.

Sharkitty

Is prime somehow better than stress coat+?

Should I do both a course of antibiotics and fungus treatment together?

COBettaCouple

Yes, although they are slightly different types of conditioners. Prime treats the water but also de-toxifies the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for about 24 hrs and boosts slime coating. A big help with fin damage or a tank that's not cycled or having a mini cycle or toxin spike.

I like to treat both potential causes of fin rot since sometimes you can knock out one cause only to have the other kick in. Rid-Fungus is great for that as it allows me to treat both causes but not increase the stress from meds. Rid-Fungus is herbal and organic, very safe and doesn't stress the fish. Doesn't smell so great but it's really done excellent for us in treating fungal fin rot and other types of fungus.

Sharkitty

I used something called Anti-Fungus from APPLUS+ (Malachite green). The bottle says 10 drops per gallon. But that's all it says! Not how often or for how long. Any clues?

Beth1965

Man... i just checked three other forums and others have the exact ? as you, no answers.
Beht

Sharkitty

Thanks for checking. I don't really know of other fish forums. Google was no help either. Maybe I will call the 800 number on the bottle. (Duh?)

Martinismommy

Can you post a photo of him?

Sharkitty

And just for good measure:

Martinismommy

Ut Oh......Did the kitty do it? lol I would be doing water changes daily if it were me....That and fish protector should do it..Have you noticed him biting himself ever?

Sharkitty

Nope, never caught him trimming. And yesterday his tail got worse by the hour while I was at work.

What exactly is fish protector? (nm, I'll just go to Dr. F&S and look for myself). I don't think that is something I've seen at Petsmart, so I will probably have to order it online.

I treated with Anti-Fungus and Triple Sulpha yesterday..

Sharkitty

Also, I had just done a 50% change Wednesday. His water gets changed a lot, as the tank can't seem to hold a cycle. In fact he'd been doing great with garlic and vitamins and then boom, tail falls apart again. Very frustrating.

Sharkitty

Hey guys,

Finny's fins are better today than Friday - seems they started growing back, again, over the weekend. Found a fish store about 5 miles from my house that carries VitaChem and GarlicGuard, so I'm going to get those. I'm guessing they may carry TSS as well. Finny's tank can't seem to hold a cycle and the ammonia is always hovering around .25. I'm thinking perhaps this low level is causing enough stress to make him unduly susceptible to this fin rot problem. What do you think?

Lucy

That's good news.
Could be about the ammonia, it weakens their immune system. The products you picked up should really help.