Can My Betta Bounce Back?

My blue crown tail Betta got fin rot and I dosed him with melafix. I miscalculated the dosing and believe I gave him too much. I first dosed him on 06/26 and on 06/27 but then did a water change when I realized his behavior had changed. I've been doing water changes every day on his gallon bowl now. The bowl was always temporary. He was sharing a divided 5.5g with my other Betta and both got fun rot so I bought another 5 gallon and it's due to arrive tomorrow. And that will be his new home once it's set up. The other Betta has the 5.5g to himself now as his fin rot was worse and will take longer to heal.

Anyway, my question is that since I stopped dosing and been doing water changes every day my blue crowntail's behavior hasn't gotten worse but hasn't gotten better. He stays at the bottom of the bowl and sometimes he moves his fins hard like he wants to swim but he doesn't go anywhere. He is reactive and will swim to the other side of the bowl if he gets startled. Also I have been feeding him tropical flake food with a pair of tongs and he still has a healthy appetite. He'll charge the food when it's close to him. But he still stays at the bottom of the bowl the majority of the time. I placed morimo moss balls and java moss attached to a rock in the bowl in the hopes of improving the oxygen in the bowl and helping him breathe easier.

Should I give him more time to heal? It's been about 4 days since the last dose. Do you think he can come back from this? Or am I prolonging his suffering? He is still eating that gives me hope. Please let me know your thoughts/recommendations.

 

KEEP TRYING! As long as you are treating him he will be (hopefully) fine. If another week goes by with no improvement, put him out of his misery. It will be hard, but you can do it.

 

I would not treat him any further. Melafix and Pimafix are useless, and Melafix in particular can really harm bettas, as it messes with their labyrinth organ.

Can you list your water parameters? pH, temp, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates

As long as he's eating, I don't think you need to euthanize him.

I would continue with the daily water changes for now.

 

I would not treat him any further. Melafix and Pimafix are useless, and Melafix in particular can really harm bettas, as it messes with their labyrinth organ.

Can you list your water parameters? pH, temp, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates

As long as he's eating, I don't think you need to euthanize him.

I would continue with the daily water changes for now.

I agree with TexasDomer, the 'fixes are useless. The best thing you can do for them,if they're still eating, is fresh clean water. When you get the new tank you should see some improvement.

 

I stopped treating him 4 days ago. I actually got the new tank today and 1/3 of the water I used to set it up is from my established planted 10 gallon tank. The rest is new water and the filter is running. I'm giving the temperature longer to stabilize. I'll probably move him tonight. And hope he perks up more. Fingers crossed. And thanks to everyone. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't dragging this out if there wasn't a chance for him to recover. I'll just continue the water changes and feeding him and keep giving him more time to heal.

 

My Betta bounced back! I transferred him to his new tank although I was worried about it being stressful for him but within 30 min of being in the new tank I watched him swim all the way to the top for air twice. I also put in a bubbler and now 24h later he seems back to his old self. He's already picked out favorite spots in his new tank. I did a water change tonight and he ate well. I did take the bubbler back out to return to its original tank and he's still fine.

The first pic is from last night. He is partially hiding behind the green plant on the right and the second is from today. He's been hanging out and resting at the top of the tank like a normal betta.

 

Did you move the filter media over to the new tank? A bubbler isn't necessary unless you just like the look of it.