Fin rot

[BettaBoy5000]

My betta has a pretty bad case of fin rot how do I treat it?

 

[Dreamroper]

My betta has a pretty bad case of fin rot how do I treat it?

I'm sorry, I know nothing about this. Hopefully others with more knowledge will respond.

 

[Mattyfelts]

I'm sorry, I know nothing about this. Hopefully others with more knowledge will respond.

why would you bother respondin if your not going I help, give advice, or do anything constructive in the thread?

Anyways, I'm sure their may be an article or two on here about this! I have had little experience with fin rot but would say to quarantine the guy and watch the other fish, perform daily wc and maintain a good feeding regiment!

Goodluck and keep is updated!

 

[aquandrew]

My betta has a pretty bad case of fin rot how do I treat it?

what size tank? what are the parameters? fin rot is brought on by poor water quality. you may not be doing enough water changes or cleaning the tank properly. what you can do right now is daily water changes for anywhere from 3-6 weeks and it should grow back just fine. i haven't personally experienced fin rot, but i have had a betta get his tail torn pretty bad from the filter and did water changes every day to every other to help it grow back. don't resort to any sort of meds unless absolutely necessary. good luck

 

[BettaGal]

Daily water changes for a while. I've dealt with fin rot enough. No need to quarantine the guy. Only if it starts to look infected. No need for meds unless again it starts to look infected.

 

[Katenotkatie]

You should get Tetracycline (I think that's how you spell it). I've experienced fin rot before and it is brought on by bad bacteria. The Tetracycline, after put in, will become foamy and all of the bad bacteria will be trapped in the foam. Just scoop out the brownish foam whenever you see it. Once it's gone a couple of days with no sign of dirty-looking foam, do a water change. It might be a good idea to try to get any remaining foam out after this. Not because it will harm the fish; but just because it is unnecessary at that point and who wants a bunch of weird foam floating at the top of their tank? Remember, fins do grow back, but they take a while. Just because the bad bacteria is gone doesn't mean that the fins will grow back overnight. It will take time. Best of luck to you!

 

[Mileymoo]

My female guppy had fin rot and stuff that looked like cotton wool on her face I think it may be a secondary bacteria disease from having whitespot plus my ph was low, I bought eSHa-2000 it's clears 7 different kinds of bacteria infections including fin rot, it hasn't gone yet I'm on day three, but it's a lot better, it's completly gone off her face and a small emount left on her fin it looks so much better hope I've helped

 

[james77]

I just got done treating my angel with melafix. Did a 7 day treatment with 30% water changes every other day and it's looking a lot better now. The rot has stopped and it seems to be growing new fins now. This stuff is a mild antibiotic for the fish and also it's safe to use with live plants. That's why I chose it.

 

[trkchezz]

When dealing with this in the past I would do a WC and double the amount of prime I add, doing this daily or ever other, until I see some improvement. Once I see the fish is looking better I would do a WC every 3-4 days, continuing with double does of prime. Until there are 100%.

Are you sure its fin rot, and not damage from the tank, filter or another fish?

 

[BettaBoy5000]

The tank size is 2.5 gallons and I have a pic of the filter should i change it

 

[james77]

If that cartridge has carbon in it the carbon will remove any medicine you put in the tank to treat with. I have penguin filters but I cut the carbon out of mine.

 

[BettaBoy5000]

And no he has no other friends in the tank and how would I know how the filter is causing it (not in a mean way)

 

[trkchezz]

Has he been caught in the intake?

 

[Mebbid]

You should get Tetracycline (I think that's how you spell it). I've experienced fin rot before and it is brought on by bad bacteria. The Tetracycline, after put in, will become foamy and all of the bad bacteria will be trapped in the foam. Just scoop out the brownish foam whenever you see it. Once it's gone a couple of days with no sign of dirty-looking foam, do a water change. It might be a good idea to try to get any remaining foam out after this. Not because it will harm the fish; but just because it is unnecessary at that point and who wants a bunch of weird foam floating at the top of their tank? Remember, fins do grow back, but they take a while. Just because the bad bacteria is gone doesn't mean that the fins will grow back overnight. It will take time. Best of luck to you!

The foam is just a secondary reaction to the tetracycline being added into the tank, it doesn't actually capture the bacteria. Tetracycline is an antibiotic and will outright kill a lot of bacteria that it comes in contact with.

The tank size is 2.5 gallons and I have a pic of the filter should i change it

The filter should only be changed if it is literally falling apart.


Fin rot is a very very simple thing to treat but it is also misdiagnosed occasionally in bettas.

To treat fin rot the very first thing to do is to fix your water parameters. Out of whack water parameters with increased levels of either ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate will cause fin rot to happen. To do this (especially if you don't know your parameters) do 4 50% water changes with temperature matched dechlorinated water waiting 1 hour between water changes. After the water changes are finished you should add aquarium salt to the tank at the directed dosage. (As long as you don't have plants or inverts)

You know it is fin rot when the edges of the frayed fin is discolored.

When it is just a blown tail then the flow in the tank is the issue. This is a pic of my betta that had a blown tail from the filter I was using. It's the same betta as my profile pic.

Notice that there is no discoloration around the shredded tail which means there isn't any fin rot.

 

[BettaGal]

Melafix is not an antibiotic and isn't betta safe. It messes with their breathing because of the labyrinth organ. Just start with water changes for a week or two. Don't change the filter cartridge.

 

[Mebbid]

Melafix is not an antibiotic and isn't betta safe. It messes with their breathing because of the labyrinth organ. Just start with water changes for a week or two. Don't change the filter cartridge.

+1 It is good to note that about melafix. However, with a little look into the difference between Melafix and bettafix; they are approximately the same thing. Melafix is just 5x more concentrated compared to bettafix. So a 1/5th dose of melafix is safe for bettas plus it saves a whole boat load of money.

 

[BettaGal]

+1 It is good to note that about melafix. However, with a little look into the difference between Melafix and bettafix; they are approximately the same thing. Melafix is just 5x more concentrated compared to bettafix. So a 1/5th dose of melafix is safe for bettas plus it saves a whole boat load of money.

I would not advise Bettafix either. They are the same thing and work the same way. I personally would be wary of doing that.

 

[BettaBoy5000]

Here is a pic of his tail

 

[BettaGal]

Is the black edging normal for him? Do you notice and discoloration?

 

[BettaBoy5000]

Yes the black is normal and a little bit of coloration