4 Years Old, is it worth treating his fin rot?

Hey there!

At this point, I'm just wondering if it's worth it. My betta fish is one years old before I got him, and had been living with me for 3+ years now. Weeks ago, he'd gotten fin rot, and it's taking a slow time to heal, in fact it only looked slightly better than it just stuck that way without any further improvements. (I'm scared to use any medicines in fear of the side effects.)

I've also heard comments around though, saying that he's pretty much an old fish now and that his immune system could've been weakening already anyway. I was told that there's no point to treat his fin rot because he wouldn't be getting better anytime soon, he's "too old to heal" at this point.

Other than the fin rot, he's active, eating, flaring (only at black pens, however, as opposed to years ago when he would flare at anything. Now he just harbors a special hatred against the ends of black pens.) So healthy overall aside from the fin rot.

Should I continue investing in treating his fin rot? Actually getting medicine, aquarium salt, etc etc? Or should I really just let it be now, since he seems to be happy otherwise anyway?

 

...of course you should treat his fin rot? What you need to do is figure out WHY he has fin rot. As far as I know fish don't just "get fin rot" there is something wrong in your tank. The best medicine is clean tank, clean water.

Do you test your tank water? Do you know what your numbers are? You should fill out the "sick fish template." Don't just go straight for meds... you may have something wrong with your tank that you don't know about.

 

...of course you should treat his fin rot? What you need to do is figure out WHY he has fin rot. As far as I know fish don't just "get fin rot" there is something wrong in your tank. The best medicine is clean tank, clean water.

Do you test your tank water? Do you know what your numbers are? You should fill out the "sick fish template." Don't just go straight for meds... you may have something wrong with your tank that you don't know about.

He got fin rot weeks ago due to lack of water changes and bad water quality that resulted in an ammonia spike after leaving him to a 3rd party's care while I returned to my home country. For awhile I deem it unnecessary to get the water test kit, but I ordered one a day ago and it should arrive soon. Other than that, he's now undergoing 20% water change daily (I was told I should've done 50% every other day, and everyone say different things regarding stress level to the fish, I decide 20% daily when he barely notice that it's happening might be the best), his water conditioned with Seachem prime with additional drop every other day, and is treated with Indian Almond leaves, which helped very visibly at first, but now the effects had slowed down. I am avoiding meds and going for a more natural route where nothing I add is extra chemicals, but am planning to also use Aquarium Salt. He lives in a 2.5 gallon and is switching to a 3 gallon soon. (I understand that some people argue that minimum size is 5, not 2.5, but I do believe 2.5 gallon suffice for him, for now, especially when he is living with me in an extremely small dorm room.) That aside, nothing in his old or upcoming new tank itself should have anything that can result in his fin rot, water quality's on check too. I'd just been losing a bit of patience since some people's betta fin heals within days, but they rely on meds, and I kind of don't want to risk it since my betta is kind of old now. Then some people butt in and say that at 4 years, if their fins get fin rot then the case is pretty much hopeless now, so just want to confirm if what he/she said is true.

 

You don't need meds or salt. Just daily 50% water changes will heal it up in a week or two.

 

You don't need meds or salt. Just daily 50% water changes will heal it up in a week or two.

That was my original routine, but I was suggested not to do that as 50% daily would be too stressful to the fish.

 

I did 50% water changes when my boys would get rot, cleared up within a week to three depending on their fins and age. The guy I got now is a rescue and his fins have always been bad, doesn't help he is a rosetail, it's very slowly getting worse and he is around the same age. I've kept the same routine for months now of 20% water changes every Sunday, pellets and frozen food, 10 gallon. Everything checks out but I do believe his immune system is weaker and just can't keep up with the giant fins, so to speak. I think as they age the fins will get more tattered and worn, it happened to all of my bettas. Or they have an injury with a filter or biting their tail or something, and their body takes a lot longer to heal, like how it is with most animals.

