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Betta with split fins and fin rot.
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I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't think that's a critical situation at all. I think his fins might still be able to be fixed with water changes. It can take a little while before you see it get better though. How long have you been doing daily changes?
Is there anything sharp he could be catching his fins on?
Is there anything sharp he could be catching his fins on?
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Same here, I don't see a serious problem. Looks like mild fin rot to me. I had a Betta, very similar colour to yours actually! He would get fin rot at the drop of a hat but it always healed up quickly with more frequent water changes
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Its just harder to see it through pictures, it really doesn't look that bad in the pics but if you see its tail against the light its all wrinkly and soft almost all the way to where the blue colors start to show. I've been doing daily water changes for two weeks already..
There's a spider driftwood in his tank but I doubt he would be catching his fin on it, the pieces of wood that stick out are pretty thick. Also, I know it doesn't look very serious here, but if you look at my picture next to my name and compare his tail to what it looks like now, you can tell he actually has lost a lot of tissue.
There's a spider driftwood in his tank but I doubt he would be catching his fin on it, the pieces of wood that stick out are pretty thick. Also, I know it doesn't look very serious here, but if you look at my picture next to my name and compare his tail to what it looks like now, you can tell he actually has lost a lot of tissue.
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But its not that it's not growing back, it's that it keeps falling off in little chunks and it's painful to even watch no offense taken at all btw. I appreciate all of your opinions and they greatly influence everything I do with my tank and how I deal with these issues. I guess fishy anxiety is just getting the best of me at the moment
I made the really hard decision of rehoming my rasboras today. I know it wasn't the best scenario to have them in, as they'd do better in something bigger than a 10G so I dropped them off at my favorite LFS. I have had them since I very started my tank I'm not gonna lie I got pretty attached to them... they were small when I bought them and they had gotten huge and super colorful. I just hope they end up in a good home. This should keep Cosmo's stress level at a minimum and reduce competition for food as well. Who knows, maybe it was stress that got him sick in the first place and not the ph shift. Still sad about getting rid of the babies, my tank looks lonely now
I made the really hard decision of rehoming my rasboras today. I know it wasn't the best scenario to have them in, as they'd do better in something bigger than a 10G so I dropped them off at my favorite LFS. I have had them since I very started my tank I'm not gonna lie I got pretty attached to them... they were small when I bought them and they had gotten huge and super colorful. I just hope they end up in a good home. This should keep Cosmo's stress level at a minimum and reduce competition for food as well. Who knows, maybe it was stress that got him sick in the first place and not the ph shift. Still sad about getting rid of the babies, my tank looks lonely now
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Is the pH steady now? What is it?
I personally would still keep up the daily water changes for a few more weeks, but if you want to use meds, maybe a good antibiotic?
I personally would still keep up the daily water changes for a few more weeks, but if you want to use meds, maybe a good antibiotic?
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Well I was advised to buy Furan-2 if he didn't stop getting worse by this week. I went today when I realized it was getting late and I hadn't gotten any responses yet. I guess now we have to wait it out for a few days to see if it works. Hopefully it won't kill my plants or mess with my BB!!
It's been fluctuating between 6.2 and 6.4, maybe because of the oxygen pump I turn on at night? It used to be at a steady 7.4 before the CO2.
It's been fluctuating between 6.2 and 6.4, maybe because of the oxygen pump I turn on at night? It used to be at a steady 7.4 before the CO2.
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Yes, CO2 will acidify your water.
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Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? - 2.5g
How long has the tank been running? - My previous betta passed away several weeks back, he had been in it for about 2 years; I took the tank apart (but kept the sponge filter in some of the tank water so it wouldn't dry out) and cleaned everything, redid it with sand and got it up running again. Since then it's been running for about 2 weeks.
Does it have a filter? - Yes, a small sponge filter.
Does it have a heater? - Yes, an adjustable 25w heater.
What is the water temperature? - 79-81*F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) - One male betta and a live plant (anubias nana)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? - I brought the betta home knowing he has fin rot, so i've been doing daily 50% water changes to keep his water clean; normally I would do a 25-50% water change every other week
How much of the water do you change? - 50% right now, normally it would be 25-50%
What do you use to treat your water? - Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? - Both! depends on if there's any poop or anything on the substrate I need to vacuum up
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? - Yes, the tank was already cycled~
What do you use to test the water? - API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (because of daily water changes)
pH: 7.8
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? - Twice a day
How much do you feed your fish? - 2 pellets twice a day (so 4 altogether); sometimes I replace one of the meals with a couple of minI frozen bloodworms.
What brand of food do you feed your fish? - HikarI bio gold betta pellets and Omega One betta pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? - Occasional frozen bloodworms for some variety!
