Cujo's tail rot saga continues...

WARNING: Rant ahead... You have been warned...

I can't seem to put a halt to Cujo's fin rot and I just want to vent.  >

He has been thru two rounds of fungus clear, two rounds of Maracyn/Maracyn2, and now he is in the middle of his first round of Tetracycline. His water is filtered and immaculate, I have been changing it every day. I clean up his little poos with the turkey baster through out the day. His water is treated with Prime, a little bit of salt, the meds, and that is it. His water temp is a constant 80 degrees...

He seems like the happiest fish in the world, swimming around like he owns the place and building bubble nests in his plant every day (even though I keep wrecking them). He eats really well, his color is perfect and he's very active. You would never know from the rest of him that his tail keeps dissolving away. He'll go a day or two with no change and then he'll have a couple rays floating free with no fin attached to them (like tonight). And on another part of his tail he has new growth that I am just waiting to see it dissolve away, too.

I have tried the vita-chem, but I didn't continue with it because it left a film on the water surface and discolored the filter pads. I have NovAqua+ that I use with the cycled tanks, I guess I could try that instead of the Prime since I'm doing daily water changes. I have read elsewhere that an anti-biotic called Kanamycin sometimes works when fin rot is resistant to other types of anti-biotics, but none of my local stores carry it, so I'll have to find it online somewhere. What more can I do? What can I do differently? Will I have any hair left on my head if I don't quit pulling it out?? This has been going on for 6 weeks now and I just want it to stop.

It looks like Romeo is going to get into the 5 gallon tank long before Cujo ever gets out of the hospital...

/endrant

 

Believe me, I feel your pain. Cujo sounds the same as Neptune. ( Looks the same also) I got him Feb 9. He was great for 2 weeks, and then started with the tail rot. only the tail, it would heal, then fray again. I went through everything as far as meds go, and have everything that Mardel makes, and lots of Kordon products. Then his fin also got it.

Finally I moved him into a 3 gallon Qtank, with waterI first treated with AmQuel + to take care of any Ammonia spikes, and not have to do water changes for 5 days--at Mike's suggestion and that made a noticeable differenc. I treated him only with Maracyn Plus. ( I also used only that for Storm and he really has rallied and is looking great!) It is liquid and easy to dose. You give it on days 1 -3 &5. I also started the tank with Vita Chem 6 drops, then added 2 daily. Neptune showed signs of healing and regrowth and I thought we were out of the woods, but we weren't so I did this cycle all over. I added AmQuel + again on the 3rd day, just to be sure. He just finished this cycle today, so I will do a 25% water change tomorrow, Amquel+ and VitaChem and see how it goes. I think his 6 gallon is cycled and I am anxious to put him back in...but want to be sure he is done with meds for awhile. I have posted seperately and asked for help with this.

Neptune acts like Cujo also, he is active, eats like a horse, plays, is funny and has no idea he is having a bad hair month or two. I know how frustrating it is, so I am trying not to get too frustrated. Rose suggests having just an empty tank with VitaChem and NovAqua only and very clean water/tank. I haven't tried the empty tank and Neptune has gravel, his bridge and a couple of low plants and smooth rocks. I check him 100 times a day and rejoice when I get through 24 hours with no fraying...LOL. :-\ It is more frustrating because we take such good care of them....in my mind it is what I would expect of a neglected betta in a bowl or vase. I had to quit thinking of that...guess it is just one of those things we can try to intervene and help, but we don't always have the upper hand.

I read your posts always and am following everyone who is dealing with fin/tail rot I google it and read everything I can find. We are all in the same boat. Rest well and know that we are doing the best we can...and wait for a miracle like I do. Don't forget to enjoy your fish....I think Cujo & Neptune could be brothers..............exact same colours etc., but Cujo has much longer fins!!

Val ???

 

How much aeration do you have in Cujo's tank. We use the vitachem daily and haven't had any film or discoloration problems. We used to get a film from oil in the food before we added the bubble stone.

We know how you feel - Aslan has been in a similiar battle with Finrot. We tried Fungus Clear 2x on him, only 1 round tho and this last time went with TriSulfa to keep his tank cycled and uncolored. It looks like the rot is stopped and regrowth started so we'll see how he fares and hope that he stays rot-free.

- there is a kanamycin-based med for sale here.
- a recipe for making food paste with the Kanaplex.