 

I did 50% water changes when my boys would get rot, cleared up within a week to three depending on their fins and age. The guy I got now is a rescue and his fins have always been bad, doesn't help he is a rosetail, it's very slowly getting worse and he is around the same age. I've kept the same routine for months now of 20% water changes every Sunday, pellets and frozen food, 10 gallon. Everything checks out but I do believe his immune system is weaker and just can't keep up with the giant fins, so to speak. I think as they age the fins will get more tattered and worn, it happened to all of my bettas. Or they have an injury with a filter or biting their tail or something, and their body takes a lot longer to heal, like how it is with most animals.

I see. I'd continue to maintain my water change routine and high quality food, and continue to take care of him like I'd been doing now. His fins used to heal fast in the past, but it definitely slowed down now, as it barely progressed and I couldn't see him getting better. I see that this is within expectations now, I'll still hold some hope and continue this light treatment but won't force meds. I agree that his immune system may have been weaker now too. Thank you for the information!

 

He got fin rot weeks ago due to lack of water changes and bad water quality that resulted in an ammonia spike after leaving him to a 3rd party's care while I returned to my home country. For awhile I deem it unnecessary to get the water test kit, but I ordered one a day ago and it should arrive soon. Other than that, he's now undergoing 20% water change daily (I was told I should've done 50% every other day, and everyone say different things regarding stress level to the fish, I decide 20% daily when he barely notice that it's happening might be the best), his water conditioned with Seachem prime with additional drop every other day, and is treated with Indian Almond leaves, which helped very visibly at first, but now the effects had slowed down. I am avoiding meds and going for a more natural route where nothing I add is extra chemicals, but am planning to also use Aquarium Salt. He lives in a 2.5 gallon and is switching to a 3 gallon soon. (I understand that some people argue that minimum size is 5, not 2.5, but I do believe 2.5 gallon suffice for him, for now, especially when he is living with me in an extremely small dorm room.) That aside, nothing in his old or upcoming new tank itself should have anything that can result in his fin rot, water quality's on check too. I'd just been losing a bit of patience since some people's betta fin heals within days, but they rely on meds, and I kind of don't want to risk it since my betta is kind of old now. Then some people butt in and say that at 4 years, if their fins get fin rot then the case is pretty much hopeless now, so just want to confirm if what he/she said is true.

I’m no expert but I thought I’d add a few things:
1. You say your dorm room is too small for a 5 gallon. Now, I’ve never seen your dorm room, but I’m currently in the smallest room I’ve been in yet and I have both a ten gallon and a five gallon going in my room and it’s fine
2. If you play it right, a five (or even ten gallon) can be cheaper than one of those smaller ones
3. I’ve got a couple fish that also do not enjoy when I’m messing with their water/tank, so I have a couple large plastic cups that I keep on hand. I’ll scoop out the anxious fish gently with the cups (to avoid damaging their slime coat) before beginning my water work, and just do it as quickly and efficiently as I can. Depending on how much the water in the cup has cooled, I give it an appropriate acclimation time floating in the tank.
Now, I have no idea how “proper” this is (and I’m hoping all these fish experts (<- not sarcastic ik you guys know a lot) don’t bite my head off lol) but so far, in my experience, this has helped my fish stress a lot less (I use opaque containers for the most anxious ones) especially after the first few times, they just go “Oh I’m in here again. Guess I just gotta wait a few” and chill.

Edit: poking around on this forum a bit more I’ve seen a couple people warning against pulling them out while cleaning as it can cause more stress. It sounded like they were referring to using a net though, which I do not do. My fish are also quite used to this practice and don’t stress over it. So just take into consideration that some people advise against it, with good reasons

 

An effective and natural way to treat, and eventually heal finrot will to be get some of that "special salt" from your dealer. I forget what the salt is called, but it WILL help speed up the healing. My Fantail goldfish had finrot for a while, and I just moved him into one of my other tanks, and within days he was better. Just keep trying, don't let the poor betts hanging.