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? - He's lived at the store where I work for about 6-8 months, I've only had him at home for a week.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? - He's had fin rot for a couple of months now, but until my previous betta passed away, I didn't have an open tank to put him in so I could treat him. The store where I work doesn't have a hospital tank, sadly, and the bettas are housed in a setup where the fish are separate but the same water gets filtered through all the tanks (so I can't treat just one fish without treating all of them).
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? - Fin rot seems to be getting worse, not better; his scales look kind of rough? Maybe almost fuzzy? I'm familiar with pineconing scales, but it's not that. He also looks kind of bony around his head/spine, if that makes sense?
Have you started any treatment for the illness? - Been doing daily 50% water changes for a week, yesterday he started just sitting at the top of the tank and seemed kind of listless so I started dosing him with Kanaplex to see if maybe the fin rot is just too advanced for clean water to make a dent in it
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? - Yes, brought him home to try and nurse him back to health!
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? - He was pretty active despite the advanced fin rot when I first brought him home, but yesterday he wasn't acting like he felt good, and he's been the same today. His fins were already pretty tattered when I brought him home, but he seems to have lost even more of his tail fin despite the clean, heated and filtered water.
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)
Hello, all! As I've mentioned before I work at a small local pet store, and we do sell betta fish. I've brought home ones that were sick before--not all have made it, but two of them lived for two years with me, so that's something at least recently, one of my bettas passed away (RIP Lotus) so I had a tank open for another fish I'd been trying to keep an eye on at work. This guy, who i've named Sweet Pea, has some pretty advanced fin rot, which is probably due to the water conditions at the store. I try to keep the tanks clean, but i'm the only one really trying, and I don't have a lot of time I can work on the tanks (we're pretty short staffed, alas), so the water is not always the cleanest. Most of the bettas do fine and I try to make sure they go to good homes, but some don't get picked and end up being stuck in the small tanks for longer than they probably should. The tanks are filtered and somewhat heated! I don't think they're quite as warm as the bettas would like, but they're not under 72*F. When the fish are in the tank for more than a few months, I start to notice problems That's what seems to have happened with Sweet Pea.
He's missing most of his top fin and quite a bit of his tail fin, and his little side fins are kind of tattered too. Somehow the fins on his underside managed to not get too bad? He also seems kind of bony around his head/spine area, which I thought was just because he was a little malnourished, but I've been feeding him good food and while he's not as skinny as he was, the bony-ness has remained. His scales on his head and sides also look kind of rough or fuzzy? I was thinking possibly a fungus? But I can't seem to get a good picture of that It's definitely not pineconing, i've seen enough dropsy now to know what that looks like. It almost looks like he roughed his scales up on something, but there aren't any decorations in the tanks at work, just the gravel and a live plant, and there's nothing rough in my tank either. I believe he looked a little rough when I brought him home, but it may have gotten worse.
I had Kanaplex on hand, so I dosed him with that yesterday, and I'll do again tomorrow, but I was wondering if anybody else had any suggestions? I also have aquarium salt on hand, which I had considered adding in after I'm done dosing him with the Kanaplex. I can definitely stop by the fish store and pick up some other medicine if needed! Thank you in advance <3
Uploading some pics as well, you can't really see the roughness of the scales very well, but that second pic is from above and was taken tonight the first is from when I was acclimating him in the bag right after I brought him home. He was very active at first, but since yesterday he's been kind of lethargic (still eating tho!) He's also still pooping and staying upright okay in the water, but has been hanging out at the very top? I don't think he's constipated... I thought maybe it was because of how much of his fins he's lost, that he has a hard time swimming up and down? He stays so close to the top of the water that sometimes he sticks out a little he's such a sweet little guy, I just want him to get better!
What is the water volume of the tank? - 2.5g
How long has the tank been running? - My previous betta passed away several weeks back, he had been in it for about 2 years; I took the tank apart (but kept the sponge filter in some of the tank water so it wouldn't dry out) and cleaned everything, redid it with sand and got it up running again. Since then it's been running for about 2 weeks.
Does it have a filter? - Yes, a small sponge filter.
Does it have a heater? - Yes, an adjustable 25w heater.
What is the water temperature? - 79-81*F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) - One male betta and a live plant (anubias nana)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? - I brought the betta home knowing he has fin rot, so i've been doing daily 50% water changes to keep his water clean; normally I would do a 25-50% water change every other week
How much of the water do you change? - 50% right now, normally it would be 25-50%
What do you use to treat your water? - Seachem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? - Both! depends on if there's any poop or anything on the substrate I need to vacuum up
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? - Yes, the tank was already cycled~
What do you use to test the water? - API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (because of daily water changes)
pH: 7.8
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? - Twice a day
How much do you feed your fish? - 2 pellets twice a day (so 4 altogether); sometimes I replace one of the meals with a couple of minI frozen bloodworms.
What brand of food do you feed your fish? - HikarI bio gold betta pellets and Omega One betta pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? - Occasional frozen bloodworms for some variety!
