Update: Betta's Tail Rot

I'm curious as to how your betta is doing? Do you keep him in a quarantine tank while giving him treatment or do you treat him in his tank?

 

I'm curious as to how your betta is doing? Do you keep him in a quarantine tank while giving him treatment or do you treat him in his tank?

Eh it's not good. He's still getting worse, a little every few days. But he remains ever-lively. So I'm zeroing out the scale, so to speak, and going back to the beginning. My first and third interventions for this problem was clean water and good diet so that's what I'm going back to now.

I've been treating in-tank and I have done medicated baths outside the tank as well. He really stresses when I pull him from his tank and, up until the kanaplex became part of the medication attempt, everything I used was cycle-safe and everything that wasn't cycle-safe I administered in baths. It's complicated, it's been a long ordeal. Which is why I'm stopping all of it and seeing where he goes from there.

 

Eh it's not good. He's still getting worse, a little every few days. But he remains ever-lively. So I'm zeroing out the scale, so to speak, and going back to the beginning. My first and third interventions for this problem was clean water and good diet so that's what I'm going back to now.

I've been treating in-tank and I have done medicated baths outside the tank as well. He really stresses when I pull him from his tank and, up until the kanaplex became part of the medication attempt, everything I used was cycle-safe and everything that wasn't cycle-safe I administered in baths. It's complicated, it's been a long ordeal. Which is why I'm stopping all of it and seeing where he goes from there.

I'm sorry to hear that V is still dealing with his tail rot!
Oye, that's a LONG ordeal...

I really hope that he can start to heal on his own with fresh water and the boosted diet!

 

I'm sorry to hear that V is still dealing with his tail rot!
Oye, that's a LONG ordeal...

I really hope that he can start to heal on his own with fresh water and the boosted diet!

Me too. It worked for a little while the two other times between recurrences, but it always came back. Though I'm thinking about how it's possible I could have prompted the recurrences with something I did. Maybe he's just really sensitive to stress. Either way, back to the beginning we go and I'm going to do my very best not to meddle lol.

 

The most difficult choice of all! Don't meddle... Here's hoping for the best. He's such a trooper; something has to work!

 

UPDATE -

Since I seem to be talking about this issue in multiple threads, I'm going to redirect my focus back here. Yesterday I did a 40-50% WC and started running carbon in his filter to pull out meds. It's been running about 24 hours today.

This morning, I witnessed a most horrifying sight. I was feeding him and he turned sharply to catch a piece of food that drifted by close to his eye. Instead, he caught his dorsal fin. He freaked, thrashed really hard and ripped off an enormous piece of his dorsal fin. In a split second, he had swallowed it. We're talking a HUGE piece of fin here. This makes the third shred in his dorsal fin and a couple new holes. I saw him do this once before under the same circumstances though not nearly as severely. This explains the source of the damage to his dorsal fin and why it looks so different than the rot on his tail. He is shredding his own dorsal fin. That was a really disturbing sight and he looks quite a wreck for having done it. While this behavior may also be compounding what's going on with his tail (and may even explain why it progressed so suddenly and severely at the very first recurrence), it certainly doesn't explain the pectoral fins, I doubt he could bite those, and it doesn't look like what's on his tail.

As of right now, the only thing that should be in his tank is Prime, Fish Protector and a bit of salt. For whatever reason, I could swear his tail looks better. As in, the red tips appear to have faded some. Now you all know I'm a fatalist so if I'm saying it looks better, it may actually look better. Still, I'm not getting my hopes up. I've been down this road of healing before and each time it's ended in a recurrence.

He looks pretty roughed up right now. Between his "redecorating" of his dorsal fin, the damage to his pectorals and his tail, he looks a mess. He seems fine though. I have IALs coming in the mail hopefully by Wednesday and am looking forward to trying those. I'll need some insight into how to use these without contaminating the water or suddenly dropping the pH.

 

Sounds like the issues are like someone who has cancer related issues. Glad he's beginning his turn around. Keep us posted and will keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

 

Still no progression. IALs have not arrived. I am keeping his tank temp at 76F, which I know is a bit low, but I think it's helping keep infections at bay. Since I've done this, he does appear a bit less active. Or perhaps he just prefers the surface and his water wisteria. He eats just fine. The goldfish being ill has forced me to sort of leave him alone for awhile and he seems to be doing well. I can't see any red tips and may even have a little healing. His dorsal fin is absolutely wrecked but we all know what caused that. I have been feeding him a locally-made crumble food and, when I do, I notice his colors just become brilliant. His gray head is turning a beautiful, rich crimson.

