Betta Fish- split fins & fin rot

monapica

I have a male Betta fish, and have noticed that for the past week or so, his fins seem to slowly be deteriorating- he has a fairly mild case of fin rot. He also has split fins in a couple of areas, and the edges of his fins are kind of droopy/ragged> when i got him, his fins were so gorgeous, he seemed like one of the more beautiful fish. Now, he seems to be doing alright, but his fins are ragged, split, and not so beautiful anymore.

I have been using BettaFix for about three days now, but have not seen improvement. I was wondering, is this helpful or harmful for Bettas?
If it isn't going to help, I will discontinue use...

Also, what can I do about his fin rot? He seems to be eating alright, the only difference I can see is that he has fin rot. I change his water 100% on a weekly basis, and it's never dirty or cloudy. I don't know what could be causing fin rot.

So if you have information on fin rot, and how to treat and prevent it (in bettas), please let me know.

bettababy

Do a complete water change and get rid of the Bettafix. I have yet to see that stuff really work.

Methylene blue and fungus elminator together are going to be the best solution.
If he's in a bowl, mix the meds into a bucket of fresh water and do 100% water changes every day or every other day, using the medicated water. Do this for 7 - 10 days, you should see an improvement. Once he's well again, consider doing his water changes twice/wk instead of once. That will help to prevent this from happening in the future.

If after 10 days you still see signs of illness, continue to treat with the medicated water for 3 days beyond symptoms. (when you notice things healing and not getting worse) This med combo won't hurt him if used longer term. I have worked with this stuff since Jungle first introduced the fungus elminator and Nitrofura G went off the market. I have had bettas on that med schedule for over a year and all I had was healthy fish in aqua colored water!

Clean water, good variety of healthy foods, and temps 80 - 82 but steady, and you shouldn't have any further issues.

monapica

Thank you for the information, I changed the water and have stopped using BettaFix...it didn't do a thing to help my betta's fins. I will definitely pick up the products you mentioned and give them a try. I'm glad that Jimmy (betta) is otherwise in good health- he eats normally and swims around; he seems to be a curious little fish :) I'll do what you mentioned, and update on his progress. Thanks again!

bettababy

You're welcome. Don't forget to keep his temp up into the low 80's and steady (does he have a heater?) Temp fluctuations and temps that are too low will contribute to the problem and can make things much worse.

Best of luck to you and Jimmy!

monapica

Jungle Fungus Clear has worked wonderfully- within a few days, the split fins have begun healing considerably, and my fish now fans out his fins like before. I also have a mini tank heater I use...Hydor, brand.. for a 2 gallon tank, do you recommend keeping it on overnight, or will it overheat the water? it's 7.5 watts, and is supposed to warm up water by a few degrees.

bettababy

Just so you're aware, there is a difference between fungus eliminator and fungus clear. When I suggest meds I do so specifically based on the ingredients in them, not on what the packaging claims. I'm glad the fungus clear worked out well for you, but I say this in warning for the future. Using the wrong med can be the difference between life and death to your fish.

As for the heater, the goal is to have a constant temp in that tank. If you turn it on and off the temp goes up and down, which will stress the fish and make it sick. A healthy temp for a betta is 80 - 82, but they can handle up to about 85 - 86 safely if need be.

I'm glad your fish is better... might want to toss the bettafix out so you're not tempted to "play with it" in the future. I have found that and a few other meds to be completely useless.

Flashygrrl

Mini-Hydors are preset to 78, so there's no need to be messing with them. Just have a thermometer in the tank that you're checking every so often and you should be good :)

monapica

Thanks to both of you for replying... It's good to know that the mini heater is already pre-set, so it won't go over a certain temperature. As for the meds, I am avoiding anything but fungus clear at all costs- I don't want to use anything unnecessary and risk sickness of death of my fish. Anyway, he's doing just fine, just as well as when I first got him (almost 2 months ago). I think the main problem before may have been with water temperature, but now I'm using the heater, and as always, changing water regularly, so hopefully fin rot will no longer be an issue.

westpoison

Check out this thread. Teaches you how to diagonise and cure fin rot. http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15945

fishiness

hi
i saw this pasted on a filipino board
(not that I'm filipino, so I'm lucky it was in as much english as it was)
Methylene Blue. Read ingredient dapat Methylene Blue kasi iba me Copper Sulfate tepok. Now use as directed pero pagdipa madilim you can add more. Basta Methlene Blue ok iyan.

Next betadine in cotton. Pisa mo. Cotton should be dry. Swab affected affected kasi basta fungus iyan dead tiisue na. You remove it quickly. Avoidly eyes gills. Pwede fin skin only.

Add a little salt.

Methy Blue will kill good bacteria so separate it pail and use new clean cotton fiber sa ohf.

3-5 days ok na.

After that WC and return old cotton fiber good bacteria. Add salt again. No more meth Blue.

if you can figure out what they're talking about you'll be ok :D
the other thing is that I read people saying that no matter what you do regarding fin rot, you have to be careful because the erythromycin or other chemicals you decide to use can totally botch up your tank, so if you go natural, or can go natural, you're probably better off

it's funny, when i was in London once I was thinking to get my ear pierced (cartilage not lobe) and they said to clean it all you need is salt water, so it's kind of funny thinking about fish rot cause well, they live in salt water, I wonder if fish in salt water get fish rot

(then again if i pierced my ear cartilage no way I would use just salt water, it's Dial and Bactine for a good American) :P