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? - He's lived at the store where I work for about 6-8 months, I've only had him at home for a week.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? - He's had fin rot for a couple of months now, but until my previous betta passed away, I didn't have an open tank to put him in so I could treat him. The store where I work doesn't have a hospital tank, sadly, and the bettas are housed in a setup where the fish are separate but the same water gets filtered through all the tanks (so I can't treat just one fish without treating all of them).
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? - Fin rot seems to be getting worse, not better; his scales look kind of rough? Maybe almost fuzzy? I'm familiar with pineconing scales, but it's not that. He also looks kind of bony around his head/spine, if that makes sense?
Have you started any treatment for the illness? - Been doing daily 50% water changes for a week, yesterday he started just sitting at the top of the tank and seemed kind of listless so I started dosing him with Kanaplex to see if maybe the fin rot is just too advanced for clean water to make a dent in it
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? - Yes, brought him home to try and nurse him back to health!
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? - He was pretty active despite the advanced fin rot when I first brought him home, but yesterday he wasn't acting like he felt good, and he's been the same today. His fins were already pretty tattered when I brought him home, but he seems to have lost even more of his tail fin despite the clean, heated and filtered water.
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)
Hello, all! As I've mentioned before I work at a small local pet store, and we do sell betta fish. I've brought home ones that were sick before--not all have made it, but two of them lived for two years with me, so that's something at least recently, one of my bettas passed away (RIP Lotus) so I had a tank open for another fish I'd been trying to keep an eye on at work. This guy, who i've named Sweet Pea, has some pretty advanced fin rot, which is probably due to the water conditions at the store. I try to keep the tanks clean, but i'm the only one really trying, and I don't have a lot of time I can work on the tanks (we're pretty short staffed, alas), so the water is not always the cleanest. Most of the bettas do fine and I try to make sure they go to good homes, but some don't get picked and end up being stuck in the small tanks for longer than they probably should. The tanks are filtered and somewhat heated! I don't think they're quite as warm as the bettas would like, but they're not under 72*F. When the fish are in the tank for more than a few months, I start to notice problems That's what seems to have happened with Sweet Pea.
He's missing most of his top fin and quite a bit of his tail fin, and his little side fins are kind of tattered too. Somehow the fins on his underside managed to not get too bad? He also seems kind of bony around his head/spine area, which I thought was just because he was a little malnourished, but I've been feeding him good food and while he's not as skinny as he was, the bony-ness has remained. His scales on his head and sides also look kind of rough or fuzzy? I was thinking possibly a fungus? But I can't seem to get a good picture of that It's definitely not pineconing, i've seen enough dropsy now to know what that looks like. It almost looks like he roughed his scales up on something, but there aren't any decorations in the tanks at work, just the gravel and a live plant, and there's nothing rough in my tank either. I believe he looked a little rough when I brought him home, but it may have gotten worse.
I had Kanaplex on hand, so I dosed him with that yesterday, and I'll do again tomorrow, but I was wondering if anybody else had any suggestions? I also have aquarium salt on hand, which I had considered adding in after I'm done dosing him with the Kanaplex. I can definitely stop by the fish store and pick up some other medicine if needed! Thank you in advance <3
Uploading some pics as well, you can't really see the roughness of the scales very well, but that second pic is from above and was taken tonight the first is from when I was acclimating him in the bag right after I brought him home. He was very active at first, but since yesterday he's been kind of lethargic (still eating tho!) He's also still pooping and staying upright okay in the water, but has been hanging out at the very top? I don't think he's constipated... I thought maybe it was because of how much of his fins he's lost, that he has a hard time swimming up and down? He stays so close to the top of the water that sometimes he sticks out a little he's such a sweet little guy, I just want him to get better!
Do you have a thermometer? It's important that your heat is not fluctuating especially when you're putting new water in the tank. Make sure you're filter is right next to your heater so that the heat is distributed. A 2.5 gallon is one of the harder tanks to keep since it's so small. Do you know you're pH? I'd suggest getting floating plants just to help purify his water. It could also very well be that you're filter is still infected with whatever your old fish had. I'm wondering if you're sweet Betta may just be stressed or if he has swim bladder disorder. I wouldn't suggest the kanaplex unless you're making sure the concentration is staying the same. Since you don't know what you're treating other than fin rot. And I can't tell how bad the fins are eaten away by the photos. If they are halfway gone then yes medicine or salt. But if it's less maybe it's stressing him out.
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What color is his poop?
