Please help with suggestions..betta fin rot?

[goose]

I changed out 25% of the water...still looks pretty cloudy...I added another 1/4 of the Fungus Clear...he is not to hungry it seems..not eating like he was in the bigger tank. He pretty much is just hanging near the top near the heater...I added bottled spring water at room temp and that dropped the temp a small bit in the tank.

I gotta be honest...I don't think his fin rot is getting any better no matter what try to do.....the M-2 apparently did nothing and the Fungus clear might be looking at the same results..I noticed a few red spots on his tail tonight...look at these pics on how bad he has fallen in just a week or so...sad but I don't know what else to do...if the rot eats his dorsal fin down to the body what is the most humane way to deal with it? Hopefully it doesn't go that far but..........look how cloudy the tank is..half of me wants to put the whisper filter in just to clear it up but I'll probably kill him more by using it...getting really down on trying to keep him alive

When I put the Jungle Clear in it also does something to the blue gravel..as I see it fizzing I also see the dye from the gravel leeching into the water...THAT can't be a good sign

I mean really look at his dorsal fin........

crazy...you say after 1 treatment you see improvement.....my poor guy seems to keep wasting away

 

[An t-iasg]

Keep plugging away...give the meds a chance to work. I had a betta whose dorsal fin actually was eaten away down to the body. The rot didn't progress to the body, though...I used the Fungus Eliminator and this betta did get better. I used it for 8 days. The betta hung at the top of the water and didn't move for 6 days. Then he flared at me all of a sudden and started to make a bubble nest! So don't give up hope yet. Stick with the Jungle product you have for a full course of treatment and keep doing those water changes!

 

[crazyred]

Well, his tail isn't looking any better yet, but he's acting better just being out of that tiny vase and in a decent sized tank. I think he'll be okay. I'm going to re-dose in 4 days like it says on the box. They fizzing and the dyes are normal....that's how those meds are supposed to work. Nothing to worry about there, just don't overdose.

 

[goose]

Well he looks a little better today..the water is clearer and he is actually moving all over the tank rather than just hovering at the top...I actually saw him hiding under the bridge but he came right out to look at me...not eating like he was before but maybe the meds are suppressing his appetite

like crazyred's betta his fins don't look any better but not worse either(from what I can tell) The stringy stuff that was on his dorsal is gone(you can see it in the last pic above)...he looks like a shark now! just a stump

I'm following anti's advice and changing out about a 1/2-3/4 of a gallon a day and putting in around 1/4 of a tablet


Hopefully I'm not o'ding with meds but due to the water changes I think not. He is a lot more lively and is really checking out all areas of his tank so I have my fingers crossed..he did make a small bubble nest today




PS I was looking at your pics today and saw Wylie...was he the betta with the fin rot? Looks like the fins grew back but clear....also I love the idea of that java moss bed.....yay , nay on it? Do the bettas like to sleep on it?

 

[goose]

Crazy...how is your Betta doing?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi goose,
That sounds good about your betta. More activity and building a bubble nest are good signs.

Wylie did have some finrot - he was the one in the Eclipse 5 hex. He was the only one of my bettas who used his long pelvic fins to "perch" on the edge of the bed. All my bettas have loved that bed! I'm not super crazy about it anymore - it makes aquascaping kind of hard (not that I'm a real stickler for perfect aquascaping ) but these tanks are betta tanks and if they like the bed, that's what they will have! They love to sleep in it and I often found Wylie in the bed in the morning when I came downstairs. Kylie, another betta, stayed in the bed for a full day right before he died . That's when I decided that if they felt safe and secure in there, then I would keep putting it in the tank for new bettas too. One of my new bettas found it and went in it within 15 minutes of being in the tank.

I think Crazyred said in her thread that her betta is recovering well.

 

[goose]

He keeps lapsing back into bad shape whenever I stop the medication....I'm back onto putting a 1/4 tablet in a day and changing out about 30-40% of the water daily....he isn't eating like he used to and it looks like he has a bump on one side of his head

His tail fin and dorsal fin are really tiny now...they don't seem to be growing at all

I guess I'll just keep up with this routine for the next 6 or 7 days and see what happens...maybe he'll just have no fins and be ok


Also when he "poops" instead of being lttle pellets like they were before..it is long and stringy and it trails on him for quite a while...any ideas what causes this?

