Help! Fin Rot Came Back in only 3 Days!

Hi Everyone!

My betta, Oatmeal, had/has fin rot. After a 10 day course of a salt water treatment, in a 1.2 gallon QT tank with daily water changes of 100%, his fin rot was slightly better but still there. Because I didn’t want to keep him in salt water past 10 days, I changed to dechlorinated water and added almond leaves, and I did bi-daily water changes of 100% (Note: there is no filter in the QT tank, but I changed his water frequently). He got better and the redness on his fins disappeared for about 3 days. BUT THEN, just today, his fins are showing fast signs of fin rot. Specifically, browning and red tips with fraying. I checked his water with an API test kit, and the ammonia is reading at zero.

Following the initial 10-day salt water treatment, he has been in the QT tank with dechlorinated water only, for 5 days. Is it ok for me to treat him with another 10 days of salt water? I don’t want to hurt his internal organs, but I’m not sure if resuming a salt water treatment with only 5 days rest would be ok.

My betta’s 4 gallon tank just finished cycling and was ready for him tomorrow (Used TSS+, and tank is currently stable, Ammonia = 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate = 10), but since my betta got fin rot again, I am hesitant to put him in his new tank. Thoughts?

I think my other question is, for my new cycled tank, since I can’t put my betta in, how much ammonia should I be dosing to keep the bacterial alive and how often (ammonia source is Dr. Tim’s Drops)? It might be a few days or weeks before I can get my betta into his tank.

Thanks so much for everyone’s expertise! I’m very new to this hobby (couple of weeks), so your kindness means a lot!

 

Assuming there are no other fish, you can go ahead and put it in the larger tank. I don't have experience with fin rot so maybe some one who does will chime in. From what I've read, frequent water changes and quality food will help your fish recover. I don't know one way or another about salt.

Like many new fishkeepers, you got the fish before the tank was ready for it. At this point, you're doing a fish-in cycle. There are many threads on here about how to do this.

Good luck, I hope your fish gets better.

 

Hi,

I think if it were my betta, I would try doing some methylene blue baths for the betta with fin rot. As far as I know, the aquarium salt will not hurt the internal organs unless it is over dosed. Over using aquarium salt will make it ineffective over time. As long as you keep the dosage right, and don't add more to the tank than you are taking out with water changes, it should be ok for you to use it for another week.

For the methylene blue baths, you can actually use double the dose, and it will still be ok. I use a clean bucket, and I use one teaspoon per 5 gallons of water. I also add a dose of aquarium salt to the bath. If you have a smaller container, just cut to dose down accordingly. I think that when I use a one gallon bucket, I cut the dose down to something like one ml (easy to do if you have a ml dropper). You might want to add a small heater to the bucket if you have one, or keep it in a really warm place. You can keep him in the bath for 30 minutes. Be careful with the methylene blue as it stains everything it touches...your fingers, your clothes, the counter tops, etc.

If the betta doesn't show signs of stress, you can do a bath every other day.

Daily water changes to keep the water pristine helps a lot.

If you want to try something natural and avoid antibiotics, you could add some microbe lift artemiss.

If the rot continues, and you have tried everything else with no success, then you may have to use an antibiotic. This is a last resort. API's fin and body cure is a good one. So is Maracyn 2. I would not use Kanaplex unless you absolutely have to. Antibiotics can hurt the betta's kidneys, so that's why it should only ever be used as a last resort.

I hope this helps!!

 

Thank you both for your insight!

I live in Toronto, Canada, which means getting methylene blue is a bit tricky, but I’m looking into it as we speak!

With respect to my cycled 4 gallon tank, do you know if I should be dosing it regularly with Dr. Tim’s ammonia drops? I want to keep the cycle going and the bacteria alive while I continue to treat my betta separately.

Thank you! You guys are amazing!

 

Thank you both for your insight!

I live in Toronto, Canada, which means getting methylene blue is a bit tricky, but I’m looking into it as we speak!

With respect to my cycled 4 gallon tank, do you know if I should be dosing it regularly with Dr. Tim’s ammonia drops? I want to keep the cycle going and the bacteria alive while I continue to treat my betta separately.

Thank you! You guys are amazing!

Methylene blue is one of the few fish meds we actually can still get in Canada, it should be very easy to find. My LFS carries it in my uber small town on the west coast where EVERYTHING is hard to find, so finding it in a big city like Toronto should be a breeze.

 

Thank you SinisterKisses!

For whatever reason, finding MB is very difficult, surprisingly! I’ve called several major fish stores and there is only one two hours away from Toronto! So I’m driving there now! From my research, MB is usually available online…

Does anyone know if I need to acclimate my betta to the MB dip before dropping him in? Do I need to rinse him off after the 30 mins? He’s going back into a QT tank anyways, so I figured I might be able to skip that step?

 

If you would prefer to not do medications - you could try Cattapa leaves. It helps a lot. Might be easier to find.

 

You don't have to rinse him off after the bath. The amount of MB that will be on his body and fins is no problem. I would recommend that you use treated, heated tank water for the bath, so there should be no need to acclimate. Just watch his reaction when you put him in. He may swim around for a little while when you first put him in. If he does not settle down, or if he poops a lot, that is a bad reaction, and you may have to take him out. But so far, I have not owned a betta that did badly with a methylene blue bath, and I've been keeping them for a few years.

As for your cycle, I would add some fish food to it every day instead of the Dr. Tim's if you are worried about losing your cycle. And check the parameters every so often, too, to stay on top of it.