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I have a digital thermometer, and tho I don't change the setting on the heater, the temperature does go up and down over the course of a couple of days it doesn't change fast, so I don't think it bothers him too much, but in the morning it'll be 79.8 and then by the night it'll be 80.7 or sometimes 81. My pH is 7.8 I have my filter next to my heater with the water flow going past my heater so that it'll distribute the heat more evenly. I was starting to wonder about the filter maybe being a problem tho too... I might change it out since I have extra ones. The filter is the only thing I didn't clean very thoroughly because I didn't want to kill my bacteria... Top fin and tail fin are definitely more than half gone, while the belly fin is still mostly there he didn't seem stressed at all until about a week after I brought him home. Hopefully I can get him acting perky again
Thank you for the idea! If he isn't showing any improvement after I finish dosing the Kanaplex I'll definitely give that a try! And his poop has been pretty dark mostly. Once or twice it's been a reddish brown color, but other times it's been dark brown-ish.
Thank you for your help!
Of course! And the bacteria may become resistant to the active ingredient in Kanaplex, if he gets better and then suddenly gets worse again even when you use Kanaplex it may be time to switch to a different medicine like Furan 2 which treats for gram neggative and gram positive bacteria. If you can get him a 5 gallon it's much easier to keep that steady and the more water the less resistent it will be to temperature changes and almost every other problems like disease/medication/accidentally toxins in your tank/pH. Of course you wouldn't need to get a different heater since you have 25 Watt one that would suffice. But that's for later, and I understand money can be an issue. I know for me it is.
You're pH is good just make sure it's steady. Usually higher pH is less suseptable to pH swings so it's unlikely. And brown poop is a good sign watch out for any white poop.
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I'll go ahead and pick up some Furan 2, then, just in case! The tank size is less of a money issue and more of a space issue I'm hoping to upgrade to 5 gallon tanks as soon as I can get some time to clear space at my house in the room I keep my gerbils in with the door closed so my cats don't bother them. I don't trust my cats with fish so the tanks are at my parents' house at the moment, and my mother was barely willing to give up the space for the 2.5g tanks I just need to get my butt in gear!
I can understand it's alright.
Another suggestion is Indian Almond leafs also known as Catappa leafs if you haven't heard of them before. This has helped my bettas recover from fin growth as well, and with general energy and activity. Since he is skinny he may have internal parasites and perhaps the white poop has not started, if youd like to be safe Paraguard it good for the mild symptoms (early stages/worry of internal parasites). Optional but cautionary meassures for new fish.
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I've got some driftwood and a big almond leaf in his tank I've got some seachem Metroplex on hand, would that work? Or is paraguard preferred?
That's great . And yes metroplex will work, it's stronger though than paraguard. Is the tummy of your bettas sunken in at all? Hopefully your fish continues to get fatter
If you go the metroplex route it's suggested you add it to your fishes food by using seachem's Focus you can soak your food in garlic too because your fish may not like the flavor (you don't have to buy the garlic bottle from seachem you can make your own garlic juice if you want).
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Of courseee
And I think a sunken in head is a sign of a straving fish like you predicted. Fatten him up with blood worms maybe get him some frozen brine shrimp or some other food to varry his diet. (Three different foods is my minimum usually for the healthiest fish)
Could you take a picture of the ingredients to your pellets? Usually what your looking for are things like whole fish meal, spirulina, and whole wheat.
Dm me whenever or keep replying on here whenever you'd like
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Just thought everyone would like to know that Sweet Pea is doing great! He's happy and swimming around and making lots of bubble nests (that I feel bad for messing up because I'm still doing frequent PWC lol) and he's had a lot of new fin growth! Sorry I didn't update sooner, real life has been hectic :'D
Pictures are kind of crappy but he won't stop moving LOL he's the cutest little guy!
Pictures are kind of crappy but he won't stop moving LOL he's the cutest little guy!
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Is this amount of plant life what should be in my Betta tank? We have a ten gallon, with four silk plants, a log, a leaf hammock a couple statues and skull with the small holes blocked with gravel. Does he need more to be comfortable?
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Hello!
First I would like to say thank you for taking your time to help me out with my fish babies!
I have 2 male Betta’s in a divided 10 gallon (Apollo and Dumbo). The first Betta in the picture is the one with severe fin rot. He is about 1 year old and I’ve had him since he was 3 months old. I don’t remember his fin type but I do have pictures of him when he had fins. The second Betta is dumbo. He is about 7 months old and I’ve had him for 3 1/2 months. He is an elephant ear Betta and he has the start of fin rot I believe. Honestly I’ve been slacking with water changes and I think that’s what caused this. That and my heater broke and it took 2 weeks for me to get my new heater which came today. That are both still active as usual and eat like pigs. They have a clean bill of health and have never gotten sick except for this. I have Melafix, Aquarium salt, epsom salt, and Kanaplex already and I would prefer to use that and not have to buy new medications. Any advice on what to do?
(Apollo Before)
(Dumbo before)
(Apollo Now)
(Dumbo now)
First I would like to say thank you for taking your time to help me out with my fish babies!
