Please help, dealing with betta fin rot - Updated, has he improved?

HI my beta(buddy) he is 3 months and has been scaring me because of his tail. I started to see it over the last 3 days and took action yesterday by adding AQ salt to his water. I’m still nervous cause I see no improvements. Am I dealing with fin rot? I had to move him back into my dorm after being at my house so I was wondering if it could of been caused by stress... he jumps at his food and is always flaring and acting very hyper. Please help

Hey. My betta is 3 months and is always hyper and ready to eat. Over Christmas Break I took him home and left them there for about three weeks. During this time the water was not changed. I never really noticed it then but now that I’m back at school I’m saying that his fin are looking rough. I did a full water change about a week ago. Since I thought I was seeing fin right I bought aquarium salt and added it in yesterday. Today I see no difference I think it looks worse what do I do? I did a strep test and everything came out fine the only thing low was the pH. It was at 6.5. The fins are just ripped there is no really big discoloration. He is eating fine and is flaring like crazy while swimming back-and-forth.
Tomorrow I’ll do a full change and put new salt in. What else should I do and is it fin rot or him just tearing them up
tank: 3.5, heated, alone, no live plants, gets 3 pellets in am 3 at night.

This is my buddy. I started him on AQ yesterday but am not seeing any improvement. He is active and hungry as all get out and comes swimming when he sees me. The first picture is off his real color as the bottom one shows the fins. ( the edges are not black. They are his color, what worries me is the big rip...)

please help

I don’t want to use any chemical medication

 

Hey. My betta is 3 months and is always hyper and ready to eat. Over Christmas Break I took him home and left them there for about three weeks. During this time the water was not changed. I never really noticed it then but now that I’m back at school I’m saying that his fin are looking rough. I did a full water change about a week ago. Since I thought I was seeing fin right I bought aquarium salt and added it in yesterday. Today I see no difference I think it looks worse what do I do? I did a strep test and everything came out fine the only thing low was the pH. It was at 6.5. The fins are just ripped there is no really big discoloration. He is eating fine and is flaring like crazy while swimming back-and-forth.
Tomorrow I’ll do a full change and put new salt in. What else should I do and is it fin rot or him just tearing them up
tank: 3.5, heated, alone, no live plants, gets 3 pellets in am 3 at night.

Sorry about his fins . It doesn't look too severe atm so I would start by doing 50% water changes daily, stop adding salt to his tank and instead do AQ salt baths. Here's a really good treatment that Sien recommended: Fill a container with a half gallon of water, de-chlorinate, and add 1 teaspoon of AQ salt, mix well. Make sure the water matches your tank temp. Scoop your fish out (I use an old betta cup) and put him in the bath, no need to acclimate. Leave him and supervise for 15 min (mild fin clamping is normal). If you notice severe signs of stress remove him immediately (this would be floating upside down, floating on side, severe instant color loss, etc). If this is the case you can try a 1/2-3/4 teaspoon of salt and leave him in the bath for 20 min. When putting him back in the tank, scoop him out and try to add the least amount of salt bath to your actual tank. Dump the water and do not re-use for future baths.

Hopefully this can help you!

 

First things first, any decorations that could be tearing them? If not watch him closely. Mine has a tendency to flare at himself for extended periods because the black shelf next to his tank creates a reflection. Prolonged flaring can lead to torn fins as well.

I do agree that it doesn't appear to be any kind of fin rot as it usually makes them look melted or starts with a pinhole in the fin as opposed to a full on tear.

 

First things first, any decorations that could be tearing them? If not watch him closely. Mine has a tendency to flare at himself for extended periods because the black shelf next to his tank creates a reflection. Prolonged flaring can lead to torn fins as well.

I do agree that it doesn't appear to be any kind of fin rot as it usually makes them look melted or starts with a pinhole in the fin as opposed to a full on tear.

How about his top fins? It’s kinda ridged like.

 

It looks to me like he just has some dark colouring around the edges and some wear on his uppermost fin. This could be a bunch of things ranging from poor water quality to stress to getting caught/cut by the filter or decor. I think the AQ salt was a good idea but make sure you're careful with it. It can only be removed through physically removing the water- if you want to add more only add as much as you remove (remove half the water, add half the amount of salt).

It could possibly be finrot but if it is it's not a very bad case at all.

For now I would check your parameters to see if your cycle is off. I'd also suggest doing more frequent and larger water changes for a little while. Clean water is the best way to help just about any problem.

 

It looks to me like he just has some dark colouring around the edges and some wear on his uppermost fin. This could be a bunch of things ranging from poor water quality to stress to getting caught/cut by the filter or decor. I think the AQ salt was a good idea but make sure you're careful with it. It can only be removed through physically removing the water- if you want to add more only add as much as you remove (remove half the water, add half the amount of salt).

It could possibly be finrot but if it is it's not a very bad case at all.

For now I would check your parameters to see if your cycle is off. I'd also suggest doing more frequent and larger water changes for a little while. Clean water is the best way to help just about any problem.