 

I’m no expert but I thought I’d add a few things:
1. You say your dorm room is too small for a 5 gallon. Now, I’ve never seen your dorm room, but I’m currently in the smallest room I’ve been in yet and I have both a ten gallon and a five gallon going in my room and it’s fine
2. If you play it right, a five (or even ten gallon) can be cheaper than one of those smaller ones
3. I’ve got a couple fish that also do not enjoy when I’m messing with their water/tank, so I have a couple large plastic cups that I keep on hand. I’ll scoop out the anxious fish gently with the cups (to avoid damaging their slime coat) before beginning my water work, and just do it as quickly and efficiently as I can. Depending on how much the water in the cup has cooled, I give it an appropriate acclimation time floating in the tank.
Now, I have no idea how “proper” this is (and I’m hoping all these fish experts (<- not sarcastic ik you guys know a lot) don’t bite my head off lol) but so far, in my experience, this has helped my fish stress a lot less (I use opaque containers for the most anxious ones) especially after the first few times, they just go “Oh I’m in here again. Guess I just gotta wait a few” and chill.

Edit: poking around on this forum a bit more I’ve seen a couple people warning against pulling them out while cleaning as it can cause more stress. It sounded like they were referring to using a net though, which I do not do. My fish are also quite used to this practice and don’t stress over it. So just take into consideration that some people advise against it, with good reasons

Thank you for the advice! In the past, I would scoop out my fish too before working on the water. However, whenever he was placed from his tank to a little cup, it would always stress him out greatly. Though it was the way I do my water change for the past 3 years, recently I realized doing it without scooping him out seemed to be more comfortable for him haha. Now I just scoop out certain amount of water very gently while he's swimming elsewhere and do my partial water change that way. As for tank deals, I am aware that 5 gallons and 10 gallons are cheaper, especially with 10 gallons' 1$ per gallon deal. However, that only applies to plastic tanks, but I'd always been on the lookout when glass tanks that are on sale, and slowly upgrading his home that way.

Unfortunately, your dorm room must have been larger than mine then. I was always pretty amazed when I see people's dorm room online with large fish tanks in there because of the space available. My room has no space for 5 gallons, much less for 10 gallons, quite literally.

I believe your acclimation method is correct to get them used to the tank again, since it's the method I know a lot of people do as well! If the method works best for your fish, then it's all good.

An effective and natural way to treat, and eventually heal finrot will to be get some of that "special salt" from your dealer. I forget what the salt is called, but it WILL help speed up the healing. My Fantail goldfish had finrot for a while, and I just moved him into one of my other tanks, and within days he was better. Just keep trying, don't let the poor betts hanging.

Ahh! Would be nice to know what type of thought it is haha. As far as I know, aquarium salt helps boost up fin rot rate. Could it have been the API Freshwater Aquarium Salt? I was about to purchase that.

 

Thank you for the advice! In the past, I would scoop out my fish too before working on the water. However, whenever he was placed from his tank to a little cup, it would always stress him out greatly. Though it was the way I do my water change for the past 3 years, recently I realized doing it without scooping him out seemed to be more comfortable for him haha. Now I just scoop out certain amount of water very gently while he's swimming elsewhere and do my partial water change that way. As for tank deals, I am aware that 5 gallons and 10 gallons are cheaper, especially with 10 gallons' 1$ per gallon deal. However, that only applies to plastic tanks, but I'd always been on the lookout when glass tanks that are on sale, and slowly upgrading his home that way.

Unfortunately, your dorm room must have been larger than mine then. I was always pretty amazed when I see people's dorm room online with large fish tanks in there because of the space available. My room has no space for 5 gallons, much less for 10 gallons, quite literally.

I believe your acclimation method is correct to get them used to the tank again, since it's the method I know a lot of people do as well! If the method works best for your fish, then it's all good.

Well it’s good you pay attention to that kinda thing

And I’ve only ever seen the glass ones with the $1 per gallon sale... huh (and while it is just the tank, the other pieces can be found for very reasonable prices online, making the overall cost less, y’know?)

And that sucks, your room must be tiny!