I have 2 male Betta’s in a divided 10 gallon (Apollo and Dumbo). The first Betta in the picture is the one with severe fin rot. He is about 1 year old and I’ve had him since he was 3 months old. I don’t remember his fin type but I do have pictures of him when he had fins. The second Betta is dumbo. He is about 7 months old and I’ve had him for 3 1/2 months. He is an elephant ear Betta and he has the start of fin rot I believe. Honestly I’ve been slacking with water changes and I think that’s what caused this. That and my heater broke and it took 2 weeks for me to get my new heater which came today. That are both still active as usual and eat like pigs. They have a clean bill of health and have never gotten sick except for this. I have Melafix, Aquarium salt, epsom salt, and Kanaplex already and I would prefer to use that and not have to buy new medications. Any advice on what to do?
(Apollo Before)
(Dumbo before)
(Apollo Now)
(Dumbo now)
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Indian almond leaves could help I don’t knwo about the rest maybe Fanatic could help
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As already suggested I would go ahead with daily water changes of 25-50%. I would also rinse off any ornaments or fake plants (only once, no need to reclean them every single day).
I personally prefer to use indian almond leaves to help in general but aquarium salt works fine. I would also suggest waiting a few days to see if the water changes alone are helping before reaching for the salt.
If after maybe 4-5 days there's no sign of progress then I would give them a salt bath. If you haven't done one before here is a great tutorial specifically for bettas.
If possible you may want to put them into separate tanks until they're both back to normal just because it would keep them both clean. You don't have to of course so don't feel like you absolutely have to.
They should be ok though, I've seen fish with a lot worse bounce back just fine.
I personally prefer to use indian almond leaves to help in general but aquarium salt works fine. I would also suggest waiting a few days to see if the water changes alone are helping before reaching for the salt.
If after maybe 4-5 days there's no sign of progress then I would give them a salt bath. If you haven't done one before here is a great tutorial specifically for bettas.
If possible you may want to put them into separate tanks until they're both back to normal just because it would keep them both clean. You don't have to of course so don't feel like you absolutely have to.
They should be ok though, I've seen fish with a lot worse bounce back just fine.
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Okay thank you Salem Fanatic and gorejusdesign . I did a 100% water change 2 days ago and rinsed the gravel, washed all ornaments and rinsed the filter (in the tank water of course). I also replaced the tank because it was getting water marks on it. So everything in the tank and the tank has had a good clean. I will start doing daily water changes and see if that helps. If not I will do the salt bath and/or Indian almond leaves. Thank you all so much for your help!
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I would separate them but they are best friends and I don’t have an extra heater lol. There has actually been a couple times where I filled the tank water up to high and they get in the same side and I’m not joking or making his up but they sit right next to or near each other and literally don’t flare, fight, or anything. They honestly are the most chill Betta’s I have ever met.
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So I was doing daily water changes until the 6th of this month. I stopped doing daily water changes because I wasn’t seeing any healing. It actually looked to be getting worse. 3 days ago I decided to go ahead and use the Melafix but cautiously. The first day I put him in the tank for treatment I slightly under-dosed so he could get used to it then I did normal dosage. He seems fine with the Melafix considering it has tee tree in it. I have used products with tea tree in them before on Betta’s and they don’t ever hurt or kill them so I use products with tee tree oil in them if necessary. Will keep this thread updated and thanks for y’alls help.
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but Ive tried aquarium salt and water changes and kanaplex right now but it seems like its getting much worse I put Anthony in a quarintine tank but I am starting to think that was a bad decision, I don’t know what to do, am I doing something wrong?
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I'm having the same issue in addition to popeye! Mine was a severe case of fin rot that reached his body, and I heard aquarium salt should be used in the early stages, so it didn't work for my betta since he was at the advanced stage. I'm also doing the same treatment with Kanaplex right now and haven't seen any progress. I'm hoping someone will jump in here with some suggestions for the both of us. Hope he gets better!
Can you please fill the emergency template. That will make it easier for members to jump in and assess the situation.
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Just found out not only how to treat this persistent popeye my betta is experiencing, but also the fin rot. All credit goes to Fae for telling me about this amazing site and its medications. It doesn't involve the typical medications, it involves more advanced medications (can't say from personal experience, but I plan to try it).
There is Aquatronics Spectrogram; Synergistic Kanamycin/Nitrofurazone Full Spectrum Treatment . However, they said that due to high demands for high grade pharmaceuticals, their manufacturer cannot keep up with the demand for Spectrogram in late 2020. AKA it's out of stock.
SO. They recommend using their Furacyn alone or combined with Kanamycin/Kanaplex since Spectrogram is not in stock.
I plan to personally try this since nothing has been working for my betta, and it sounds like you are experiencing some persistent fin rot as well.
There is Aquatronics Spectrogram; Synergistic Kanamycin/Nitrofurazone Full Spectrum Treatment . However, they said that due to high demands for high grade pharmaceuticals, their manufacturer cannot keep up with the demand for Spectrogram in late 2020. AKA it's out of stock.
SO. They recommend using their Furacyn alone or combined with Kanamycin/Kanaplex since Spectrogram is not in stock.
