Urgent Need Of Help (finrot)

[sarahahsfish]

Hi, all. My betta has a case of finrot and it’s not getting any better with water changes every day.

Tank size: 5 gallons
Water conditioner: prime
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20 (I really need to bring these down, I think, could this be the cause of her not getting any better?)
pH: 7.0
Decorations: live plants (took them out when treating her with Jungle Fungus Clear), and glass jar, Moss ball
Heater, filter: yes to both (no carbon in filter, only the sponge-y part, hopefully you know what I mean); temp at 25°C
Supplements: garlic guard and vita-chem

I’ll include some pictures as well. I’ve never seen finrot with the fin falling off in clumps before. For example, the top fin as you can see right now is white and fuzzy. After a time it just falls off in a chunk, and that’s what confuses me because her bottom fins aren’t falling off that way, they’re melting(?) I think.

She isn’t sluggish or anything as of right now, in fact she’s active like usual and she’s eating like usual as well (2 pellets). I’m not so sure but maybe if I scrub off the algae then she’ll improve. I didn’t think algae are harmful to fish and I didn’t really attempt to scrub it off because they’re a pain to do so (they’re really stuck on there, even with a toothbrush they barely come off).

If anything I mentioned is unclear or if you have any questions please ask them! I am in desperate need of help right now. I thought cleaning every day would work but I guess not!

 

[tunafax]

Oh no! Poor girl. What a cutie.
But that's beyond water changes, I'm afraid. Way beyond salt, before someone asks.

Needs to be put into 1-2 gallon bare tank and dosed with either M Blue or Betta Revive for a few days, and daily WC after that until the poor girl is looking better. Small tank may feel like the opposite of what the guides suggest, but it is exactly to limit movement so she can't shred fragile new fins. You don't go play soccer with a broken leg.


Old tank needs to pristine when she's ready to come back home, and she will be A-OK. Since it's a female, won't take too long. Tbh not looking too bad for a female, but since it's persistent, it's easier to just treat properly instead of giving yourself a headache.

PS: if you want a great tank algae scrubber to get into those tricky places, I recommend a brand called a nirate snail.

 

[Iverg1]

Are fin rot accelerating or has it stopped in the last five days might want to quartine in a seprete tank until better as it might be the water how much water are you changing everyday I suggest 75 or 100% water changes

 

[sarahahsfish]

Oh no! Poor girl. What a cutie.
But that's beyond water changes, I'm afraid. Way beyond salt, before someone asks.

Needs to be put into 1-2 gallon bare tank and dosed with either M Blue or Betta Revive for a few days, and daily WC after that until the poor girl is looking better. Small tank may feel like the opposite of what the guides suggest, but it is exactly to limit movement so she can't shred fragile new fins. You don't go play soccer with a broken leg.


Old tank needs to pristine when she's ready to come back home, and she will be A-OK. Since it's a female, won't take too long. Tbh not looking too bad for a female, but since it's persistent, it's easier to just treat properly instead of giving yourself a headache.

PS: if you want a great tank algae scrubber to get into those tricky places, I recommend a brand called a nirate snail.

Thank you for your quick response! I was planning on moving her into a smaller tank but was hesitant because I thought it'd be a bad idea. I'll be doing that after school! Betta revive has a blue color, no? Because if so I'm certain I have some that remain unused.

Also, in the picture the fuzz almost reaches her body... I'm really scared that it'll get worse and unfortunately turn into body rot before the medicine works. Any thoughts on that?

Note: also thank you for that suggestion! I'll look into it.

Are fin rot accelerating or has it stopped in the last five days might want to quartine in a seprete tank until better as it might be the water how much water are you changing everyday I suggest 75 or 100% water changes

Yes, I'll be moving her into a smaller, bare tank today. As of right now I'm changing about 25-30% every day. Might do a little more every day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't 100% water changes not recommended because it's too much for a fish to handle, especially if it's every day?

 

[Iverg1]

Yes sorry

 

[WanhiBetta]

Your nitrates aren't doing anything wrong. 10-20 is perfect, it won't affect her growth. You should treat with medication like Methylene Blue bath. In a separated container you put the medication and some old water from her tank, put the fish and leave her for 15 approx. then you move her back to her aquarium. You can do a bath every two days not to stress her too much. Methylene blue is a safe medication to start with, and bettas aren't are sensitive to it as they can be with salt, which is not always recommended for bettas.

