i think my betta has fin rot

[thats_so_fab]

hey guys
i need your help again!
Well i have a 1 gallon ( litre ) tank, i change it every second day, put in the condioner and ager, and i have gravel in it. I feed it once a day, i've done everything everyones told me to. and i think my fish has fin rot!
not through all his fins, just a bit near the bottom. It's gone a bit white, its decolorised and has a tinge or red in it. Also the fins are full and all even, some are a bit jagged, they don't look really gross, i've done searches for images on bettas with fin rot and it looks nothing like it but i don't know.
And could someone tell me about salt baths for them and what to do ?? thankyou
xoxox

 

[TCTFish]

A photo would be helpful if you can get one posted. Salt baths would not be good for a betta. Without seeing his fins, we can't really say if it is fin rot or just some jagged edges. Fin rot is generally a secondary infection of wounded fins and look as if the fins are being eaten away. May have red streaks or white tattered edges. The redness of your betta's fins would have to be visually seen to determine if it is sign of infection or just his regular pigment.

If you have an LFS near you, you could bring him in for someone to see if you can't get a photo posted for us.

 

[thats_so_fab]

it does have litle white tattered edges at the bottom and red bits.. im so worried about it. and im really sorry i can't put a pic up either.
the bottom bits are very thin and white.. It also appears to have lost quite a bit of color. Could someone please tell me the quickest and cheapest way of saving him ? i don't have much money and i really don't want it to be sick. I change the water all the time, every second day so i have no clue as to why this is even happening.

 

[TCTFish]

BettaFix from Aquaium Pharmaceuticals is a good natural remedy for bettas and can treat for a wide variety of ailments...including fin rot. Being we don't know for sure, this would be a good treatment to use without chemical exposure for nothing. It's very similar to MelaFix, made with tea tree oil. Use as directed. What kind of gravel do you have? Is it large grain? Small grain? Do you have a filter? Someitmes fins will get caught up in the intakes and tear their fins. Sometimes gravel might be the culprit of tearing fins if his fins are constantly dragging on the bottom. Something else to think about is...do you clean the gravel? I have noticed over the years that sometimes when there's food stuck in the gravel and not cleaned out, it may develop something that eats at the fins. You could take the gravel out during treatment and clean it. No soap...just hot tap water.

 

[thats_so_fab]

so i guess you have to treat fin rot.. it doesn't just go away if i keep on cleaning the tank thoroughly.. gosh one little fish can be so hard!!!

 

[An t-iasg]

I wouldn't use BettaFix. I and others here have had a bad experience with this med. The active ingredient, melaleuca, is a wonderful medicine for other fish, but seems to adversely affect the labyrinth organ of a betta. I have always had good results with Jungle Fungus Eliminator for fin rot.

It's good that you're changing the water every other day, but once a month or so, I would also recommend rinsing the gravel. Another thing that I can think of is that the water temperature is fluctuating. Fluctuating temperatures over time are very stressful for bettas, and stress often equals fin rot.

 

[TCTFish]

An t-iasg...Interesting. What problems did you and others have? I've never had a problem nor have any of my customers that I've sold the stuff to. Could it be a dosing issue?

that's-so-fab...there is also BettaMax capsules. It's a methylene blue based medication.

Something else you can do is feed less food. Bettas do not require a lot of food. I always fed mine three times a week...changed half the water once a week and they lived for a few years. Some I had no gravel with. Some I did. The thing here is to have them poop less so there's less waste and less probable harmful bacteria from that waste yet enough nutrition to sustain good health and longevity.

 

[An t-iasg]

Here's a recent thread that I remember:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/sutra583252.php&highlight=#583252

My previous betta (this was 4 or so years ago) gasped at the surface and then fell like a rock to the bottom of the bowl when I dosed BettaFix. I did a complete water change and he did perk up. After reading of others' similar experiences , and melaleuca in general, I came to the conclusion that melaleuca is a wonderful med for fish other than bettas. To treat bettas, I have had success with Jungle Fungus Eliminator, the Mardel brand of medicines, and the Seachem brand of medicines. I did notice that BettaFix left an oily film on the water surface, which could possibly have irritated the labyrinth organ.

I would love to find BettaMax capsules again. I thought that was the best betta medicine ever. I can't find it anymore. I heard the company went out of business.

 

[TCTFish]

http://www.bettatalk.com/medication.htm

Here it is

From what I understand, the company did not go out of business. New EPA regulations made them have to reformulate a lot of their products. What ever is left on the market is perhaps the last of the product or has been reformulated to meet new EPA guidelines. I remember a conversation with a rep of the company when they visited the store I work for. This was a little over a year ago.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks...is it possible to order from that site? Prices were given, but nowhere to click. I used to give this medicine to my new bettas. If I had a sick betta, it always cured mild-moderate finrot (I never had severe finrot) and mild fungus.

I have checked the Internet for this company, Aquatronics, and couldn't find their webpage anymore. Some of the products I've seen on other sites were in "dead inventory". I didn't want to order any (I would have also ordered Kanacyn) but I was afraid they would be expired.

 

[TCTFish]

To be honest with ya...I didn't realize there weren't any links on taht web page. I found it throguh a google search. Here's the link to that google search. Have fun hunting. BTW...I did ask someone about Aquatronics and apparently instead of reformulating their products they did shut down.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=bettamax&btnG=Search

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks for the info and the confirmation that they are, unfortunately, out of business.

 

[europas_ice]

betta meds

I'm still new at this (had my betta for one week, and he's got fin rot), but www.bettatalk.com looks like a good site. Note that you can buy the "Betta First Aid" kit from them (~$25):

http://www.bettatalk.com/buy_supplies.htm#First Aid Kit

Looks like a solid supply of meds to get bettas through most stuff. (Mine's on order, hopefully it will be here soon.) The site's not really well linked, so go to the home page and navigate around to find stuff. The section on how to sanitize the tank is hard to find, so here it is:

http://www.bettatalk.com/sanitization.htm