I plan to personally try this since nothing has been working for my betta, and it sounds like you are experiencing some persistent fin rot as well.
I will definitely look into that whitelightning also to answer how long it’s been about I think three or four weeks maybe more I started out using API Like a general cure when it was still mild and it seem like it was working because there was fin growth (heres a picture) but then it started getting worse again and I think it’s because I didn’t get to do a water change till two days after per the instructions but during that time a bunch of plants were breaking down and dying and I’m not sure why but I feel like that was part of it I will also try to fill out the emergency template but I’ll tell you I am very frustrated with this and tired of seeing my little buddy really not feeling good..
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 20 gallons
How long has the tank been running? I think since September
Does it have a filter? Hang on back 30 gallon filter I think
Does it have a heater? Yes it’s adjustable
What is the water temperature? 76
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 betta 3 nerite snails (in the past have tried to put Moran but didn’t work out)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? At one point before bed I was trying to do a water change every other week and then there’s a point when I finally got Anthony I did want to change once a month because I saw somewhere it said you didn’t have to do water change which such a big tank but I read and experience that is baloney So I have been trying recently to do every week if not every other week
How much of the water do you change? 5 gallons
What do you use to treat your water? Aqueon water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? The water and substrate
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes but the quarantine tank he is in right now he’s not cycled which is 3 1/2 gallons
What do you use to test the water? Mastered freshwater chess kit also I have kept the filter off and I did have a filter that was in a friend of mine‘s tank that was much dirtier but I tried to clean it before putting it in the mine but I turned off the hang on the back filter because I was putting aquarium salt and also medication in And currently it has aquarium salt in the water so I don’t know if that will affect the parameters but here are the parameters (looking at the water parameters I’m not sure if something happened to the beneficial bacteria because I left the filter off but there looks to be nitrite and ammonia)
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: .25 or .50
Nitrite: .25
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.2
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? I’ve been trying to be better at that but I’m also still trying to figure that out but I’ve been trying to do it twice a day once in the morning between 2 to 3 or four pellets and maybe some blood worms sometimes per day
How much do you feed your fish? I try to feed him at least six pellets a dayBut I do think that I have over fed him because I also give him blood worms. He is also eating cucumber seeds as well as algae wafers in the past
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Also I feed him betta pellets by ocean nutrition and freeze dried blood worms by hikari
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Freeze dried
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? I think between 4-6 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 month almost ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? He was laying on the bottom a lot not when I would come over when I would come over my mom and my dad he would come up to the top of the aquarium immediately but it seem like he was laying around a lot and then I think it seem like it was almost overnight something happened to his fins Initially I thought they got caught on something that I had put in for him
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I have started several treatments however I think I’ve messed up a couple times I first used API fin and body cure. That seem to be helping and he was having fin growth back but I did forget to change the water two days after it was supposed to and a lot of plants were dying and breaking down at the time then I started going to aquarium salt and I don’t think that I dosed that initially right so I did a 100% water change and I try to dose it right again and the next day I added more which I don’t think was right and then I transferred him to a new quarantine tank that I just set up and I put aquarium salt in there I I think I put too much in there because I just kind of poured a bunch in and didn’t measure it out yesterday or maybe the day before I did a 100% water change and put in kanaplex and I think today is the second day but it still seems like it’s getting worse
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No but the water conditions he was in when I got him we’re not good when I floated the cup all of the water he was in was yellow and had tons of poop and other stuff
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Right now he is laying on the bottom a lot in the quarantine tank at one point his colors seem to get brighter but I’m not sure if they’re as bright or if they’re darker
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) at the beginning it wasn’t so bad originally I had bought a decoration for him because I was trying to find something that he could hide and if he wanted to and get away from being seen but I think it had sharp edges even though I tried to send them out and initially I thought he got caught on the tournament and he had small very small fin loss however then it started to progress really slowly but then when I was using the API fin and body cure that seem to be working because it was getting worse but then it seem like it was getting better at in certain places and it seem like it stopped but I missed a water change two days after it was supposed to and a lot of plans were breaking down at the time and I had the filter off for a while while I was doing that which had the beneficial bacteria for breaking down the stuff I think I made a mistake there and then it started to get worse so I used aquarium salt because I saw a video about that at first I didn’t dose it right I was following the box but the box wasn’t right so I tried what was on the one video and I tried to put in 10 tablespoons in my 20 gallon aquarium and then the next day I just put in a bunch more but before this when I put in the wrong dosage I did a 100% water change before doing that I’ve also put in Indian almond leaves In both the 20 gallon and a 3 1/2 gallon quarantine tank but then when I was setting up the quarantine tank I put aquarium salt in there and tried to make it the same temperature and then I transferred him over then I got the kanaplex and I put one level measure of the spoon that came with it in but I wasn’t sure with the aquarium salt if that was good so I took the aquarium salt out by doing another 100% water change and then when I filled it back up I put the spoon measure came with in as the first dose And up until a couple hours ago I left the filter off but I wasn’t sure if that was good or not so I turn the filter back on but I’m not sure if that’s not removing the medication from the water but today the fin right got much worse because a bunch of his Fin was hanging off at least 2 inches long skinny piece was hanging off and eventually fell off it started with his back fin his tail fin but then it progressed to his dorsal fin and now to the big fan on his belly and I’m not sure but I think even the little fins the two that hang down in the front I’m not sure that they’re not getting infected now as well. But I’ve been so frustrated over this and I feel like I’m screwing it up more and so I really want him to get better but I definitely need help with this please tell me what I am doing wrong and what I need to do so that Anthony can get better please.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 20 gallons