 

A girl I work with has a betta, and thanks to my persuasion he is in a filtered tank now-- but she ignores him and he is great (btw he is freakin huge! going on 4 inches with the longest fins ever)

But anyway-- I decided to ignore Cobalt (not entirely-- just take him off meds) I keep his tank clean, but it is cycled so I don't worry about it too much-- I have seen more fin regeneration lately than when I was falling all over him with meds and remedies.

Sometimes I think overmedicating is worse for the fish! We try everything, but we don't give the fish a chance to build up any antibodies for itself. It is the same with us.... if we remain on antibiotics for too long then we always need them.

I say go the clean water approach.

 

yea, we try not to use meds too much.. the vitamins we're ok with as a regular diet thing, but we hold off on meds until it looks like we just have to go with something to help.. aslan's last course of meds is only his 3rd in a months long finrot battle. hopefully the last.

 

I had started to go the clean water/vita-chem route last week, too. But then I just panicked when his tail kept fraying and put him on the tetracycline. It is very hard for me to sit back and just watch it happen without trying some new thing... Even tho I said myself that all these meds can't be good for them.

The only aeration comes from his whisper filter. It pulls the water up with an air pump and then kinda waterfalls out the top. It keeps the surface water moving, except over behind the plant where Cujo nests. I bought some small air stones, the 1" ones from walmart, but I haven't tried to use them yet.

 

The stones are a good addition, especially with a gang valve so you can control the bubbles.

Our new Betta Mickey wants to know how to join B.A.T. - he's still getting used to being out of the cup but he follows the baster around when I use it to clean up uneaten daphia and nips at it.

 

what tanks do you use these basters in??? Instead of a siphon vacuum? Or just when there is no filter/gravel?

 

I have gravel in my cycled 5 gallon, but my other three tanks don't have any kind of substrate in them since I am not trying to cycle them. In my cycled tank I use the turkey baster to stir up the gravel and wash off the plants and the cave, to let the filter do it's thing. In my uncycled tanks I use the basters to suck up little 'deposits' (as Rose says ). I have a siphon vacuum for my 5 gallon for water changes and cleaning.

 

jendayi, it is uncanny! I saw the photos you posted on Muffymouse's thread of Cujo's tail rot...Neptune and he are twins, even in their tail rot progress....Neptune was all long fins and tail and beauty when I got him, then the ups and downs of fin/tail rot, and now even the healing looks the same. Weird............they say everyone has a twin...

 

Ahh how weird. BUT - is Cujo the evil twin, or is Neptune?? lol

I wish the power of love was enough to heal these guys on it's own. Bad bacterias would never stand a chance against those of us who love our babies so fiercely....

I am trying again for an objective frame of mind. I will continue with his daily water changes, and after this current round of meds I won't put him back on any more. I'm going to use the NovAqua and try the vita-chem again. And just keep in mind that I'm doing the best for this little fish that I can.

And if Romeo makes it into the big tank first... Then I might just have to rethink things and find room for another 5 gallon anyway.

 

hoo-ray MTS! Yea, I wish our love could make them better too.

 

After sharing the med-runaround experience with everyone here, I believe that once you have halted the rot itself (killed the underlying bacteria) the key is to keep the water not just clean, but stress-free. This means not changing the water daily but at MOST twice a week, I would suggest only once. Bettafix has been a nice addition for me as well and it does not seem to stress Dory out like the other meds did... probably because it's more of an herbal remedy than a medication at all.

I certainly agree with Genie... they are hardier than we give them credit for and I believe if we give them some space and healing time they can take care of these things pretty well themselves. Of course keeping the water clean is helpful, but I know if I were a fish, having my water changed daily would stress the outta me!

That is my two cents Dory has been doing extremely well since I left him at my parent's for a week with nothing but a little bettafix and food daily.... Better than he ever was on meds or with me fretting over his water all the time.

 

It is easy to over-baby them I guess.. we try to find the balance now between when it's really necessary to medicate and when to let them heal on their own. perhaps for some things the best treatment is to take our 2 hands and sit on them.

 

take our 2 hands and sit on them.

And that really works well for cold hands..........

I am finding also that Neptune is doing great ( right now) with Vita Chem and NovAqua in his uncycled Q tank. If my problem with the 6 sdn't remedied soon, I may have to leave him there longer without feeling guilty, since his regrowth is the best it has been. Too soon old, too late smart mayber ( well personally speaking)..