Need help with incurable fin rot!

Tank


What is the water volume of the tank?

2.5 gallons I think. His regular tank is 10 gallons.

How long has the tank been running?

It’s a med tank. He’s been in it maybe 1 1/2 months

Does it have a filter?

No

Does it have a heater?

Yes

What is the water temperature?

Between 80 - 82* depending on time of day

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)

One betta

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?

Every day. Skipped about 3 days as per someone’s suggestion and it made it worse.

How much of the water do you change?

Half usually. Been doing 25% for the past week but the ammonia spiked a bit so now back to 50%. (I got advice to not change his water as much and it spiked the ammonia way up. I then tried only about 25% to try and make it less stressful but it brought the ammonia up to 0.25, so back to doing 50%.)

What do you use to treat your water?

Seachem prime, stress guard, vitachem

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?

Vacuum as best as I can (bare bottom).

*Parameters - Very Important

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?

No, it’s a med tank.

What do you use to test the water?

Master test kit.

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0. 25 ppm last time I checked. Have since changed the water.

Have not tested for the others yet since the water is getting changed so often.

Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Feeding

How often do you feed your fish?

Once a day

How much do you feed your fish?

Usually until he begins to look a little ‘bloated’ if he has the appetite.

What brand of food do you feed your fish?

Can’t remember atm but it’s supposed to be ‘shrimp patties’ pellets.

Do you feed frozen?

No

Do you feed freeze-dried foods?

I try. He used to be good with eating them but lately has began refusing them (past 3 weeks about). Still eats pellets fine.

Illness & Symptoms

How long have you had this fish?

A little more than a year

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?

He began with a pinhole a good maybe 3 or 4 months ago. I left it alone cause I figured it would heal by it’s self but it just continued expanding.

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?

Have you started any treatment for the illness?

I’ve tried aquarium salt, kanaplex, maracyn oxy, and API E.M erythromycin in rotation. Most recently kanaplex and maracyn at the same time with aquarium salt. Every time he’ll either get a LITTLE better or not progress, only to get worse after the treatment ends / has been going on for a few days.

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?

No. However he developed fin rot and had his fins very clamped about 2 weeks after we got him.

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?

Behavior hasn’t changed much although now he’ll have periods of lethargy where he just lays at the bottom of the tank and doesn’t have much (if any) appetite.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.

Hello! So my boy’s had fin rot for about 2 months now and it just keeps getting worse. The quick summary is that it started out as just a little pinhole a good probably 3ish months ago. I left it for a while & figured it would probably heal on it’s own. It began getting bigger though so I started treating it with aquarium salt. Eventually it progressed to fin rot in the area as well as a bit of fin biting on his part. I tried treating it with API E.M erythromycin in his tank but it didn’t do anything. It kept getting worse so I moved him to a med tank after a while so It’s been about a month and a half now of him being in the med tank with daily 50% water changes (minus a small blip if you look at the questions part). Recently I began trying to temp match the water as well. Everything I’ve tried (kanaplex, maracyn oxy, aquarium salt) has seemed to stop it for a bit but not completely fix it. As of now one part of his fins is starting to look a little better than it was (more rounded?), but the issue is with his top fin & his bottom ones. They’ve been looking pretty iffy (greyish with a white outline) for some time but in the past few have gotten worse. His top fin is dark and half gone and his lower ones are getting darker as having a huge chunk missing. It looks like it’s turning into body rot and he’ll have periods where he starts acting really down. Not coming up to say hi or looking for dinner & just hiding as well as laying at the bottom a lot more than usual. So far he goes back to his normal self after about a day or two. This morning he was acting strange again and didn’t have his usual appetite. Recently I treated him with maracyn oxy, kanaplex, and aquarium salt at the same time, which I think may have helped a little? But there are parts which are still progressing. I’m at a total loss and honestly willing to try anything at this point. I’ve attached pictures from today and from two weeks ago (the ones where his top fin is still long).


Thank you!

 

Eep! That looks like it’s turning into body rot. Body rot is way more severe. This won’t help cure him, but if you talk to him and play with him he will be slightly less stressed, which will help a little. (Don’t quote me). I’m not an expert in diesese, but there are some gurus that can help. I’m sure someone will help you soon!

 

Eep! That looks like it’s turning into body rot. Body rot is way more severe. This won’t help cure him, but if you talk to him and play with him he will be slightly less stressed, which will help a little. (Don’t quote me). I’m not an expert in diesese, but there are some gurus that can help. I’m sure someone will help you soon!

I agree it does look like it’s starting to turn into body rot!! I’m hoping to stop it before it gets to that point obviously but not sure how that’s going to work. That’s some good advice though! He does seem to perk up a bit when I go up to him usually so I’ll try to!! Thank you !

 

Hi, and welcome to Fishlore!

So sorry that you betta boy is so ill!!!

The treatments that I am recommending are going to be aggressive, as the problem looks like it is pretty bad. They may help, or they may not, but at least it is something that you can try.

For body rot and fin rot, I would recommend only using antibiotics that treat gram negative bacteria. That would be the kanaplex, but not the erythromycin or the maracyn oxy. You can try to mix a cocktail treatment of gram negative antibiotics, like the kanaplex along with something like API fin and body cure (doxycycline) or Maracyn 2 (minocycline). If you do go this route, you would not want to use both at full strength, but rather half doses. Make sure that you do at least 2 to 3 rounds of dosing.