How long has the tank been running? I think since September
Does it have a filter? Hang on back 30 gallon filter I think
Does it have a heater? Yes it’s adjustable
What is the water temperature? 76
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 betta 3 nerite snails (in the past have tried to put Moran but didn’t work out)
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? At one point before bed I was trying to do a water change every other week and then there’s a point when I finally got Anthony I did want to change once a month because I saw somewhere it said you didn’t have to do water change which such a big tank but I read and experience that is baloney So I have been trying recently to do every week if not every other week
How much of the water do you change? 5 gallons
What do you use to treat your water? Aqueon water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? The water and substrate
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes but the quarantine tank he is in right now he’s not cycled which is 3 1/2 gallons
What do you use to test the water? Mastered freshwater chess kit also I have kept the filter off and I did have a filter that was in a friend of mine‘s tank that was much dirtier but I tried to clean it before putting it in the mine but I turned off the hang on the back filter because I was putting aquarium salt and also medication in And currently it has aquarium salt in the water so I don’t know if that will affect the parameters but here are the parameters (looking at the water parameters I’m not sure if something happened to the beneficial bacteria because I left the filter off but there looks to be nitrite and ammonia)
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: .25 or .50
Nitrite: .25
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.2
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? I’ve been trying to be better at that but I’m also still trying to figure that out but I’ve been trying to do it twice a day once in the morning between 2 to 3 or four pellets and maybe some blood worms sometimes per day
How much do you feed your fish? I try to feed him at least six pellets a dayBut I do think that I have over fed him because I also give him blood worms. He is also eating cucumber seeds as well as algae wafers in the past
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Also I feed him betta pellets by ocean nutrition and freeze dried blood worms by hikari
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Freeze dried
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? I think between 4-6 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 month almost ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? He was laying on the bottom a lot not when I would come over when I would come over my mom and my dad he would come up to the top of the aquarium immediately but it seem like he was laying around a lot and then I think it seem like it was almost overnight something happened to his fins Initially I thought they got caught on something that I had put in for him
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I have started several treatments however I think I’ve messed up a couple times I first used API fin and body cure. That seem to be helping and he was having fin growth back but I did forget to change the water two days after it was supposed to and a lot of plants were dying and breaking down at the time then I started going to aquarium salt and I don’t think that I dosed that initially right so I did a 100% water change and I try to dose it right again and the next day I added more which I don’t think was right and then I transferred him to a new quarantine tank that I just set up and I put aquarium salt in there I I think I put too much in there because I just kind of poured a bunch in and didn’t measure it out yesterday or maybe the day before I did a 100% water change and put in kanaplex and I think today is the second day but it still seems like it’s getting worse
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No but the water conditions he was in when I got him we’re not good when I floated the cup all of the water he was in was yellow and had tons of poop and other stuff
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Right now he is laying on the bottom a lot in the quarantine tank at one point his colors seem to get brighter but I’m not sure if they’re as bright or if they’re darker
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) at the beginning it wasn’t so bad originally I had bought a decoration for him because I was trying to find something that he could hide and if he wanted to and get away from being seen but I think it had sharp edges even though I tried to send them out and initially I thought he got caught on the tournament and he had small very small fin loss however then it started to progress really slowly but then when I was using the API fin and body cure that seem to be working because it was getting worse but then it seem like it was getting better at in certain places and it seem like it stopped but I missed a water change two days after it was supposed to and a lot of plans were breaking down at the time and I had the filter off for a while while I was doing that which had the beneficial bacteria for breaking down the stuff I think I made a mistake there and then it started to get worse so I used aquarium salt because I saw a video about that at first I didn’t dose it right I was following the box but the box wasn’t right so I tried what was on the one video and I tried to put in 10 tablespoons in my 20 gallon aquarium and then the next day I just put in a bunch more but before this when I put in the wrong dosage I did a 100% water change before doing that I’ve also put in Indian almond leaves In both the 20 gallon and a 3 1/2 gallon quarantine tank but then when I was setting up the quarantine tank I put aquarium salt in there and tried to make it the same temperature and then I transferred him over then I got the kanaplex and I put one level measure of the spoon that came with it in but I wasn’t sure with the aquarium salt if that was good so I took the aquarium salt out by doing another 100% water change and then when I filled it back up I put the spoon measure came with in as the first dose And up until a couple hours ago I left the filter off but I wasn’t sure if that was good or not so I turn the filter back on but I’m not sure if that’s not removing the medication from the water but today the fin right got much worse because a bunch of his Fin was hanging off at least 2 inches long skinny piece was hanging off and eventually fell off it started with his back fin his tail fin but then it progressed to his dorsal fin and now to the big fan on his belly and I’m not sure but I think even the little fins the two that hang down in the front I’m not sure that they’re not getting infected now as well. But I’ve been so frustrated over this and I feel like I’m screwing it up more and so I really want him to get better but I definitely need help with this please tell me what I am doing wrong and what I need to do so that Anthony can get better please.
