Fin Rot Quarantine

I am going to quarantine my betta in a filtered/heated small 1.5 gallon tank for fin rot. I do not have clean water in my main 5 gallon tank as it has not finished cycling and has ammonia. I still have a mystery snail in the tank and will be using tetra safe start plus to try to hurry up and cycle the 5 gallon tank while my betta is in quarantine. Since I do not have clean water I can’t just do water changes to cure the fin rot, so that’s why I will be quarantining with medication or aquarium salt. I don’t know which one to use. I need you guys to tell me if fin rot is severe or moderate and I if I should use aquarium salt or medication. These are before and after pics so you can decide.

 

When my betta was in quarantine, I changed his tank water daily and used betta one teaspoon of betta water conditioner and that seemed to help

 

The fin rot is moderate on your little guy.

All he needs is a bit of salt, though never keep a betta salted for more than a week because salt can cause organ failure. Really not good for them for extended time.

Imo just wait for bits of cellophane to start growing back a few days after salt treatment finishes, and he will be a-ok. He might have recurrences for as long as you got ammonia in your tanks.

 

The fin rot is moderate on your little guy.

All he needs is a bit of salt, though never keep a betta salted for more than a week because salt can cause organ failure. Really not good for them for extended time.

Imo just wait for bits of cellophane to start growing back a few days after salt treatment finishes, and he will be a-ok. He might have recurrences for as long as you got ammonia in your tanks.

Well I heard tetra safe start works fast so hopefully by the time I put him back in the tank the ammonia is gone and it’s just nitrites turning into nitrate.

 

I'm confused if you don't have clean water for the 5 how are you going to keep the water clean in the 1.5?

 

Idk I mean I’m planning on doing 50% water changes in the 1.5 every day and add half a dose of salt everyday so ammonia shouldn’t be as bad as the 5

If that’s not how it works then I don’t have clean water at all and the only option is to let the fin rot turn into body rot I suppose. I don’t know how else I would treat him.

 

Yea water changes are how you keep the water clean just curious why you can't just do water changes on the bigger tank.

 

I do do water changes on the bigger tank

I just find it easier to have the treatment in a smaller separate tank while I add bottled bacteria to the main one

 

Since I do not have clean water I can’t just do water changes to cure the fin rot, so that’s why I will be quarantiningwith medication or aquarium salt.

This is why I'm confused.

 

Most people suggest if you have good water parameters to just do daily water changes and this will be all that’s needed for the fin rot but I do not have good water parameters at the moment so I’m asking what I should do to heal the fin rot

So what do you recommend I do

 

Ok so what I gather is that your 5 gallon tank is not cycled and has ammonia and currently has a snail and betta with fin rot. You plan to quarantine the betta in a 1.5 and treat him there.

True, the water in the 5 isn't really clean if it has ammonia, but neither will the water in the 1.5 be unless the 1.5 is cycled. If it's not cycled, either way you are going to have ammonia problems. Use Seachem Prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite every 24 hours. I don't know what medication you plan to use or how meds/salt will affect the snail, so this is what I would do: separate them until the betta is healed. The 5 will be easier to maintain temperature and good water quality (toxins will accumulate slower), so I would move the snail into the 1.5 and keep the betta in the 5 to heal. Do a large water change in the 5 (50% at least) to get ammonia down and fill the 1.5 with treated tap water for the snail, making sure it's the same temp as the 5. You'll have to do daily water changes in the 1.5 since snails produce a lot of waste. Keep the betta in the 5 and do daily 25-35% water changes, and keep the temp at 78. A single fish in a 5 gallon tank will only build up ammonia slowly so those daily water changes should be enough to keep levels down. If there's still ammonia/nitrite, dose with Prime. I think it should still be ok to use TSS+ during this process unless you do use meds/salt, in which case you'll need to check if they're compatible with TSS+. Essentially, your water parameters are not good because you are still cycling and the only way to improve them is to change the water frequently with fresh dechlorinated tap water, already-treated tap water in bottles from your LFS or PetSmart or Petco, or something of the like. Putting the betta in the uncycled 1.5 is going to end up no different than keeping him in the 5.

 

No matter which tank hes in you will need to do daily water changes. The small tank about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon or 3/4 to 1 gallon in the bigger tank. A 50% initial water change in the bigger tank will bring water into safe conditions. Then continue with the daily changes.

 

Ok I’ll move the snail to the 1.5 and do what you guys are saying. Do a large water change to get levels safe then continue to do small water changes and I will be adding API aquarium salt to the tank so I don’t know if that is compatible with tetra safe start

 

I did a quick Google search and I don't believe they are compatible. I would skip the TSS+ on the 5 for now; because you're doing such large water changes, there won't be a lot of ammonia for the bacteria in the TSS+ to feed on and they will quickly die off, so you'd essentially be wasting it. Plus I've read that salt negatively affects the BB in TSS+ (haven't confirmed this though). You could add the TSS+ to the 1.5 and cycle that tank; it should be cycled in about 2 weeks with the TSS+ used correctly. When the betta heals and you move the snail back in with him, move the filter media from the 1.5 to the 5 to seed BB in the filter of the 5 and get an almost instant cycle on the 5 as well.

 

Sounds good! Thanks.