My Betta has fin rot - Help please

[lil mel]

Hello everyone, Im new & decided 2 join bcause my delta tailed betta fish (Sam) has what I think is fit rot. A few wks ago I noticed that his tail was getting ragged & a few days later, I saw little pieces of his tail falling off.

He's in a 1 gal tank. I use bottled water 4 water changes thinking that mayb my tap water isnt so great. I put the directed amount of stress coat. He has a great appetite, matter of fact, he gets really excited when he sees me take out the bag of pellets.

Ammonia: 0
pH: currently at 7.6
Temp: 82 - 79 degrees F

I give him the directed amount of BettafFix meds 4 the fin rot daily & a water change every 7 days as directed. I even add a lil bit of aquarium salt. This has been going on 4 about 3 weeks & I havent seen any REAL improvements. The last time I changed 25% of his water I noticed that the ph got REALLY high & his tail started 2 look a lil ragged again then after about 5 - 6 days, the ph sometimes goes 2 normal & his tail starts 2 look like it might be healing. I was told that the ph shouldn't be a problem bcause fish tend 2 adapt 2 it but it seems 2 b the only correlation 2 the severity of his fin rot.

Is there something that I am missing? am I doing something wrong?

 

[BlackMagic]

Welcome to the forum.

Step 1. Clean water
Step 2. Clean water
Step 3. Clean water

Finrot is dug to bad water.

 

[lil mel]

on Thursday, 8/19/10 (day 6 of BettaFix medication), his tail looked like it was starting to heal. When I checked the ammonia and ph they were at perfect levels (ammo: 0, ph: 6.8 ). Friday 8/20/10 (day 7 of BettaFix medication), I did a 25% water change with bottled water and stress coat. 8/21/10 when I checked the levels, ammonia was 0, ph was 7.8 and his tail looks a lil ragged again.

Should I start checking the nitrate and nitrite levels? I had read a book and it said that nitrate and nitrite were more severe levels caused by high ammonia...but my ammonia has been 0. He seems to get worse every time I do a water change. What do I do now?

 

[dkpate]

Black Magic is right, clean water is the best medicine.
What are you using to test the water. Strips are inaccurate.
Since he is in such a tiny tank, you need to do 3 or more 50% water changes a week, and never change 100% of the water.

 

[Aster]

Hello if i was you id get a bottle of prime and start using the tap water so its easier to change the water and you can maintain a more consistent PH . And he needs more water changes like the poster above said at least 3 50 % water changes a week i change 50 % of my bettas water every other day and they are both in 2 gallon tanks .

 

[BlackMagic]

on Thursday, 8/19/10 (day 6 of BettaFix medication), his tail looked like it was starting to heal. When I checked the ammonia and ph they were at perfect levels (ammo: 0, ph: 6.8 ). Friday 8/20/10 (day 7 of BettaFix medication), I did a 25% water change with bottled water and stress coat. 8/21/10 when I checked the levels, ammonia was 0, ph was 7.8 and his tail looks a lil ragged again.

Should I start checking the nitrate and nitrite levels? I had read a book and it said that nitrate and nitrite were more severe levels caused by high ammonia...but my ammonia has been 0. He seems to get worse every time I do a water change. What do I do now?

Bettafix doesnt work. ur chance with bettafix is like 1 out of 100.

 

[mommytron]

good advice here already. definitely stop using bottled water. not only does it get expensive but i'm pretty sure it doesn't have the trace nutrients that tap water does that are good for your aquarium. i agree with the other posters, 3 50% water changes weekly. you may want to do 50% everyday until your betta's fins are healed. as i said in another post already today... nothin better than clean water!! HTH

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to the FW sick fish forum.

 

[yardjass]

1. Clean your gravel and water often. Dirty water is thought to be the main cause of fin rot.
2. Stop using bottled water. It lacks vitamins and minerals important for your fish. You are better off using plain tap water with Genesis or another similar aquarium water conditioner.
3. I have had many bettas over the years and I learned very quickly that a heater is not optional unless you have a very warm room. I have not had a single betta get fin rot in a heated tank and I have not had a single betta not get fin rot in a non-heated tank. I have seen similar trends in other people's bettas but your water temperature seems fine.
4. Get some aquarium salt and add according to the instructions for freshwater. The stuff I have says 1 TBSP per 10 gallons of water.

I hope this all helps

 

[JohnPaul]

Another vote here to stop using bottled water and start using your tap water, treated with any of the commonly-available dechlorinators, though I think that Prime works the best. Stress Coat may work for this purpose; read the label and be sure that it says it removes both chlorine and chloramines. If it removes both you are fine, if it only mentions chlorine and not chloramine, then get something like Prime.

Any chance you could move him over to something a little larger? Even a small tank like a 2.5 gallon or 5.5 gallon would have enough room for a small sponge filter, which is all you would need to be able to establish a stable environment where you wouldn't have to be doing major water changes every other day. A tank that small (2.5g or 5.5g) should cost you less than $20.

While you might have bad water, I am also thinking the real culprit here is that because you are using bottled water (with no buffering capacity), every time you change water you are sending your bowl into massive pH swings. This is extraordinarily stressful on a fish, and when a fish is stressed its body is not able to fight off bacteria and other pathogens like normal. I am almost positive that it is your pH swings that are contributing heavily to the fin rot issue. Using treated tap water will help this immensely; and getting a bigger tank and a filter so that you don't have to change out the water so often will help even more.

 

[lil mel]

Thank you everyone for all your help. My tank does have a filter and I will be buying a small heater soon. I have been making about 50% water changes every other day and the levels for ammonia, ph, nitrate and nitrite are normal. I even see, what seems to be a little bit of re-growth on his tail. It looks like a gray-ish clear, extension of his tail and instead of it being frayed it's all connected in a webbing like manner. Is he really getting better? His appetite continues to be great. I have removed all of the ornaments and bleached them. I kept the sand in the tank but I don't plan on putting the ornaments back in until he is officially healed.

Thank you so much for all your help. I will continue the water changes and work on perfecting his environment. In the meantime I will keep coming back with updates on him.

 

[dkpate]

Make sure you soak those decorations in 5x dechlorinator before putting them back in, since you bleached them.
It sounds like his fins are healing! Good job.