Sos, Fin Rot On Bettas-continued

Hello,
Ive raised bettas in the past, and have never had this issue before.
The two bettas I own fins I noticed were getting spikey and jagged. So I made an order for some aquarium salt and a small plastic tank in which to start treating them both (separate tanks, of course).
But a day later they both seemed to be getting worse to where it was painful to even watch them.
Right now I'm doing 100% water changes on half a gallon of water, with half a teaspoon of aquarium salt.
They are both eating fine and swimming around, but they don't seem to be making any improvement.
I could use some advise from people that know more than me, I wanted to make a positive difference to them.. Not hurt them more..
Thank you -Hannah

 

Welcome to FishLore!

Fin rot is usually caused by poor water conditions (i.e. elevated ammonia and/or nitrites). Betta's really should be kept in a minimum tank size of 2.5 gallons (although a minimum of 5 gallons is preferred). Plus the tank should be heated and most importantly cycled.

I see you are not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, so I highly recommend you read up on it. (Somewhere in this post the word cycle will be a blue link and clicking it will take you to a page explaining it).

But for now, the best thing you can do is daily 50% water changes, preferable with a water conditioner called Prime. A dose of Prime will detox up to 1ppm of ammonia, keeping your fish safe from ammonia poisoning.

I don't think that salt will help with fin regeneration. The best thing to grow back fins is pristine water conditions.

best of luck and feel free to ask any additional questions you may have.

 

I would do indian almond leaves and daily fifty percent water changes.

 

Salt strips fish of their slime coats and may actually make your bettas prone to further injury of their fins. I would recommend reading about the nitrogen cycle, keep them in their main tanks, and do frequent water changes.

Are your tanks heated and filtered?

 

Yes both have heaters and filters on.
I read up on salt, and now wish I didn't...
When they were both in their own tanks it just didnt seem to be getting any better and in fact overnight got so much worse.
Their ph is fine after the conditioner I used. And I did take the time to read about the cycle.
I bought a product called bettafix? I believe. And I was going to follow up with that if the salt didnt work.
What are some things I can do on top of water changes that could help with the repair process.
Thank you for the advice, I really need it.

Their main tanks are 3-4 gallon tanks.

Thank you all for the advice, now how often should I be cleaning out their tanks and what percentage I should be changing out? My guess is I'm doing this very wrong.
Also what diets do you recommend? I also want to update that as well.

 

Good job getting the Bettafix. However, don't rely on it fully. The water quality has to be on the dot for anything, including bettafix to work.

 

Do not use bettafix. Or melafix. Both contain tea tree oil as the active ingredient, which is extremely harmful if not deadly to fish with a labyrinth organ (which betta fish do have).

Some say it’s okay to use, but I’ve seen many and many articles on why this product shouldn’t even be on the market, let alone marketed towards betta fish when it’s specifically harmful to them.


Just rely on water quality. That’s the main cause for fin rot, and you do not need to use medication unless it developes in to a bacterial or fungal infection. My betta fish has torn his fins left and right, has had large open wounds on his body, and they always clear up within a week or two because I keep the water pristine and cycled.

 

Do not use bettafix. Or melafix. Both contain tea tree oil as the active ingredient, which is extremely harmful if not deadly to fish with a labyrinth organ (which betta fish do have).

Some say it’s okay to use, but I’ve seen many and many articles on why this product shouldn’t even be on the market, let alone marketed towards betta fish when it’s specifically harmful to them.

Thank you, I will not use it then, what would you recommend?

 

Thank you, I will not use it then, what would you recommend?

I added to my previous post just keep up with water quality. Get an API Master liquid test kit and start cycling your tank, Seachem Prime will also help you with ammonia, and you could get Seachem Stability (bottled bacteria) to aid as well, but you don’t need it.

 

So right now in my shopping cart (I'm trying to be a good fish mom..)
I have the master API water testing kit you suggested.
Prime, as suggested.
A digital thermometer for both of my tanks,
And omega flakes, which I thought would be a better diet option than I have now.
Their tanks will be getting new everything, filter wise..
If you can think of anything else I need to help aid my fishes through the healing process please let me know before I checkout.
I would also like to know what you recommend I do for water changes, how frequently and how much I should be taking out every cleaning.
Thank you!!!

 

So right now in my shopping cart (I'm trying to be a good fish mom..)
I have the master API water testing kit you suggested.
Prime, as suggested.
A digital thermometer for both of my tanks,
And omega flakes, which I thought would be a better diet option than I have now.
Their tanks will be getting new everything, filter wise..
If you can think of anything else I need to help aid my fishes through the healing process please let me know before I checkout.
I would also like to know what you recommend I do for water changes, how frequently and how much I should be taking out every cleaning.
Thank you!!!

Water changes while you’re cycling depends on the parameters (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate). You could update here or make a new thread once you get the test kit and can start cycling.
You’re good to go make sure the test kit you got is the liquid test kit and not strips. Also, see if you can swap out the Omega Flakes for Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets; for some reason betta fish prefer pellet foods over flakes, and that particular one has good quality ingredients.

 

HI so you said your tanks were cycled? If that's the case please do not change out your filter media. This completely reverts the cycle. If your betta are not getting better even though you are doing a lot of water chances you should test you tap water. Sometimes there ist ammonia in tap water which would explain why your betta in two different tanks are getting fin rot at the same time. In the past I have had very good results with just almond leaves and fresh clean water and time. I have also learned (painfully) not to change everything at once. If you put your fish under a pot of medications and stress at the same time you will probably make it worse and might kill them. Fin rot by itself will not kill them very quickly. When treating your betta keep in mind that 1)they are immensely resilient and can bounce back from much worse things and 2)you have time to think about what you want to do to your betta and there is no need to Panik and make rash decisions or kill them by doing everything at once. Just make sure they have clean stable water and they will do most of the work themselves .

 

I bought what was previously suggested to me on testing the water, and put their heaters back on and having a digital thermostat in their tank just to make sure they are being kept in perfect conditions... and I have seen no positive affects from this treatment process.
Their water is conditioned and the PH is fine, I was told not to use the Bettafix I bought and was told my a fish friend of mine to not use the aquarium salt I had been treating them with.
(I have two betta fish that are suffering through fin rot, one was just starting to show signs and the other overnight seemed to have it pretty severely)
They are now out of their medical tanks and back into their big tanks.. and they seem to be worse, their fins are both rotting away, I have improved their diets as well hoping that could help and they enjoy what is being fed to them and there is no extra waste in their tanks..
Any advice?
I know they won't show signs of improvement for a while but I just wasn't expecting it to still get worse.
I would greatly appreciate it

 

I've never really heard people using any medications for fin rot. Clean water usually does the trick, are you doing water changes everyday?

 

Finrot, as you already seem to know, is treated with pristine water conditioner. Another thing that has worked well for me and other friends is seachem stressguard. It promotes slime coat health and wound healing. You can also try paraguard as well if it really doesn't get better with water changes. Paraguard is good for bacterial and fungal infections (which finrot is) and is a gentle medication. Good luck!

 

Try making a blackwater setup with indian almond leaves or driftwood. I have a 20 gallon planted with driftwood and the black water is amazing, I use it as a hosital tank or as a recovery center after I breed my female bettas, in which their fins are generally torn up.

 

Threads have been merged, it’s easier for members to follow if all the information is in one place.

 

I've never really heard people using any medications for fin rot. Clean water usually does the trick, are you doing water changes everyday?

They have 3 gallon tanks, and I'm doing 25% every day, that's what I was told to do by the fish friend..

 

So are the tanks cycled?

 

So are the tanks cycled?

Yes