Betta fin rot/ stress treatment

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gal
How long has the tank been running? 5days
Does it have a filter? yes, sponge, air stone with no current
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? set to 74/76
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) betta, I took the pleco out on the day I changed the tank.

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? once a month
How much of the water do you change? full tank ( I won't be doing this anymore, I learned the proper way today)
What do you use to treat your water? sachem prime and tetra easy balance plus (only at start up)
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? no, I didn't know I had to do this until today I will be doing this going further.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes, overnight (stupidly did not check parameters)
What do you use to test the water? api water master test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
as of today
Ammonia: .50ppm
Nitrite: .25ppm
Nitrate: 5 pmm
pH: 7.2

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? morning and night, sometimes lunch if he follows me to feed more.
How much do you feed your fish? a small pinch- he can eat most if not all before it falls to the bottom
What brand of food do you feed your fish? fluval bug bites flakes he likes it he ate half already.
Do you feed frozen? no
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? about 6 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 month ago ( I just thought it was a plant cutting him/pleco and the big move)
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? fin/tails curling at the tips, length is shorter, blue of the fin is completely gone, a little blackening on the tips.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? no, trying to fix water parameters and doing research for the correct treatment.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? he was neglected so he was super shy and he was black and gold , I gave him a lot of plants and a bigger tank he is now extremely social and blue/gold.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? extremely active, not shy, always swimming around tank. no change in behavior other than fins fraying and shortening.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
my betta is normally blue and mustard with blue tips. But the tips of his fins are weird blackish color and they curl and look tattered and frayed. I took out any sharp edged decor and the pleco just in case they were causing it. and if the betta had columnaris or fin rot I wanted to make sure the pleco didn't get sick.
I think my betta got stressed because I fully changed his tank out before I went on vacation for 2 weeks (dec24-jan7). my parents told me a bunch of my plants died, a weird blue green algae set in from my pleco's wafers and the light they put on the tank, a whole bunch of white worms were in the tank (detritus perhaps?). When I got home on the 7th, I scooped out the weird algae and took out the plants and the decor that had a lot of algae (half the tank) and noticed the worms but I read that detritus isn't dangerous so I decided I would do a cleaning in the next apartment. I moved apartments on the 10th, changed their tank on Jan13th. I didn't properly change water by increments but I cleaned it fully rinsing substrate and scrubbing decor. I did that again 5 days ago (feb 3). My betta had a full set of fins when I left. half the length of his fins are gone now. He still has his energy and no personality change just physical appearance. IDK what to treat him with if he has fin rot or stress or both.

Today I am fixing his water parameters. I vacuumed the substrate, and took out like 20% of the water and I am treating the water and hopefully that fixes the nitrite and ammonia. but after that, what can I give my betta? *the pleco is currently in a hospital tank dealing with a crazy situation on another thread, that one is just bad*.

 

Hi,

Since your tank has only been running for 5 days it is going to cycle. If you don't know about the nitrogen cycle, please read about it. The ammonia will continue to rise, and so will the nitrites until there is enough beneficial bacteria to take care of the ammonia and nitrites. Beneficial bacteria does not live in the water, so it is ok to do frequent water changes, and it will not interfere with the tank cycling. Both of those - ammonia and nitrites - are harmful to fish.

I would do frequent water changes, maybe every other day, after you get those in check. I would change about 20 to 25% each time. Continue to test your water to monitor the parameters. The ammonia and nitrite will make your betta ill, and continue to cause health issues. Prime water conditioner is great. You can actually over dose with it, and the fish will be safe (please read the instructions on the bottle). It will hold the toxicity of low levels of ammonia and nitrites, so it is best to keep those levels as low as possible through water changes.

I would then add some aquarium salt to the tank to treat his fins. Follow the instructions on the package. The frequent water changes and the aquarium salt will promote healing. You can also add some Indian almond leaves to the tank. They will produce tannins, which will tint the water brown. The tannins are good for promoting healing, and will help reduce the betta's stress.

Fin rot is caused by bacteria. If he continues to have issues, and the pristine water and aquarium salt aren't doing the job, then you can treat with an antibiotic. I find that Maracyn 2 does a decent job. Kanaplex is also recommended a lot. Or API fin and body cure, if you can find it. They treat gram negative bacterial infections. The problem with using an antibiotic is that you are trying to cycle the tank, and the antibiotics will kill off the good bacteria in the tank. That's why it is recommended to treat fish in hospital tanks when antibiotics are needed.

I do hope that your betta gets better.

If you can, please post a pic or two, in case there is something else going on.

I hope this helps!

 

Hi,

Since your tank has only been running for 5 days it is going to cycle. If you don't know about the nitrogen cycle, please read about it. The ammonia will continue to rise, and so will the nitrites until there is enough beneficial bacteria to take care of the ammonia and nitrites. Beneficial bacteria does not live in the water, so it is ok to do frequent water changes, and it will not interfere with the tank cycling. Both of those - ammonia and nitrites - are harmful to fish.

I would do frequent water changes, maybe every other day, after you get those in check. I would change about 20 to 25% each time. Continue to test your water to monitor the parameters. The ammonia and nitrite will make your betta ill, and continue to cause health issues. Prime water conditioner is great. You can actually over dose with it, and the fish will be safe (please read the instructions on the bottle). It will hold the toxicity of low levels of ammonia and nitrites, so it is best to keep those levels as low as possible through water changes.

I would then add some aquarium salt to the tank to treat his fins. Follow the instructions on the package. The frequent water changes and the aquarium salt will promote healing. You can also add some Indian almond leaves to the tank. They will produce tannins, which will tint the water brown. The tannins are good for promoting healing, and will help reduce the betta's stress.

Fin rot is caused by bacteria. If he continues to have issues, and the pristine water and aquarium salt aren't doing the job, then you can treat with an antibiotic. I find that Maracyn 2 does a decent job. Kanaplex is also recommended a lot. Or API fin and body cure, if you can find it. They treat gram negative bacterial infections. The problem with using an antibiotic is that you are trying to cycle the tank, and the antibiotics will kill off the good bacteria in the tank. That's why it is recommended to treat fish in hospital tanks when antibiotics are needed.

I do hope that your betta gets better.

If you can, please post a pic or two, in case there is something else going on.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for this I had all those in mind. I just wanted confirmation haha. I really don't want to give medicine right away so I will definitely try the salt and the almond leaves because I don't like too many chemicals if I can help it. I looked really close to his fins yesterday after posting, I think his fin looks a little improved Idk maybe im just hopeful haha. but I do want to speed it up before he get a severe infection. I try not to bother him now that I am more established, I will try all of this and update tysm!!

 

With the amount of finnage that he has lost, it will take some time for regrowth, but it will happen!

 

With the amount of finnage that he has lost, it will take some time for regrowth, but it will happen!

Thank you!