Well, best of luck

 

Thank you for the advice! In the past, I would scoop out my fish too before working on the water. However, whenever he was placed from his tank to a little cup, it would always stress him out greatly. Though it was the way I do my water change for the past 3 years, recently I realized doing it without scooping him out seemed to be more comfortable for him haha. Now I just scoop out certain amount of water very gently while he's swimming elsewhere and do my partial water change that way. As for tank deals, I am aware that 5 gallons and 10 gallons are cheaper, especially with 10 gallons' 1$ per gallon deal. However, that only applies to plastic tanks, but I'd always been on the lookout when glass tanks that are on sale, and slowly upgrading his home that way.

Unfortunately, your dorm room must have been larger than mine then. I was always pretty amazed when I see people's dorm room online with large fish tanks in there because of the space available. My room has no space for 5 gallons, much less for 10 gallons, quite literally.

I believe your acclimation method is correct to get them used to the tank again, since it's the method I know a lot of people do as well! If the method works best for your fish, then it's all good.



Ahh! Would be nice to know what type of thought it is haha. As far as I know, aquarium salt helps boost up fin rot rate. Could it have been the API Freshwater Aquarium Salt? I was about to purchase that.

Yes, it is actually. I had forgotten, but that should help your betta.

 

Instead of scooping the water out have you considered a small siphon? I have often wondered how anyone keeps their substrate clean when dipping water out instead of siphoning it out. With a small siphon you can remove the buildup in the substrate.

In my humble opinion fresh clean water is the very best medicine. Maybe Bettas are in some ways like us. As we age our hair tends to thin. Maybe thinning fins is just a matter of older age and no amount of medication will stop it.

 

I see. I'd continue to maintain my water change routine and high quality food, and continue to take care of him like I'd been doing now. His fins used to heal fast in the past, but it definitely slowed down now, as it barely progressed and I couldn't see him getting better. I see that this is within expectations now, I'll still hold some hope and continue this light treatment but won't force meds. I agree that his immune system may have been weaker now too. Thank you for the information!

I think the water changes you are doing and treating with Prime is fine. Bettas can live much longer than 4 years if in good conditions, fed a good quality, high protein pellet and additional pure proteins that are mostly 'meat' (insects, mosquito larva, bloodworms, daphnia, brine/mysis shrimp)

 

That was my original routine, but I was suggested not to do that as 50% daily would be too stressful to the fish.

50% daily won't stress them out, I actually have my cpds display spawining behavior during wc, plus, many people do daily wc. If you are uncomfortable doing 50% daily you can drop it to 30% daily and it will have virtually the same effect.

 

Instead of scooping the water out have you considered a small siphon? I have often wondered how anyone keeps their substrate clean when dipping water out instead of siphoning it out. With a small siphon you can remove the buildup in the substrate.

In my humble opinion fresh clean water is the very best medicine. Maybe Bettas are in some ways like us. As we age our hair tends to thin. Maybe thinning fins is just a matter of older age and no amount of medication will stop it.

Wow I have never thought about a siphon x_x
I'd definitely look into a small siphon for future water changes! And I see, thank you for your opinion, that can definitely be one of the possibilities.

I think the water changes you are doing and treating with Prime is fine. Bettas can live much longer than 4 years if in good conditions, fed a good quality, high protein pellet and additional pure proteins that are mostly 'meat' (insects, mosquito larva, bloodworms, daphnia, brine/mysis shrimp)

Actually, having betta fish live for more than 3 years now after getting him at one years old is an accomplishment for me because somehow my betta fish never get to live past 2.5 years, probably due to poor treatment and lack of knowledge in the past. I had been doing research and am happy to see that my betta is still active after 3 years (despite the fin rot now) and I'm definitely aiming for him to live as long as possible! I know people whose betta live on for 5 and even 8 years, I'm not sure if I can go that far but I'll do my best. I'd only been feeding him high quality pellets, but I'm also looking into bloodworms/daphnia and all these treats now. Thank you for the advise!

50% daily won't stress them out, I actually have my cpds display spawining behavior during wc, plus, many people do daily wc. If you are uncomfortable doing 50% daily you can drop it to 30% daily and it will have virtually the same effect.

