Betta with persistent fin rot!!

[gemma9]

Hi all, I am completely new to this forum, but thought I would ask you all for help as I am completely stuck on what to do!

I brought a betta fish (my first time owning one) October last year and mistakenly took the red on his fins as his natural colouration. Eventually I realised that it was fin rot due to the large tears in his fins and ever since have been trying to treat it naturally. I have checked his water parameters every week which have remained consistently as followed: nitrate, nitrite and ammonia all 0 and the pH has remained 7.4 in the tank since I got him and the temperature is kept at 78ºF. I originally thought that the clean water would heal him by itself, however in the last few weeks he has declined and overnight would lose 1/3 of his fin and it is all covered in blood. Since I noticed this I moved him into a hospital tank kept at 78º and have been using aquarium salt with regular water changes and although he has regrowth in his fin, the fin rot keeps returning back more aggressive. I have now completed 3 weeks of high dosage salt water treatments with 4 days in between but it does not appear to be working! I have heard about antibiotics that can be effective for fin rot but as I live in Australia there are no stores to purchase them from. He is still eating and seems completely normal, but I feel horrible that his fins are in such a bad way.

Sorry that it is such a long post, if anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated! Thanks so much

 

[DutchMuch]

then you are still cycling as nitrate should be up to 20ppm for a steady range.
pretty sure his fins aren't covered in "blood" because If he was bleeding it would dissolve in the water after about five seconds, what your seeing is his color... fins don't bleed btw only the body does.
never use saltwater

 

[Matt68005]

Alot of betas apparently get this affliction due to stress or poor water quality.
It is simply a result of larger than nature intended fins, and insufficent blood supply to the fins.
Remember, fins are cartiladge, and it can be decomposed by fungi, where as a fish's skin has a protective slimecoat, meaning a fungal infection of a fishes body is virutally impossible unless there is an injury wound skin parasite or the slimecoat is totally compromised like by dropping a fish in all new water that is much diffrent, or forgetting to add declorinator.

 

[gemma9]

Hi DutchMuch,

When I meant salt water treatment I meant I added 2tsp per gallon of treated water and then did a water change each day to ensure the water quality remained high, not that I added actual salt water. The other tank (which he is no longer in and only contains plants right now), I rechecked the parameters and it is still the same. The tank has been cycled for quite a few months now so not sure what is up with that... Is it okay for the nitrates to be 0? I have posted a photo of him, which you can see the blood looking marks on his fins and the tears at the ends of his tail. If you have any advice it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[redfish54]

My betta is almost identical to yours, but much sicker. The red is normal on the fins I think, but the vertical lines on the head might mean something