I would also recommend either doing a fish bath with methylene blue, or painting the affected areas with a q tip using hydrogen peroxide, or both on alternating days. The painting part will be stressful on the fish (and on you, too), but it is the only way that I know to get peroxide directly on the wounded areas. You can use a very fine fish net, net the fish, and then as you hold him steady in the net, paint those areas with the commonly used 3% hydrogen peroxide. Just make sure not the get any in his eyes or gills. You might want to repeat this treatment at 3 day intervals. I would not do this more than 3 times without giving the fish some time to recoup, and waiting to see if the treatment is helping.

For the methylene blue bath, you can measure about 1/4th of a teaspoon of methylene blue and mix it with a gallon and a half of tank water. The water, of course, needs to be temperature matched to his tank. You can also add a little aquarium salt to the bath as well. If he tolerates it well, you can leave him for 30 minutes in the bath. Adding a small heater would be helpful if you have one, and a small air stone might help, too. Be aware that the container that you use will be permanently stained by the methylene blue; it will stain anything that it comes into contact with...your hands, your counter tops, your clothes, etc. When I gave my betta these baths, I just used a bucket.

I hope this helps! If you have questions, please post them. I do hope that you are able to save your little boy!!!

 

Hi, and welcome to Fishlore!

So sorry that you betta boy is so ill!!!

The treatments that I am recommending are going to be aggressive, as the problem looks like it is pretty bad. They may help, or they may not, but at least it is something that you can try.

For body rot and fin rot, I would recommend only using antibiotics that treat gram negative bacteria. That would be the kanaplex, but not the erythromycin or the maracyn oxy. You can try to mix a cocktail treatment of gram negative antibiotics, like the kanaplex along with something like API fin and body cure (doxycycline) or Maracyn 2 (minocycline). If you do go this route, you would not want to use both at full strength, but rather half doses. Make sure that you do at least 2 to 3 rounds of dosing.

I would also recommend either doing a fish bath with methylene blue, or painting the affected areas with a q tip using hydrogen peroxide, or both on alternating days. The painting part will be stressful on the fish (and on you, too), but it is the only way that I know to get peroxide directly on the wounded areas. You can use a very fine fish net, net the fish, and then as you hold him steady in the net, paint those areas with the commonly used 3% hydrogen peroxide. Just make sure not the get any in his eyes or gills. You might want to repeat this treatment at 3 day intervals. I would not do this more than 3 times without giving the fish some time to recoup, and waiting to see if the treatment is helping.

For the methylene blue bath, you can measure about 1/4th of a teaspoon of methylene blue and mix it with a gallon and a half of tank water. The water, of course, needs to be temperature matched to his tank. You can also add a little aquarium salt to the bath as well. If he tolerates it well, you can leave him for 30 minutes in the bath. Adding a small heater would be helpful if you have one, and a small air stone might help, too. Be aware that the container that you use will be permanently stained by the methylene blue; it will stain anything that it comes into contact with...your hands, your counter tops, your clothes, etc. When I gave my betta these baths, I just used a bucket.

I hope this helps! If you have questions, please post them. I do hope that you are able to save your little boy!!!

He looks like he still wants to try so I do too! I just ordered the methylene blue and will be getting hydrogen peroxide asap! I have both API fin & body cure and jungle fungus clear tabs, which would be better? And can I add the meds into his tank at the same time as he’s being treated with the methylene and hydrogen peroxide? And how long in between the three hydrogen treatments before I can begin the ‘cycle’ again?
Also, about the bucket. Should I use my regular water change bucket or would it be better not to chance it contaminating the other fish in your opinion?
Thank you so SO much for helping!!

 

I would not use the Jungle fungus clear. I would use the fin and body and the kanaplex (if you still have some of that).

In the hospital tank, I would try doing a half dose of fin and body cure and a half dose of kanaplex, according to the size of the tank. So at 2.5 gallons, a full dose of kanaplex would be half of the spoon that it comes with. Since you want to half that, you would use one fourth of that spoon. And do the same type of figuring with the api fin and body cure. I don't have that on hand, so I don't know how to cut it down so it would be a half dose.

Since the methylene blue baths and the hydrogen peroxide swabs will be done outside of the tank, then there should not be any problem. So yes, you can do these treatments at the same time as you are treating him in the tank.

Concerning the bucket, I would not use my water change bucket for the methylene blue bath. I would get a new one (a one or two gallon bucket would do well), and use it only for medicating. You will always have it on hand if you ever need it again.

For the peroxide swabbing, you can just net him, and hold him very carefully, and swab the peroxide on the areas that need it over a sink or even at a counter with maybe a paper plate to catch any liquid. I did this at a counter top. I had a small disposable plastic container filled with tank water right there, and then moved my betta to it as soon as I was done with the q tip. You might need someone to help with this...if you hold him, and have the other person carefully swab or vice versa, which ever way you are most comfortable. Be careful as using a net can cause more damage to his fins if the net is not a very fine net. If he jumps around, he will cause damage to both his fins and his slime coat. The methylene blue baths can also help with the slime coat issue, if that happens.

Since the peroxide treatment is going to be very stressful, I would do it once, and then see how he reacts. If he seems to be ok with it, then wait the 3 days, and do another treatment. Anything more will probably be too stressful. I would wait at least a week after the 3rd treatment. By then (two weeks or so), you should either see some improvement, or he may continue to decline. The stress of medicating can often times make matters worse...just a word of warning. I am hoping that these treatments will help. You will at least know that you have done evertything possible short of trying to find a fish vet (there aren't a lot of them and they are very expensive), or euthanizing him.

Please post and let me know how things are going. I do hope that this works!!!