 

[tunafax]

Betta revive is the blue one. It contains M Blue so you don't need to buy anything - just don't overdose because it also contains M Green.

50% WC will be enough, 100% will stress him too much. I was never sold on doing fish baths/dips, but WanhiBetta has a solid suggestion.

 

[WanhiBetta]

Betta revive is the blue one. It contains M Blue so you don't need to buy anything - just don't overdose because it also contains M Green.

50% WC will be enough, 100% will stress him too much. I was never sold on doing fish baths/dips, but WanhiBetta has a solid suggestion.

I think betta revive must be less concentrated since it's not only methylene blue, that's why I suggested methylene blue directly but Betta Revive could do it also!

 

[tunafax]

You're right. Betta Revive is actually very overpriced 2ml of 1/4 concentrate of meth blue, a tiny bit of (measured) malachite green, and also magic.
Like, it almost literally revived my lethargic betta and my lethargic goldfish. I kinda suspect there is fish caffeine in there or something. I've had great experience with it tbh.

 

[sarahahsfish]

Your nitrates aren't doing anything wrong. 10-20 is perfect, it won't affect her growth. You should treat with medication like Methylene Blue bath. In a separated container you put the medication and some old water from her tank, put the fish and leave her for 15 approx. then you move her back to her aquarium. You can do a bath every two days not to stress her too much. Methylene blue is a safe medication to start with, and bettas aren't are sensitive to it as they can be with salt, which is not always recommended for bettas.

Okay, I'll try that starting today. When I'm putting her back into the tank after the 15 minutes are up, can I use a cup to scoop her back up, along with the medicated water and put her and the water in the cup back into her tank? Because I'm not really fond of using a net to take her out.

 

[sarahahsfish]

Betta revive is the blue one. It contains M Blue so you don't need to buy anything - just don't overdose because it also contains M Green.

50% WC will be enough, 100% will stress him too much. I was never sold on doing fish baths/dips, but WanhiBetta has a solid suggestion.

Like you suggested yesterday, I've put her into a smaller tank temporarily, and I've scrubbed all the algae off of her usual tank. The tank is not 1–2 gallons but I think it's okay for a quarantine tank. Also her filter and heater are also placed in the temporary tank as well. She's eating and pooping fine, and she's active like usual. Thank goodness, I was so worried the entire night because I thought it stressed her out a lot.

Anyways, with betta revive, I'm not exactly sure how much to put in? The only container I have is a bucket, and I don't know how big it is. On the package it says 1 drop for every 16 fluid ounces, no? I don't want to overdose, of course, but I also don't want to add less than needed. How should I go on to solve this problem?

 

[WanhiBetta]

I would be careful with putting some methylene blue/betta revive directly in the tank. It can sometimes kill your cycle, and can put permanent blue spots om everything as it is a dye.

 

[tunafax]

Hm. Maybe scoop something you know he volume of? Or google your bucket?

One thing to be careful about though is that heater. It will heat a smaller space a lot quicker than a large space, and can overheat so keep your eye on that. Also, dollar tree sells plastic shoe boxes for 1 dollar. That would be good enough.

 

[sarahahsfish]

I would be careful with putting some methylene blue/betta revive directly in the tank. It can sometimes kill your cycle, and can put permanent blue spots om everything as it is a dye.

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, too. I'm in a pickle.

 

[sarahahsfish]

Hm. Maybe scoop something you know he volume of? Or google your bucket?

One thing to be careful about though is that heater. It will heat a smaller space a lot quicker than a large space, and can overheat so keep your eye on that. Also, dollar tree sells plastic shoe boxes for 1 dollar. That would be good enough.

I'll do just that. Thank you.

 

[WanhiBetta]

Keep an eye on your parameters particularly for the ammonia that will build up in a container!

 

[sarahahsfish]

Keep an eye on your parameters particularly for the ammonia that will build up in a container!

Sounds good! I might be back with more questions later on today or tomorrow, if you don't mind

 

[WanhiBetta]

Sounds good! I might be back with more questions later on today or tomorrow, if you don't mind

No problems!