I see! I'd do more than 20% of daily water change then and switch it to 30%. Thanks for the advise!

 

Ugh, sorry guys, I have another quick question, or more like confirmation. If I've been treating the tank with Indian Almond Leaves, how would I continue to perform the daily water change? I have been letting the water sit for a day or two that has been treated with IAL already before using it for the daily water change, so that the water won't get continually distilled from the effect of the IAL. Can I continue to do it this way? Or is letting the water sit for a day or two bad?

 

...of course you should treat his fin rot? What you need to do is figure out WHY he has fin rot. As far as I know fish don't just "get fin rot" there is something wrong in your tank. The best medicine is clean tank, clean water.

Do you test your tank water? Do you know what your numbers are? You should fill out the "sick fish template." Don't just go straight for meds... you may have something wrong with your tank that you don't know about.

Completely agree. It's ALWAYS worth it to at least TRY and fix your fishes problems!

 

Ugh, sorry guys, I have another quick question, or more like confirmation. If I've been treating the tank with Indian Almond Leaves, how would I continue to perform the daily water change? I have been letting the water sit for a day or two that has been treated with IAL already before using it for the daily water change, so that the water won't get continually distilled from the effect of the IAL. Can I continue to do it this way? Or is letting the water sit for a day or two bad?

Do you have gravel in the bottom of this tank? Have you always just dipped the water out?

The reason for all these questions is to find out out if some of the problems might be coming from the substrate. If you've not disturbed the gravel and you haven't siphoned the waste that will have built up over time we may be getting to the bottom of why the fin rot comes back or never totally heals.

I am going to recommend something radical but it needs to be done a certain way. You are going to need various size containers to do this.

1) Dip your little guy out of the tank with a container big enough for him to be comfortable while cleaning his tank. A container that holds 3 or 4 cups of water should be sufficient. By dipping him with the container he will always be in water. Set him in his container off to the side. Cover it to prevent him from jumping out.

2) Remove all decor and put it in the container of tank water, Also put your filter/filter media in some water pulled from the tank. Set this aside. We are trying to preserve all the bacteria by keeping everything we pull from the tank wet. That bacteria is your cycle. It is some tough stuff but still needs to be handled with care.

3) Hopefully you have a water change bucket and can use it for this next part. Dip out half or three quarters of the water into the bucket and set it aside.

4) Now stir up the gravel. the tank should be light enough at this point to pick up and pour out the water. If there was a build up of waste in the gravel the water will look pretty bad. If it wasn't too bad you may not have to do the next step.

5) After dumping the waste filled water out pour some Prime treated fresh water back in the tank. Again stir the gravel and pour the dirty water off. You will know if you need to repeat this step.

6) Once the gravel is fairly clean pour the water you saved back in the tank. Replace the decor and filter. Finish filling the tank with fresh dechlorinated water and put your little guy back in there.

Once all of this is done I highly recommend you get a small siphon designed for small tanks and use it to change out no less than 50% of the water every week. When doing the water changes poke the end of the siphon tube down into the gravel to make sure you remove any buildup that may be in there.

I know your question was how to deal with IAL. I've never used them but I would think you could put them in a small container of water and just pour that water in with each water change. Of course you will also be keeping one or two in the tank all the time.

 

Ugh, sorry guys, I have another quick question, or more like confirmation. If I've been treating the tank with Indian Almond Leaves, how would I continue to perform the daily water change? I have been letting the water sit for a day or two that has been treated with IAL already before using it for the daily water change, so that the water won't get continually distilled from the effect of the IAL. Can I continue to do it this way? Or is letting the water sit for a day or two bad?

The IAL will continue releasing tannins so if you put them in the tank with wc that would be very beneficial.

 

Do you have gravel in the bottom of this tank? Have you always just dipped the water out?

The reason for all these questions is to find out out if some of the problems might be coming from the substrate. If you've not disturbed the gravel and you haven't siphoned the waste that will have built up over time we may be getting to the bottom of why the fin rot comes back or never totally heals.