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I'm sorry i honestly couldn't read the whole thing because it's very difficult to read, can you please add punctuation and such next time? Not trying to be rude, I'm just not sure if I missed anything so I wanted to add a disclaimer. I did skim it.
Not sure if you've solved this yet, but this is the steps of what I would do:
Read the Betta fish care page on this site. Read specifically how to set up their tanks
Take any dead or dying plants and sharp decorations out of the tank
Do a really good gravel vacuum along with a water change of your 20 gallon tank. Change at least 50% of your water. Condition the new water. Squeeze out your filter sponges in dirty water then put them back
Put Anthony back in. Ammonia and nitrite in an uncycled tank will kill him
Do daily water changes and keep his tank really clean. The rot should clear up, don't add any medications. If it doesn't, pick up some Methylblu and Merbromin , they're cheap and everyone who owns fish should have them as they are absolute life savers. Methylblu can be used to make anti fungal baths and Merbromin can be painted on like polysporin. I use both all the time, they're worth the investment
Not sure if you've solved this yet, but this is the steps of what I would do:
Read the Betta fish care page on this site. Read specifically how to set up their tanks
Take any dead or dying plants and sharp decorations out of the tank
Do a really good gravel vacuum along with a water change of your 20 gallon tank. Change at least 50% of your water. Condition the new water. Squeeze out your filter sponges in dirty water then put them back
Put Anthony back in. Ammonia and nitrite in an uncycled tank will kill him
Do daily water changes and keep his tank really clean. The rot should clear up, don't add any medications. If it doesn't, pick up some Methylblu and Merbromin , they're cheap and everyone who owns fish should have them as they are absolute life savers. Methylblu can be used to make anti fungal baths and Merbromin can be painted on like polysporin. I use both all the time, they're worth the investment
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- 192
I rescued a little guy about 4 weeks ago who came to me with fin rot that seems like it was at the same stage that your guy is in. He's in a 5 gallon, and I did (and am still doing) 1 gallon water changes every other day, and he's healing extremely well (I will be doing these water changes until he is fully healed, then gradually move to once a week water changes). When I got him he was really lethargic and laid on his side at the bottom of the tank most if not all day, only went up to the surface for air, and sometimes ate food. Seems though that you could turn your heater up, as bettas prefer 78-82ºF water. My heater is set to 79ºF. I also had a lot of tannins in the water since those have antifungal and antibacterial properties, so adding tannins will likely help a lot as well. Since the quarantine tank is not cycled I wouldn't recommend keeping him in there, as an uncycled tank can kill a fish. You should be fine putting him back in his normal tank especially since his typical aquarium is not stocked with anything that would be causing/contributing to the fin rot, such as biting his fins (since it only has snails.. my little guy that I rescued stayed in his 5 gallon the whole time with his two nerite snail friends). But remove any sharp decorations from the tank (any hard plastic or ceramic decorations, as well as any fake plants that are not silk plants). It doesn't look so bad to me that you need to medicate, so for now I would just do large water changes frequently, add some tannins, and turn up the heater.
Racheljuno I really appreciate what you and fae said but that picture is old this is what he looks like now, it seems like it stopped getting worse but this is what it looks like I tried Api and aquarium salt it still kept getting worse finally I used Kanaplex and it stopped getting worse
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Yeah, still looks pretty similar to me. Just be careful with using any medications and aquarium salt. If you're medicating I would recommend moving him to a quarantine tank (with a heater, a sponge filter is great but if you don't have one then no filter because a carbon filter will remove the medication). Since it seems like you've already medicated and used aquarium salt you will have to do a deep clean of the whole tank and any decorations when you're done. Remove any live plants if you're using salt. But I really would recommend just doing frequent water changes and adding tannins since the fin rot has not progressed so bad that it is at his body. I'll post a picture of what mine looked like when I got him when he had fin rot as well as a picture of him now. He's made really good progress. I didn't use any medications or aquarium salt, just tannins and frequent water changes.
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Random Great Topic!
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