Crowntail Betta

[Jadedrain_06]

Hi all,
I got a crowntail two months ago. We have had issues with him since day one. His fins are getting worse and worse. We recently went on vacation and upon returning his beautiful tips on his fins are curling and splitting. I am not sure if he was over fed or what but he looks horribly uncomfortable. Everytime I have checked the levels they are within range and I do 30% WC every Saturday. I have a penguin 100 filter with a current breaker attached. He is in a moderately planted heated 10 gal tank and has a cave to sleep/hide in. I have been adding aquarium salt and vitamin drops. His food is hikari gold betta bites and frozen bloodworms. I have been working with this guy for awhile and I thought he was on the mend but had backtracked. I think it is time to use some meds. I am going to put him in the 3 gal tank I have. Since he is the only tank mate in the 10 gallon what is the best way to keep the tank cycled while it is empty? Fish food/ammonia? Never dealt with a sick fish like him. Any help or suggestion are MORE then welcome!!! Thank you!

 

[LyndaB]

Why change his tank while he's sick? Why not just treat him in the tank? And actually, for fin rot, the most important thing is fresh water.

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

I personally don't think you're doing enough water changes. Fin rot is usually a sign of poor water conditions.

How much salt are you adding to his tank? And how are you adding it?

 

[Jadedrain_06]

I read that using antibiotics in my main tank will kill all my bacteria so I was going to move him to prevent that. If that is not true I would love to leave him in his tank I just heard otherwise. Ammonia is .25ppm nitrites 0ppm and nitrates 5-10ppm.

 

[Jadedrain_06]

I add 1 tbsp for every 5 gallons so I add some whenever I do changes and just drop it in. I am using vita chem fresh formula with every WC and a few drops to his food every other day.

 

[LyndaB]

With salt, you need to dilute the salt in a cup of tank water. Then add it to the tank slowly. Just dumping salt can create issues. Sadly, diluting it is rarely mentioned, until there's a problem.

I don't use meds, so am unsure as to whether it will kill off your filter. Perhaps you could put the filter media into a spare container with used tank water and a few flakes of fish food to keep the bb fed while you treat your fish. Then he could stay in his known environment.

You shouldn't have ammonia readings at all. How long has this tank been up?

 

[Jadedrain_06]

Since September. But I cycled for two months with pure ammonia and didn't get him until Nov 25. I had ammonia nitrite and nitrate readings. Ammonia and nitrite were 0 and nitrate was 60+. I did WC until it dropped to 5ppm. I was also using filter media from an established tank. Now ammonia is showing up again. Not sure if I over cleaned at some point or what. Trying not to get frustrated but not sure what to do. Love having a tank and love the betta but I don't know what more I can do besides more water changes.