I am going to recommend something radical but it needs to be done a certain way. You are going to need various size containers to do this.

1) Dip your little guy out of the tank with a container big enough for him to be comfortable while cleaning his tank. A container that holds 3 or 4 cups of water should be sufficient. By dipping him with the container he will always be in water. Set him in his container off to the side. Cover it to prevent him from jumping out.

2) Remove all decor and put it in the container of tank water, Also put your filter/filter media in some water pulled from the tank. Set this aside. We are trying to preserve all the bacteria by keeping everything we pull from the tank wet. That bacteria is your cycle. It is some tough stuff but still needs to be handled with care.

3) Hopefully you have a water change bucket and can use it for this next part. Dip out half or three quarters of the water into the bucket and set it aside.

4) Now stir up the gravel. the tank should be light enough at this point to pick up and pour out the water. If there was a build up of waste in the gravel the water will look pretty bad. If it wasn't too bad you may not have to do the next step.

5) After dumping the waste filled water out pour some Prime treated fresh water back in the tank. Again stir the gravel and pour the dirty water off. You will know if you need to repeat this step.

6) Once the gravel is fairly clean pour the water you saved back in the tank. Replace the decor and filter. Finish filling the tank with fresh dechlorinated water and put your little guy back in there.

Once all of this is done I highly recommend you get a small siphon designed for small tanks and use it to change out no less than 50% of the water every week. When doing the water changes poke the end of the siphon tube down into the gravel to make sure you remove any buildup that may be in there.

I know your question was how to deal with IAL. I've never used them but I would think you could put them in a small container of water and just pour that water in with each water change. Of course you will also be keeping one or two in the tank all the time.

Thank you for these steps and advise! Each week, I place him in a separate container and clean his entire tank, hand wash the gravel, scrub the decor, rinse his plastic plants and moss balls. Then pour a little of his old water back in with mostly new water. It was not too hard since it'd been only 2.5 gallon. This information is very helpful, I'd definitely into it. Thank you!

Good news! Right now I'm doing 50% water change daily and his fins are improving now! I guess daily 20% was not enough and the water was never too clean for his fins to heal. The little pin-hole on his fin was gone, and I can see new fins growing back on some ends. It's slow but it's definitely showing progress. Thank you all for the help!

 

He got fin rot weeks ago due to lack of water changes and bad water quality that resulted in an ammonia spike after leaving him to a 3rd party's care while I returned to my home country. For awhile I deem it unnecessary to get the water test kit, but I ordered one a day ago and it should arrive soon. Other than that, he's now undergoing 20% water change daily (I was told I should've done 50% every other day, and everyone say different things regarding stress level to the fish, I decide 20% daily when he barely notice that it's happening might be the best), his water conditioned with Seachem prime with additional drop every other day, and is treated with Indian Almond leaves, which helped very visibly at first, but now the effects had slowed down. I am avoiding meds and going for a more natural route where nothing I add is extra chemicals, but am planning to also use Aquarium Salt. He lives in a 2.5 gallon and is switching to a 3 gallon soon. (I understand that some people argue that minimum size is 5, not 2.5, but I do believe 2.5 gallon suffice for him, for now, especially when he is living with me in an extremely small dorm room.) That aside, nothing in his old or upcoming new tank itself should have anything that can result in his fin rot, water quality's on check too. I'd just been losing a bit of patience since some people's betta fin heals within days, but they rely on meds, and I kind of don't want to risk it since my betta is kind of old now. Then some people butt in and say that at 4 years, if their fins get fin rot then the case is pretty much hopeless now, so just want to confirm if what he/she said is true.

Don't worry I also had my main betta housed in a 2.5g since that's what I can provide with my budget and the space in my room also for me it looks like a decent home for him but later on I was bored of the size and decided to move him in a 5 gallon alone which looks like a mansion for him but then I got 2 adopted betta one died of her illness and the one that left is move to my 5 gallon tank. I decided to divide it for the two of them, unfortunately they are both male so the divided tank seems small for them and they regularly loiter in the same side of the divider maybe sensing each other out.