Help Betta fish has red spot

[Shellbeee]

HI I’m new to this so I’m not completely familiar with everything quite yet but this is my Betta fish Finley, I’ve had him since September and I can say that he’s become very important to me and all I seem to do is worry about him. I gave him a water change last night and he seemed happy and was swimming around so I didn’t worry much, but when I woke up I saw he had one red dot on his fin I started worrying and asked others about it and was told that he would be fine, so. I went to work and when I came back home he developed more red spots. Could it be fin rot, or maybe his plastic plants? He has had the same “plants” since the beginning but since his water changed I decided to move around some of his decorations and now he’s only staying around the plastic plants. I’m very worried and I’d do anything to help him. Thank you

 

[SM1199]

They look like some small tears in his fins. I would remove those plastic plants - they can do a lot more damage than what you see here, and I can tell in the background you have the extra-pointy types. Instead, you can look for live plants (best option!) or fabric-based plants. Good luck! Keep up with your water changes to make sure his water is clean enough to help him heal on his own.

 

[Blueberrybetta]

What are your water parameters? Is your tank cycled ? Red spots,stripes, or gills are signs of ammonia poisoning.

 

[Shellbeee]

They look like some small tears in his fins. I would remove those plastic plants - they can do a lot more damage than what you see here, and I can tell in the background you have the extra-pointy types. Instead, you can look for live plants (best option!) or fabric-based plants. Good luck! Keep up with your water changes to make sure his water is clean enough to help him heal on his own.

Thank you for the response! I’ve been looking into getting him some real plants recently, do you have any idea where I could buy him some? I’d buy them ASAP if I knew where to find some )

What are your water parameters? Is your tank cycled ? Red spots,stripes, or gills are signs of ammonia poisoning.

I thought it might be a sign of ammonia poisoning. When I first got him my mom didn’t want to get him a tank and decided on a bowl and I’m sad to admit he was stuck in there for quite a bit but I ended up buying him a tank and I’ve always cycled it and made sure the temperature was right. He’s currently in a 4 gallon tank but I’ve been looking into upgrades. Could I buy maybe a test for the water to see? Also how could I treat it if it is ammonia poisoning?

 

[tnrsmomma]

Thank you for the response! I’ve been looking into getting him some real plants recently, do you have any idea where I could buy him some? I’d buy them ASAP if I knew where to find some )

That's awesome that you got a good sized tank for him.

In regards to where to buy plants, big pet stores like Petco and petsmart both sell a small selection of basic plants. The packages usually say how big they get. Look for plants that will fit your tank and are easy to grow, like amazon swords, java fern and anubias. Most swords get pretty big but they sometimes have small varieties like amazon compacta. A local fish store will likely have a much wider range of plants. Just ask for low tech, low light, beginner plants. Some plants are really fussy about having the proper lights and co2. Indian Almond Leaves (more specifically the tannic acid that leaches out of the leaves) is a good mild antiseptic and water conditioner. Big leaves and small leaves can be ordered on line or bought at most pet stores. Sometimes they are just called betta leaves. Just boil it to help it sink and put pieces of a big leaf or a handful if small leaves in the tank. Fair warning it may turn your water a bit stained like weak tea. That's ok.

For the ammonia, the best bang for your buck is to buy an API master test kit. It feels a bit like a chemistry experiment at first but is pretty easy once you do it a few times. There are test strips that you can buy but they tend to be inaccurate and hard to read. I also suggest watching some videos or reading up on what cycling is. I could be wrong but the way you worded it, saying you've always cycled the tank, makes me wonder if you might be missing some details. I know I was super mixed up about it when I first started! The aquarium co op channel on youtube has a great video about the nitrogen cycle that makes a lot of sense.

Best way to treat ammonia burn or poisoning is to eliminate the ammonia via partial water changes and an ammonia neutralizer like Prime.

Most important thing right now is to do a partial water change every day to every few days to make sure its plenty clean and ammonia free while he heals. I highly recommend the liquid test kit I mentioned. Good luck to you and your beautiful boy!

 

[Blueberrybetta]

I reccomend the API freshwater test kit, saves you money In the long run plus it test for ammonia. If you have ammonia it means your tank isn't cycled. Best thing for ammonia is to do water changes and use prime water conditioner to help neutralize it for the time being

 

[Shellbeee]

That's awesome that you got a good sized tank for him.

In regards to where to buy plants, big pet stores like Petco and petsmart both sell a small selection of basic plants. The packages usually say how big they get. Look for plants that will fit your tank and are easy to grow, like amazon swords, java fern and anubias. Most swords get pretty big but they sometimes have small varieties like amazon compacta. A local fish store will likely have a much wider range of plants. Just ask for low tech, low light, beginner plants. Some plants are really fussy about having the proper lights and co2. Indian Almond Leaves (more specifically the tannic acid that leaches out of the leaves) is a good mild antiseptic and water conditioner. Big leaves and small leaves can be ordered on line or bought at most pet stores. Sometimes they are just called betta leaves. Just boil it to help it sink and put pieces of a big leaf or a handful if small leaves in the tank. Fair warning it may turn your water a bit stained like weak tea. That's ok.

For the ammonia, the best bang for your buck is to buy an API master test kit. It feels a bit like a chemistry experiment at first but is pretty easy once you do it a few times. There are test strips that you can buy but they tend to be inaccurate and hard to read. I also suggest watching some videos or reading up on what cycling is. I could be wrong but the way you worded it, saying you've always cycled the tank, makes me wonder if you might be missing some details. I know I was super mixed up about it when I first started! The aquarium co op channel on youtube has a great video about the nitrogen cycle that makes a lot of sense.

Best way to treat ammonia burn or poisoning is to eliminate the ammonia via partial water changes and an ammonia neutralizer like Prime.

Most important thing right now is to do a partial water change every day to every few days to make sure its plenty clean and ammonia free while he heals. I highly recommend the liquid test kit I mentioned. Good luck to you and your beautiful boy!

Thank you so much for this amazing response! I’ll be heading to Petsmart and Petco tomorrow to buy him some plants and a kit before work tomorrow. I’ll also look more into cycling to make sure I’m not doing anything wrong. I really appreciate this and it means the world to me <3

I reccomend the API freshwater test kit, saves you money In the long run plus it test for ammonia. If you have ammonia it means your tank isn't cycled. Best thing for ammonia is to do water changes and use prime water conditioner to help neutralize it for the time being

Okay! Thank you I’ll make sure to buy one tomorrow