Betta fin rot and plant issues

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Maltee

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
11
Location
Colorado
Just this morning I noticed a chunk missing from my betta's tail. The tail also looks really ragged and torn. I'm really disappointed because my betta has had trouble with fin rot in the past, and he seemed like he was just about to fully get over it. About three months ago he tore his fin on a plastic plant and he caught fin rot from the open wound. I replaced the plastic plant with a real one and treated him with maracyn II, which stopped the rot. Since then I've just kept the water clean with weekly 25% water changes. Over a couple months his fin healed.

Then this morning I noticed his tail torn again. I also noticed brown/black fuzzy spots on my live plant. Could the two be related? Does the stuff growing on the plant indicate poor water quality, or could it be causing his fins to rot?

My betta is in a 1.5 gallon tank by himself with a live plant, a small heater, water filter, and LED light. I do weekly 25% water changes.

Today I tested the water and it showed
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrAtes - 0
temp - 78 F
pH - 6.0

I'm confused why he should apparently be getting fin rot again because according to the tests, the water quality is good (I think, right?). I'd really like to figure out what is causing this so I can properly treat it.

As a side note, I am just about to finish cycling a 5 gallon tank (I did a fishless cycle using ammonia). Do you think I should move him over to the new 5 gallon tank once it's finished cycling (which is very soon), or should I wait until he shows improvement and starts healing with his fins? The 1.5 gallon he's in now was never properly cycled because I didn't know any better when I started it 5 months ago. I just put the fish right in it after it was set up for a day, which is what the people at petco said I could do.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big beginner, so I'd really appreciate any advice. I also have pictures if that would help.
 

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Just this morning I noticed a chunk missing from my betta's tail. The tail also looks really ragged and torn. I'm really disappointed because my betta has had trouble with fin rot in the past, and he seemed like he was just about to fully get over it. About three months ago he tore his fin on a plastic plant and he caught fin rot from the open wound. I replaced the plastic plant with a real one and treated him with maracyn II, which stopped the rot. Since then I've just kept the water clean with weekly 25% water changes. Over a couple months his fin healed.

Then this morning I noticed his tail torn again. I also noticed brown/black fuzzy spots on my live plant. Could the two be related? Does the stuff growing on the plant indicate poor water quality, or could it be causing his fins to rot?

My betta is in a 1.5 gallon tank by himself with a live plant, a small heater, water filter, and LED light. I do weekly 25% water changes.

Today I tested the water and it showed
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrAtes - 0
temp - 78 F
pH - 6.0

I'm confused why he should apparently be getting fin rot again because according to the tests, the water quality is good (I think, right?). I'd really like to figure out what is causing this so I can properly treat it.

As a side note, I am just about to finish cycling a 5 gallon tank (I did a fishless cycle using ammonia). Do you think I should move him over to the new 5 gallon tank once it's finished cycling (which is very soon), or should I wait until he shows improvement and starts healing with his fins? The 1.5 gallon he's in now was never properly cycled because I didn't know any better when I started it 5 months ago. I just put the fish right in it after it was set up for a day, which is what the people at petco said I could do.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big beginner, so I'd really appreciate any advice. I also have pictures if that would help.

It seems very odd that you have 0 ppm across the board. It might be to your pH being on the low end. Maybe find the true pH of your tap water and see if there's a problem there.

I've dealt with fin rot on my first betta. It can be caused by anything. Dmitri got it from awful water. He came from Walmart. There were chunks of his tail in the container with him. It looked like someone had used tweezers on his tail.

Try doing water changes more frequently. I did massive water changes biweekly. That cleared it up for Dmitri.

If it were me, I would move him to the 5 gal. He would enjoy the extra swim space, and since he's the only fish in the tank, I see no need to quarantine. It would make managing water quality easier as well.

The brown dots on the plant, I'm not sure what those are. I'm sure someone else would be able to help where I cannot.

Try doing more frequent water changes until the 5 gal is cycled, and then stay on top of the water quality and the fin rot may stop. What water conditioner do you use? It may help out to get a better one if possible. What plant food are you using for the live plant?
 
Thanks for your reply, BettaGal.

I'm using Bettasafe as a conditioner for my tap water. I just tested the ph of the regular tap water and it's also 6.0.

I haven't been using any plant food for the plant because I didn't know I should be using plant food for it. It seemed to be thriving (aside from the brown fuzzy spots I noticed yesterday). The plant has grown to almost twice it's original size and looks very hearty and green.

I will be more frequent in the water changes, and hopefully I can move him to the 5 gal soon. The reason I got the 5 gallon was to have a properly cycled tank with better water quality.
 
Yeah. Aquarium plant food once a week. I use API leaf zone. Bettasafe is fine for water conditioner. I used that on my betta tanks. The pH I think is too low for the bacteria to grow. I wanna say it's 6.5 that it starts to get bad and at 6 it almost stops. It might be a good idea to try and raise that carefully. I've seen several times people say put crushed coral in a knee high nylon and hang it in or near your filter. Personally, my water is at 7.6 so I don't mess with it. You'll have to watch your pH if you do try to raise it. I read you add a little at a time until its where you want it.
 
If the current tank has a filter, just move the media into the filter on the 5 gal, then you can just move the betta over. The larger volume of water might help. Strips aren't very accurate, you might want to invest in the API liquid kit. Try adding some aquarium salt to the 5 gal too (temporary, just to aid in healing) and keep the water very clean, hopefully the fins will heal then. I use Prime as a conditioner; I'm sure the betta safe stuff is fine but seems like a gimmick to me, any dechlorinator would do the job and probaby cost less in the long run. Not sure on the plants; can you get a pic? What plants are they? What's you're lighting? If they aren't doing well maybe pull them out?
 
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