Sick, sad rescued betta :(

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crazyred

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Oct 13, 2005
Messages
1,643
Location
Harlingen, Texas
My buddy had a betta in one of those sad plant vase dealy boppers (I know... :evil: ) At least she was feeding him betta food, anyway, I noticed his tail looks REALLY terrible and he is having trouble swimming, so I rescued him and brought him to work. I bought him a 3 gallon tank (for now) which is about TRIPLE what he's used to and I used a small dose of Melafix (conflicted on this with bettas). I noticed he was hanging at the top and really gasping so I immediately did a PWC to get some of that out of there and he seems a little bit better now.

What else can I do for his pitiful tail? It looks almost gone and very shriveled. The tip is blackish looking. Help!!!!
 
Hi Crazyred,
That's sad to hear he's in bad shape. I'm glad you rescued him! If his fins are black-tipped, he'll need some medicine. I like Jungle Fungus Eliminator for betta finrot. This med does have an antibiotic in it, not just a fungus med. My first betta had trouble with Melafix, so I never used it again for bettas.

Here are some recent threads where I pour out my betta knowledge, LOL!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=89832

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=89760
 
Roger that, Jungle Fungus Eliminator....I'll make a trip to Petsmart then, thanks An-tiasg!!

Great threads, BTW...I must have missed those.
 
You're welcome! You can use the Fungus Eliminator for 4 days as recommended on the label, or 8 days for a second course of treatment. I would change a little of the water every day, and add some med back in (it's in powder form, so that's easy) rather than wait the full 4 days as the label says. The finrot hopefully will go away during this time - the black edges should go away and new, clear-whitish skin will smooth over the rough edges. It still may take a month or more for the fins to attain their previous length.
 
Okay, I'm on the Petsmart on my lunch break to buy this stuff. I'll keep y'all posted on how it's going. He's already looking better. I think just putting him in a larger tank has made a big difference. Poor thing. I still need to treat his tail though. His fins are okay, the damage is confined to tail which is rotted almost completly away and is nearly up to his body. 8O Crime against humanity!!!
 
Yeah, he's doing pretty well. His tail seems to be growing back. I wish my friend had taken better care of him...he's a beautiful lavender color. I'm working really hard to improve his quality of life. I was convinced he was going to die, but I think he's made it past the critical point. I'll post a pic on Monday. ;)
 
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