Tomorrow I am changing out his filter and 24 hours later will restart his cycle with TSS. Here's hoping he continues as he is. I'm exhausted.

 

Fingers crossed

 

Fingers crossed

No kidding. Assuming the last progression occurred on Sunday before I got back, this is the longest he's gone without.

 

Well lets hope this time it sticks and hopefully he will stop eating his own tail while were at it lol. Poor thing.

 

Well lets hope this time it sticks and hopefully he will stop eating his own tail while were at it lol. Poor thing.

Lol right? I feed him really well. What's so delicious about his fins anyway?

 

No clue lol. Ive never had it as a problem with any of my bettas lol

 

No clue lol. Ive never had it as a problem with any of my bettas lol

I kept bettas as a kid. I remember a bright red veil tail named Tomato with special fondness, he even jumped on me and survived. We kept goldfish and guppies too. We knew so little of fish-keeping - every week we would put them in a container, rinse out all of their aquarium stuff (I think might have even used soap...bad) and put them right back in, no acclimation. I don't recall a heater for the betta either. The worst I ever had was an ich outbreak, for which we used Quick Cure and treated successfully. Septicemia, columnaris, tail rot, fish TB, all of those really bad infections I never knew about, I also never witnessed. Now that I know about them, here they come. I mean fin rot in a betta is not all that uncommon esp knowing what I know now about the extra branching and biting, but still.

He seems to be enjoying the new filter. It creates a lot of surface agitation, maybe even more than the HOB, but everything under the water looks pretty still. He seems to be out and about again now, something he hasn't really done since I took the bamboo out that was baffling the downward current in the HOB. He's even on the left side of the tank. Gosh, everything seems to be so still beneath the surface I'm honestly wondering if the filter is actually working! I want something to get stuck to the sponges so I can know for sure.

I also just released my IALs won't be here till 08.05 - 08.20. Gah. International shipping.

 

I hate international shipping. Takes forever and half the time you can't see where anything is.

 

I hate international shipping. Takes forever and half the time you can't see where anything is.

Yeah maybe I should have paid attention to that before I ordered haha

 

Lol. Its ok. It happens lol

 

Good to have you sort of laughing poeticinjustices lol

I hope he gets better...


still...

lol

 

Good to have you sort of laughing poeticinjustices lol

I hope he gets better...


still...

lol

Oy. I'm trying, I really have. I just got a light over SayurI which is allowing me to see her condition more clearly and therefore making me think I'm seeing a faint return of symptoms. It's probably just that I couldn't see them because of low light but of course I'm going to the "what if it's coming back" place.

So I'm just trying to keep my head on straight and, to do that, I have to find a way to laugh.

 

yup, keep trying!!!

 

Keep trying with your betta. Having a light is good so you can see if your betta starts turning around or heading down hill. At least your prepared to take action, as long as your betta has the will to live, you'll fight for him.

 

Keep trying with your betta. Having a light is good so you can see if your betta starts turning around or heading down hill. At least your prepared to take action, as long as your betta has the will to live, you'll fight for him.

My current approach to treatment is to leave him alone. I think he is quite sensitive to stress so I am trying not to stress him. I changed out his filter, now am just trying to leave him be. Other than that, he has some salt and I keep his temp quite low at 76F. Once he heals, I'll move it back up to a better betta temp. For now I am just trying to keep infection at bay. Still no progression at this point.

 

You have been troubuled with this fin rot for a while as I can see. As a last resort you should consider potasium permanganate dip for 5 seonds and then return him back to his tank.

 

You have been troubuled with this fin rot for a while as I can see. As a last resort you should consider potasium permanganate dip for 5 seonds and then return him back to his tank.

I may consider that if it comes back, it's just he really stresses in baths. It's been a long road. I bought him with fin rot, mild. Tried the clean water/good diet. Worked at first then it came back viciously. I started medication. It worked beautifully. He began to heal. Then it came back a few weeks later. Resumed medication, worked at first, then started progressing while still on the medication. Once that happened, I decided it was time to stop meds. He looked...tired. So he's been off meds for about a week and a half and, for now, he's not progressing. The only thing I'm doing differently now is salting his tank and keeping the temp low. Ultimately, some of the problem was the extra branching and the fin-biting. I also think he is REALLY sensitive to stress. I can think of a couple things I did that stressed him and then caused a recurrence a day later.