 

[goose]

Ok here wea re 2 months later...my betta is just a lump...he just floats at the top of the tank not doing anything..if I blow a bit on the top of the water his fins move a bit but then he just goes still again....he seemed like he ws coming out of it a few weeks ago as he would flare at his pellets before eating them and would sometimes flare at me through the tank...then he just became real lethargic and to this day that is the state he is in.....he barely eats mayeb a pellet if lucky a day...when poops it isn't little pieces like normal....it is long and stringy and looks white-ish in parts.....this can't be good

I tried giving him another dose of the jungle clear and was doing an almost 50% water change daily...Ive stopped the meds when I saw no results after 3 doses and now just suck uneaten food out of his tank every 2-3 days


I think he is just gonna die as I have no idea on what to do now...

I guess some fish are just destined to be ill.....should I put him back into his 5.5 gallon hex tank with the filter? This 2.5 bow has no filter...have a heater in there and water temps are usually between 72-76F.

What kills in is people have bettas in bowls at work and a couple if them dont see a water change for weeks at a time..water temps probably sink into the low 60's and these fish are as healthy and lively as can be


One last ramble...he is a Walmart Betta..about how old are they when you see them in the store?

 

[An t-iasg]

I'm sorry, goose...it does seem like you're just having bad luck. Before a few of my bettas died, they kind of just floated at the top of the tank - head up, tail down.

I know some bettas appear to do well in unheated bowls. I would never keep one of my bettas this way. Some people say it works for them and the betta doesnt appear to get sick. All bettas are different, just like people, I suppose.

I have read that when you see bettas for sale in a store, they are anywhere from 4 months to a year old. There's really no way to know how old yours is unless you know the breeder. If I had a betta live for a year after I bought him, then I figured that I did good. When I had bettas die at 5-6 months after I bought them, I figured they were already old or had some type of disease before I bought them. I had a few bettas get sick and meds didn't help them either. I also had bettas that made miraculous recoveries so I always try to medicate. If it turns out not to help, then I (and you!) shouldn't beat yourself up over it. You've done everything and more that is possible.

Since you see white stringy poop, you can try one more thing...treat for internal parasites. You can try Jungle's Anti-parasite food. This food is very hard, big pellets. You'll have to soften it in water and then use a sharp little paring knife to cut it smaller. If the betta doesn't eat this, you can try metronidazole. The Seachem brand has this product.

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Metronidazole.html

You can try feeding it instead of dissolving it in the water. The directions say to use one measure of medicine and mix with one tablespoon of food paste (also a Seachem product). When I fed a powdered medicine, I just put a pinch or so of medicine in a tablespoon of tank water, and then soaked some freeze-dried bloodworms in the medicine water for about 10 minutes, and then fed the bloodworms. They will be quite soggy at this point, but easy to slurp up for a sick betta.

I hope some of these ideas help.

 

[goose]

Well I tried going back to the every other day water changes with the Fungus Clear..I'm going to Pet Smart tonight..I'll look for that food to see if they have it...not sure what else to do...he was flaring nicely at his food about a week or so ago...now he barely eats 1 pellet maybe every other day...latest pic of him...I hate to say it but I think he is not going to make it.

Look at this pic...it is sad...oh he has not pooped in what seems like over a week...if he won't eat even a Betta bit pellet(very small) I doubt he will eat a pea

Sad This is all he does night and day..it is like someone flicked a switch...even when his fins where rotting he was very active..I wonder if this tank is killing him(no filter, smaller, plastics leeching?)

 

[Stephen]

I'd go with using the Metro as well. That stringy white fecal matter is a hallmark of Hexamita, which is often found in African cichlids, but can affect other tropical fish as well.

Nonetheless, kudos on the effort. Given the cheap price of bettas, it's actually kinda impressive the way you pursue a cure for your pet's disease. Some aquarists I know would just give up on them after a week and just buy a new one.