Betta with rapid onset tail rot + other symptoms

[Tessa]

My male betta who I have had approx. 6 months seems to have fin/tail rot.. earlier today when I checked him he seemed fine, then a few hours later I looked at him and half his tail is gone! He is also less active than usual and seems to be swimming strangely :|. Its like he can't stay completely vertical, his tail sits closer to the top of the water than his head does.. he has never done that before.
He is in a 17 gallon tank with 3 kuhli loaches, 3 albino corys, 3 guppies, 7 neon tetras and a female dwarf gourami.. I know that the corys and kuhlis should be in a bigger group, I am going to do that soon-ish and I have a bigger tank that the kuhlis may go into eventually. I also realise its not reccomended to keep a gourami and a betta together, I got bad advice from the lfs and didn't do my research properly, but I've never seen them bother each other.
Tank has been set up a few months, was fishless cycled.. I have tested today with API liquid kit, pH is 7.6, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, nitrates 5.
I change around 50% of the water weekly, I did a PWC 2 days ago.
When I saw his tail I dosed the water with a half dose of melafix and pimafix (half because of the loaches..), hopefully that wasn't the wrong thing to do. A am going to try to get some pictures of his tail up too.
ANY advice would be much appreciated, I am quite attached to my betta (his name is Chis ).
Thanks in advance

 

[absolutangel04]

If the tail disappeared that fast, it could be the result of aggression (from the female dg most likely) rather than tail rot. What does the fin edge look like? Fin/tail rot is often characterized by white edges. Your params are really good, so its not from water quality issues. Clean water (which you already have) is important for fins healing, but since you have clean water I actually don't suggest using meds. Sometimes even the "safe" meds seem to effect cories negatively.

 

[Tessa]

A picture of his tail:

 

[absolutangel04]

Its hard to tell from the shot whats going on. It looks like his fins have have white edges naturally. Not sure though. Have you ever seen any bickering between him and your dg?

 

[Tessa]

Thank you for your reply.. their are no white edges on his tail, its just the light in that pic i think. I have never seen the dg hassle him at all, she seems very peaceful (atleast when I am watching..). I might try moving him into my ~6gallon snail tank (he used to live in this before I got a bigger tank). What would be the best way to do this - net him into a bag and float him in the 6g for a while slowely adding water, or put him straight in since the water is roughly the same temp and from the same source? Also the 6g is full of baby snails so I'm guessing I can't use any meds in their..

 

[Sharkbait54]

If the tail disappeared that fast, it could be the result of aggression (from the female dg most likely) rather than tail rot. What does the fin edge look like? Fin/tail rot is often characterized by white edges. Your params are really good, so its not from water quality issues. Clean water (which you already have) is important for fins healing, but since you have clean water I actually don't suggest using meds. Sometimes even the "safe" meds seem to effect cories negatively.

I completely agree I really doubt it's fin rot. I've seen tanks with bettas and gouramis together but there is a reason they aren't recommended. They can be in a tank together then all of a sudden 1 has a change of mind. I would keep an eye on the dg.

 

[absolutangel04]

Yeah, labrynth breathers like gouramis and bettas tend ot be rather territorial and are not always tolerant of each other regardless of gender. I do not of course know for sure that this is whats going on, but I am guessing that your dg just got annoyed and lashed out at Chris. If the water is clean in the snail tank ( like it is in your main tank), I think he should be able to heal on his own without meds. You can do a quick google search to see if those meds are recommended with snails or not. I know they are more "natural" than many other meds so it might be fine. I think melafix is fine to use with the snails/fish, but I am not positive about the pimafix.

 

[Tessa]

Ok I am going to move him to the 6g and I guess if his tail improves, I can assume it was the dwarf gourami .
Any suggestions on why he is swimming funny though? In the picture you can see he is on a bit of an angle, he is staying on that angle while he's swimming, except when he goes up to get air.
I am leaving for work shortly but I'll post in a few hours about how he's going in the seperate tank. Thanks for your help

 

[absolutangel04]

Assuming he was swimming noramlly before, my best guess would be trauma. Keep an eye him though and let us know if anything changes. There are also quite a few really knowledgable members on here too, so somebody else might chime with a different opinion. Good luck. I hope Chris gets better!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If it happened suddenly I would assume its from aggression. With clean water he should heal. No need for meds IMO. Melifix and pimafix aren't really suitable for labyrinth breathers like Bettas and gouramis. If you do use it, use a 1/5 dose. A full dose can harm the labyrinth organ.

 

[SkullAngel]

IMO, If you want to have a gourami still with your betta, try a honey sunset gourami, they are very peaceful.

 

[Tessa]

He has spent the night in the 6g with the snails, and his tail has gotten worse . He has now lost about twice as much tail than what he had lost in the pic i posted earlier. He's also having more trouble swimming and has lost a lot of colour. I'm pretty devestated.. Any suggestions on what could help? I'm going to do a small water change now to keep the water clean.

 

[absolutangel04]

Poor guy!
Since he has gotten worse, its time to use the melafix again IMO. I suggest you try it at 1/5 dose like Mumma recommended or else you can get some betta-fix which is a similar product but formulated for labyrinth breathers. I am honestly really surprised that it got worse. Hopefully he improves, but he might be too damaged. You will have to wait and see. Good luck!

 

[Tessa]

A sad update, unfortunately Chris continued to go downhill and died a couple of hours ago. I'm still not sure what happened, he went down so fast . Thanks everyone for the advice though.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm so sorry to hear that! poor little fella.

 

[aqua_chem]

I had a betta get some form of rapid fin rot a few months back. The best way I can describe it is that his tail literally started melting off. We were actually finding chunks of his tail floating in his tank. He eventually lost his entire tail fin, half of his anal fin, and some of his dorsal. Whatever it was, it was resistant to Maracyn I/II, and we finally slowed it down with neomyacin and daily large water changes. Whatever it was, it was bad stuff.

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

I think your betta just got his fins nipped by another fish then got infected maybe. I have my betta in a breeder net. If not I know he would probally get his fins nipped and would also have a hard time getting air since the tank has more than gentle flow on the surface from my filtration.

 

[absolutangel04]

I am sorry to hear about Chris. It can be hard to lose them sometimes.

 

[adadkins1]

Very sorry about our betta.

I think your betta just got his fins nipped by another fish then got infected maybe. I have my betta in a breeder net. If not I know he would probally get his fins nipped and would also have a hard time getting air since the tank has more than gentle flow on the surface from my filtration.

I believe the he had some mysterious illness like aqua_chem mentioned. I had a batch of Zebra Danios and it was like their fins literally disappeared. Was kinda like fin rot sped up 10 X.

BTW FreshwaterFishJunkie, I am sorry but your shouldn't really be forced to live in a tiny breeder net. That isn't very fair now is it?

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

Very sorry about our betta.



I believe the he had some mysterious illness like aqua_chem mentioned. I had a batch of Zebra Danios and it was like their fins literally disappeared. Was kinda like fin rot sped up 10 X.

BTW FreshwaterFishJunkie, I am sorry but your shouldn't really be forced to live in a tiny breeder net. That isn't very fair now is it?

My Beta has excellent filtration from the 55 gallon tank, a few little peices of live floating plants, gravel at the bottom of the breeder net, 2 plastic plants that came with the breeder net, and a plactic betta "hamock" leaf above his bredder net that he sometimes rests on. The breeder net is good, cause bettas like shallow water and the breeder net makes sure the water is slower moving for him too.