Sometimes I wonder if it was fin rot at all and not damage he's done to himself. The way it came back the first time - he was almost 100% healed then, in a 2 hour period between peaking at him, his tail just exploded with fin rot. The pattern of progression has been weird like that. In some ways, totally like clockwork. In orders, completely unpredictable.

He seems happy now. Active again, swimming about. He's not much of a flare-er and he doesn't really build bubble-nests, he's often too busy looking for food lol. Everywhere. But since I've changed out his filter for a sponge filter he's been more his old self. Swimming about the tank, playing in his plants.

For the moment, I'm just choosing to be grateful he's not progressing. I've had about as much as I can take of sick fish.

 

Well in my understanding no bacterial infection can spread so quick and cause so much damage in 2 hours, not even in lab created perfect conditions.
V most likely felt iching or discomfort and trying to rub himself torn his fins. But we can all speculate until you can see what happened in his tank.

 

Well in my understanding no bacterial infection can spread so quick and cause so much damage in 2 hours, not even in lab created perfect conditions.
V most likely felt iching or discomfort and trying to rub himself torn his fins. But we can all speculate until you can see what happened in his tank.

I thought so too. But it didn't just look like damage. Red tips on the rays, reddish brown blood like discoloration on part of the fin. And a general appearance of rotting.



IALs arrived this morning.

V has been doing so well lately that I am kind of terrified of doing anything to his tank right now that might mess that up.

Thoughts?

 

I don't think that adding almond leaves will cause any regression. You might as well add them now that you have them.

 

I agree with adam. they shouldn't do any damage, and it might help. Its one of the few products I think I can say that about.

 

it will probly be best to add them in my opinion

 

I think you should add them. I know it might seem scary to mess with his tank because he is finally doing well but honestly I don't think the IALs will affect him badly. I think they will help improve his health because from all the research I've done and from all the stories I've heard about IAL it helps the fishies health tremendously. I know you aren't worried about if they will work or not, meaning releasing tannins, you worried about how they will affect him. Honestly I wouldn't be worried I think he will love them. Wish you the best of luck. xx.

 

Oh FINE haha

 

Oh FINE haha

He'll be fine. Rooting for you and your fishies. xx

 

V is gorgeous. He looks just like a flower to me. Best wishes for his continued good health. Please keep us posted. You are a wonderful "Fishie Mom"!

 

Thank you glo. He is still doing well. He actually flared at me a day or so ago, not something he does often because of the weight of his fins. It was quite beautiful despite the fins still being a wreck. His tail is actually the least damaged now. But his dorsal fin has 4 large bites taken out of it and his pectorals remain tattered. I am not sure they will ever be whole as they are so large and fragile.

I have been keeping his tank at 76 to help stave off infection. As he has gone over 3 weeks without return (a new record) I have raised it to 78F. Improvement continues and we will go back up to 80F.

He currently has a little salt and IAL in there. The water is a gorgeous tea color but oddly my pH is not at all affected and the water here has poor buffering capacity. So that's weird. But as long as he continues to thrive, I honestly don't care.

At any rate, he seems happy. I have taken a lot of measures to reduce his stress level. The tank is so heavily planted that I am not even entirely sure it's cycled but there's no ammonia or nitrite and the water volume is so high and the bioload so low that nitrates do not change much between weekly changes.

I keep water changes to a minimum, lights off as much as possible, tons of coverage, baffled current, salt and fish protector. All to reduce stress levels and hopefully keep this infection at bay. I try not to look at him too closely and admire from afar lol.

He seems happy. He's out and about. Built a bubble nest under the IALs. He does not flare much from the weight of his fins but when he does it's quite a sight to behold. His color is richer, he seems happy.

We still struggle with constipation. He is such a little betta which is easy to forget because he is probably 75% fins, with an over large appetite but I feed him very, very lightly.

Here's hoping he stays healthy.



Just wanted to say. One month infection free. Glory be.

 

Yay

 

Ey up lass. How are all the water babies doing?xx

 

Well he's still infection free. But the other day as you know he really shredded his fins. It's already growing back. And when it does I am sure he will shred them up again haha.

 

We should get these Betta muzzles designed pronto!xx

 

For real!