Betta Fin Rot WILL NOT GO AWAY!

[Saltypuppy]

So I don't understand this...

I have a ten gallon tank, it is heated to 78 degrees, It is filtered, cycled and the parameters are fine I just checked it.

He has fin rot it appears, it just keeps getting worse. I treated with Melafix for about 2 weeks but stopped because I heard that it can be bad for bettas. I used it in a half dose and all seemed well. I don't understand it. He still has at least half of his fin - more actually. But it just is not healing no matter how much I change the water.

So I guess my question is... what do I do? I want to medicate him with something that will fix the fin rot, but something that will not destroy my biological cycle...

Oh here is the funny thing, it is a divided ten gallon, one betta had fin rot and is now healing from it, while the other keeps on getting worse. How fast should they heal? Mine is healing really slow... but he is still healing....

I will put up pictures asap. Any help at all would be really appreciated! I don't know what to do. He seems fine aside from the rot. :C

 

[Saltypuppy]

Picture Before the Rot....

Rot a Few weeks ago...

Rot From 2 Weeks ago

I will get one from today when I get home

 

[i3k]

How often and how much of water do you change?

 

[HUKIT]

I would start with daily 25-40% water changes before you medicate the tank. Clean water nine times out of ten will cure fin rot.

 

[Saltypuppy]

Do a 25 - 40 % change Everyday? Ok. I can do that. I still don't understand why its harming one fish and not the other. :C

This has been going on for a while though. I tried API stress coat, Than when it got worse I tried melafix. Well i will try water changes now and we will just have to see how it goes.

 

[i3k]

You can use stresscoat with every water change...it's a water conditioner with aloe vera in it. This will speed up the healing process.

 

[HUKIT]

Do a 25 - 40 % change Everyday? Ok. I can do that. I still don't understand why its harming one fish and not the other. :C

This has been going on for a while though. I tried API stress coat, Than when it got worse I tried melafix. Well i will try water changes now and we will just have to see how it goes.

Yep start with clean water and monitor the fish, if after a couple weeks of pristine water with no improvment or worsening condtions then I would treat. But I'll bet you won't need to go down that road, Good luck and post any updates.

 

[Saltypuppy]

Yep start with clean water and monitor the fish, if after a couple weeks of pristine water with no improvment or worsening condtions then I would treat. But I'll bet you won't need to go down that road, Good luck and post any updates.

Thank you so much! I will try the water changes and see how everything goes. I will post soon. I take it his fin rot isn't as bad as I think?

 

[Saltypuppy]

How often and how much of water do you change?

Oh once a week 25 % /w pebble vac - Regularly

 

[Saltypuppy]

You can use stresscoat with every water change...it's a water conditioner with aloe vera in it. This will speed up the healing process.

I did try this and it didn't seem to help very much, but I am going to finish the jug off anyways.

 

[siva]

In this paticular situation I don't see stresscoat as doing anything beneficial besides dechlorinating the water. With fin issues that aren't too severe I always do frequent water changes and if I'm not seeing fin growth within a couple weeks do a round a bettafix. I never use salt or any other products. I own about a dozen bettas and have dealth with many different fin issues and this has always worked, except for one veiltail male who after 6 months still has little re-growth to his tail. He was a walmart betta that came home with probs, and although I was able to quickly stop his fins from deteriorating further, they've never grown all the way back..yet.

 

[Shadowraven]

Fin rot is a gram-negative type of bacterial infection. If it doesn't start getting any better you may have to treat it with something like Jungle Fungus Eliminator, Tetracycline or Maracyn II.

 

[Saltypuppy]

In this paticular situation I don't see stresscoat as doing anything beneficial besides dechlorinating the water. With fin issues that aren't too severe I always do frequent water changes and if I'm not seeing fin growth within a couple weeks do a round a bettafix. I never use salt or any other products. I own about a dozen bettas and have dealth with many different fin issues and this has always worked, except for one veiltail male who after 6 months still has little re-growth to his tail. He was a walmart betta that came home with probs, and although I was able to quickly stop his fins from deteriorating further, they've never grown all the way back..yet.

Alright I will try the water changes. Bettafix is the same thing as Melafix so yup. Well I hope his fins grow back.

 

[Saltypuppy]

Fin rot is a gram-negative type of bacterial infection. If it doesn't start getting any better you may have to treat it with something like Jungle Fungus Eliminator, Tetracycline or Maracyn II.

So My question about this is I should medicate in a seperate tank so I don't kill my biological cycle right?

 

[Shadowraven]

So My question about this is I should medicate in a seperate tank so I don't kill my biological cycle right?

If you can do it, that is always the best option IMO, for much the same reason as you stated. It doesn't mess with your tank's bio cycle. If it is a smaller tank it also allows medicating without using all of the medications up in just a couple of treatments, so you can use less.

If he is the only fish in there, and is gone for a while, you may need to feed the bacteria in the tank with very small amounts of ammonia to keep the cycle going.

 

[Saltypuppy]

Nope there is two bettas in the tank.

 

[Shadowraven]

I just reread this thread to get all the facts straight in my mind. Is he healing slowly or does he still have the rot? If he is healing, even slowly, medicating him would probably not help much if there is no current infection. Make sure there is before you treat, but if you have to treat, separate them.

 

[Saltypuppy]

I just reread this thread to get all the facts straight in my mind. Is he healing slowly or does he still have the rot? If he is healing, even slowly, medicating him would probably not help much if there is no current infection. Make sure there is before you treat, but if you have to treat, separate them.

I do believe that he does still have the rot. I haven't seen any re-growth. He is just slowly getting worse.

 

[joy13]

I don't know if this is the situation but could he be a self tail nipper? I had one betta that would actually attack his own tail. My son told me that was what was going on but I didn't believe him until I caught the little bugger in the act.

 

[Saltypuppy]

Ya I would have thought that too, but the other betta had rot so it makes me think he does too.