Long-term Finrot Advice And Before/after Pics Please?

We've been dealing with fin rot on our betta for ages now... he seems to be 'stable', and has been for a couple of months (other than a little blip when we moved him a couple of weeks ago from a 2.5 to 5 gal tank and had a mini-cycle - he got a teensy bit ragged then but is ok now). We got him in July, and I've included pics from when we got him and how he looks as of last night... big difference

His fins are so tiny, but otherwise, he's a happy, healthy guy. Swims around exploring, eats like a pig, jumps for his food, interacts with us etc. I've been doing 30-50% water changes every 2-3 days for several weeks, and the water parameters have been the same consistently (Amm 0, NI 0, Na 6-8), temp 79-80. He eats 3-4 Northfin Betta Bits each morning, plus either a few flakes of Daphnia or occasionally a bloodworm at night.
Everything I've read, and advice I've received on Fishlore, says Pristine water will help take care of finrot over time. Well he seems to be in good shape, but his fins are not growing back at all that I can see ops: As long as he's healthy, I don't really care if they aren't going to grow back (we'll love him just the same!), but my concern is that if there's any other 'blip' or illness etc, he doesn't have a whole lot of fin left to lose. I'm going to get some Vitachem on the weekend and will try that, but because I tend to overthink everything, should I first try API Furan-2? I see that comes highly recommended for finrot. In the past, when his finrot was 'active', we would give him baths in BettaRevive (the blue stuff). It seemed to help a bit, but I'm not sure how much. Taking him out of the tank isn't ideal, he doesn't need the added stress. I gather with Furan-2 you can put it directly in the tank without messing up the cycle? He certainly hasn't had any obvious regrowth from the BettaRevive. Those treatments were back in September by the way. I'm notsure if he needs some kind of antibiotic/medicinal treatment to get things moving in the right direction, or if it's better to just try the vitamins to promote new growth?
Sorry for the long post, the other part is that I would love to see any before/after pics that show fin regrowth After conquering finrot with your bettas! Would love some encouragement on this, it's been a long haul and we so love our little blue baby and want to do the best for him that we can.

 

It seems as though you're doing everything you possibly can.

Next step would be Furan-2, and even perhaps some methylene blue dips as well.

Good luck!

 

Ok so looks like I need a 'plan b'. Apparently, Furan-2 is still pulled from the shelves in Canada. I may be able to get API Triple Sulfa, would that be a reasonable alternative? As far as the Methylene Blue dips, we've done that in the past without much success... and taking him out of his tank stresses him out. I'm hoping for something that I put in the tank with him, without wrecking my cycle. Hmmmmmm.....

 

Ok so looks like I need a 'plan b'. Apparently, Furan-2 is still pulled from the shelves in Canada. I may be able to get API Triple Sulfa, would that be a reasonable alternative? As far as the Methylene Blue dips, we've done that in the past without much success... and taking him out of his tank stresses him out. I'm hoping for something that I put in the tank with him, without wrecking my cycle. Hmmmmmm.....

Is there a Dyno near you?

I live in Quebec City Canada and can confirm that Furan-2 is readily available at my local Dyno petstore.

Also readily available on Amazon.ca

 

No we don't have Dyno in Ontario... I've tried at a number of places for Furan 2 but no luck. I can probably get the Triple sulfa - which sounds similar.
In the meantime I'll get the Vitachem I guess and see how that goes?

 

No we don't have Dyno in Ontario... I've tried at a number of places for Furan 2 but no luck. I can probably get the Triple sulfa - which sounds similar.
In the meantime I'll get the Vitachem I guess and see how that goes?

Did you check out the link I posted?

 

Ooh thanks for posting re the link... it was showing up under an ad on my phone and I didn't see it. Ok so I've ordered the Furan2 thru Amazon.ca. thanks for mentioning it- the lady I spoke to at one of the places I called looking for it said not to bother with Amazon that they wouldn't ship it it Canada
SO I read one review that said it would kill my cycle. But the package and all the other reviews I saw said it wouldn't... Can someone who's used Furan 2 confirm??

 

"This medication will not harm the biological filter. "

-API website

 

I have used furan-2 myself and had no issues with my cycle. So you should be okay.

Methylene Blue is in Betta Revive. So you basically were already doing those baths. I don’t think you need to do them again.

You could consider adding Aquarium Salt to the main tank too. AQ salt at low doses will encourage healing.

Also add an Indian almond leaf to the tank. It has natural anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. It may turn your water tea colored, but Bettas love them. I usually add one to my tank about once a month. Leave it in until it sinks, then remove it. I’m healing up some nasty fin rot, that my betta had. His fins are doing great.

Good luck!

 

Thanks so much for the great info and the encouragement!