The black on the edges is just the picture quality. It’s actually blue. He has no white spots or anything like that just rips along the bottom. (Where the rip is there is some clear webbing that holds just alittle bit of blueish color...is this regrowth Orr rot)

Sorry about his fins . It doesn't look too severe atm so I would start by doing 50% water changes daily, stop adding salt to his tank and instead do AQ salt baths. Here's a really good treatment that Sien recommended: Fill a container with a half gallon of water, de-chlorinate, and add 1 teaspoon of AQ salt, mix well. Make sure the water matches your tank temp. Scoop your fish out (I use an old betta cup) and put him in the bath, no need to acclimate. Leave him and supervise for 15 min (mild fin clamping is normal). If you notice severe signs of stress remove him immediately (this would be floating upside down, floating on side, severe instant color loss, etc). If this is the case you can try a 1/2-3/4 teaspoon of salt and leave him in the bath for 20 min. When putting him back in the tank, scoop him out and try to add the least amount of salt bath to your actual tank. Dump the water and do not re-use for future baths.

Hopefully this can help you!

Would you consider this as fin rot? The edges are blue not black and I see just a little of clear webbing where there is a rip in the tale.

 

Would you consider this as fin rot? The edges are blue not black and I see just a little of clear webbing where there is a rip in the tale.

They don't look bad but the fact that you've noticed could be the beginning of it. 'Webbing' is a good sign as it's how tissue regrowth looks. I would just keep your water super clean and if you're still super concerned go for salt baths.
Good luck!

 

Clear webbing is actually normal, that's just how his fin is.

 

How about his top fins? It’s kinda ridged like.

I don't see anything of big concern on the top fin. My youngest betta kind of looks like this but I assumed it was because he was still growing while at the same time healing from being in that tiny cup. BUT it's not melted looking and I don't see tears like on the bottom. Just a bit "spiny" from the fins still filling in.

If you or someone else suspects water quality just keep up on water changes and make sure you're actually vacuuming for waste and old food, etc. %40ish water changes one to two times a week depending on water quality. Clean water is absolute.

 

Help me out
so my betta might be experiencing fin rot BUT I'm still not sure. If it is or not.... he has Tiny ting holes in the middle of the bottom fins and thinning on the edges. I did salt in histank 2 days ago and I’m doing a 100% change today and adding more salt. Am I dealing with rot or is this him just beating himself up. The plants are soft and nothing is new in the tank. He is always swimming and eats like a pig. I’m just unsure it’s fin rot and if the thinning is regrowth or not. He’s has no white spots. His edges are blue not black. The first pic is yesterday and the. 2nd is today.
Please shed some light on this

 

I’ve been treating my boy for fin rot for 3 days now. And added salt Monday.....left alone Tuesday...cleaned and added more salt Wednesday. Now Thursday and I’m seeing no change for the good. I might even be seeing more ripping. I don’t understand. What do I do. He is in a filtered tank. All the tests are clear. What can I do. I’m not going to mess with him till Monday and see if I see any improvement. Is that a good idea? The doesn’t have any white spots, is eatting fine, and flares at just about anything. Monday I’m planning to do another change and add more salt. Any thing I should do and is this a good plan. I’m trying to stay away from chemicals for as long as possible. Please help

first one is Wednesday and the 2nd is Thursday (today). I’m not really worried about color the sun light back groundon first pic doesn’t do him justice for his beauty

 

Pinholes are a form of fin rot. Or as I suggested earlier excessive flaring can also stress and tear the fins but usually doesn't cause pinholes. It could also look like a pinhole from where the fin has begun to heal. Above all it still looks more like tearing..

Personally I'd move him to a quarantine tank with just a heater, start daily or bI daily water changes and ditch the salt. For me it's just one more thing to worry about throwing off the water for better or worse. Bare tank with nothing that'll cause a reflection and nothing for him to rub on in case those are the issues, then you can rule those two out and worry more about water chemistry. If he starts to improve in quarantine then you know something is off in the home tank.

 

My baby boy has had what I think rot for the last week. I’ve treated the water with AQ salt and have done a full change this week. I see no change in behavior at all just a change in his fin condition. I’m going to buy a master kit now but when I changed the water everything looked good. Can anyone give me advice please.




1st Wednesday
2nd Thursday
3rd today.

 

Hello, sorry to hear you've been having some trouble!

The best way to naturally cure fin rot is to do routine water changes each day until you notice improvement, just change about half of the entire volume per day. You do not need to be adding the salt to the tank, nor do you need to take him out to bathe either, it's not necessary and can cause more stress.

It's not severe, it looks more like tearing from my point of view.

 

Hello, sorry to hear you've been having some trouble!

The best way to naturally cure fin rot is to do routine water changes each day until you notice improvement, just change about half of the entire volume per day. You do not need to be adding the salt to the tank, nor do you need to take him out to bathe either, it's not necessary and can cause more stress.

It's not severe, it looks more like tearing from my point of view.

Do you think this tearing is fin rot? I just did a test on the tank and
PH 7.6
HRPH 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

What in the world does this mean. He’s not acting strange, the only thing weird about him is the fin issue

 

I am not exactly sure, it's been a while since I have had an actual betta, but fin rot usually looks a bit different than this.

Do you have anything in the tank that could be tearing his fins?

 

Water looks fine, still looks like tearing and not rot.. the two are noticeably different. Did you put him in quarantine like I suggested? It will probably take a couple days to see improvement.

 

Water looks fine, still looks like tearing and not rot.. the two are noticeably different. Did you put him in quarantine like I suggested? It will probably take a couple days to see improvement.

Ok I only used salt and I’m doing a 25% change today. I hope it helps. The tip keeps getting better

 

Ok I only used salt and I’m doing a 25% change today. I hope it helps. The tip keeps getting better

Clean water always helps!