 

I don't have any "before" pictures of Libra, who had fin rot, but here's a couple "after" shots!

 

Love the name Libra - and a lovely looking fish! Looks like the regrowth is clear. Looks neat. Glad you had some success! Thanks for sharing the pics.
anyone else have 'after' pics they can share?

 

I don't have any pictures of this unfortunately as this fish passed a long time ago, but Blueflame had a nasty battle with finrot after I had gotten out of the hospital for a bike wreck.
It was a long, hard battle of daily, 100% water changes and aquarium salt, but eventually we both recovered - and Blue even grew his fins back!
Just wanted to give you a little encouragement that it CAN be done!

 

EDIT: I tried to post some old pictures of Blue that I dug up, but it wouldn't let me...Sorry!

 

Thanks DanielleFish - I appreciate the effort and kind words Think I should add some salt while I wait for the meds to arrive (it might be a week). I gather from various posts on this forum that Aquarium Salt is a fairly heavily debated topic...

 

Thanks DanielleFish - I appreciate the effort and kind words Think I should add some salt while I wait for the meds to arrive (it might be a week). I gather from various posts on this forum that Aquarium Salt is a fairly heavily debated topic...

IMO aquarium salt is really never necessary

 

Thanks DanielleFish - I appreciate the effort and kind words Think I should add some salt while I wait for the meds to arrive (it might be a week). I gather from various posts on this forum that Aquarium Salt is a fairly heavily debated topic...

I have never had anything but success with aquarium salt - it's always really helped me.

IMO aquarium salt is really never necessary

Why do you think that?

 

I have never had anything but success with aquarium salt - it's always really helped me.

Why do you think that?

Because 30 years ago there weren't meds that worked better than salt. Now there are dozens of meds for treating literally everything. And they treat diseases much better than salt does.

Also, freshwater fish can be very stressed by salt.

 

Because 30 years ago there weren't meds that worked better than salt. Now there are dozens of meds for treating literally everything. And they treat diseases much better than salt does.

Also, freshwater fish can be very stressed by salt.

Hmm...I see your point.

 

We've been dealing with fin rot on our betta for ages now... he seems to be 'stable', and has been for a couple of months (other than a little blip when we moved him a couple of weeks ago from a 2.5 to 5 gal tank and had a mini-cycle - he got a teensy bit ragged then but is ok now). We got him in July, and I've included pics from when we got him and how he looks as of last night... big difference

His fins are so tiny, but otherwise, he's a happy, healthy guy. Swims around exploring, eats like a pig, jumps for his food, interacts with us etc. I've been doing 30-50% water changes every 2-3 days for several weeks, and the water parameters have been the same consistently (Amm 0, NI 0, Na 6-8), temp 79-80. He eats 3-4 Northfin Betta Bits each morning, plus either a few flakes of Daphnia or occasionally a bloodworm at night.
Everything I've read, and advice I've received on Fishlore, says Pristine water will help take care of finrot over time. Well he seems to be in good shape, but his fins are not growing back at all that I can see ops: As long as he's healthy, I don't really care if they aren't going to grow back (we'll love him just the same!), but my concern is that if there's any other 'blip' or illness etc, he doesn't have a whole lot of fin left to lose. I'm going to get some Vitachem on the weekend and will try that, but because I tend to overthink everything, should I first try API Furan-2? I see that comes highly recommended for finrot. In the past, when his finrot was 'active', we would give him baths in BettaRevive (the blue stuff). It seemed to help a bit, but I'm not sure how much. Taking him out of the tank isn't ideal, he doesn't need the added stress. I gather with Furan-2 you can put it directly in the tank without messing up the cycle? He certainly hasn't had any obvious regrowth from the BettaRevive. Those treatments were back in September by the way. I'm notsure if he needs some kind of antibiotic/medicinal treatment to get things moving in the right direction, or if it's better to just try the vitamins to promote new growth?
Sorry for the long post, the other part is that I would love to see any before/after pics that show fin regrowth After conquering finrot with your bettas! Would love some encouragement on this, it's been a long haul and we so love our little blue baby and want to do the best for him that we can.
View attachment 394235 View attachment 394236

 

So for what it is worth, here are my before and after photos - my betta got fin rot back in sept/oct as well. Best of luck to you!

 

Thanks Librarygirl, it's worth a lot to me! I appreciate you taking the time to post those. Looks like a big improvement on your beautiful fishie!
It's nice to see some positive results, since most of the posts here on finrot are people asking for help with it (that's how I found Fishlore)
thank you

 

You are very, very welcome! Folks on here have been mostly great and helped me out so much as well with all the questions I had. Yes- my Boo has made a full recovery. I did make sure he had lots of high protein foods and used vita chem as well in his water to speed up the fin regrowth