robm74

I stopped the Cipro after day 5 on Sunday but unfortunately, things seem to have gotten worse. Our son found him on his side at the bottom of the tank this morning, breathing heavily - which was very upsetting for him (see pictures) I did a quick water test and found the ammonia slightly elevated, so very quickly changed out 50 percent of the water and changed the carbon filter. This got him off the bottom of the tank and he's now hanging out at the top, right alongside the filter housing. Not sure how much time Curly has, or if we have done everything we can - he hasn't not been eating either. Will try the Garlic Guard mixed up with his pellets to see if that helps. Think there's anything else we can try here?

Hi again. So we just completed five days of the Aqua Cipro treatment as you indicated. For the past two days, he has had some trouble eating - he ate a couple of Northfin Beta Bits but about 15 minutes later spit them back out. Today he doesn't seem to want to eat at all. Not sure if the medicine is tiring him out. See pictures below - you can see his head area is losing color. Do you recommend continuing the Aqua Cipro for the last two days, totaling 7 days of treatment - and then do the Epsom Salt, or should we stop the Cipro for now at 5 days and go into the Epsom salt baths? And for the Epsom salt baths, how much should we use and for how long should he be put in there for? Do we use the hospital tank and fill to 2 gallons? Thanks! -Rob

Hi again, I got the Aqua Cipro and Epsom salt ready to go. For the Epsom salt, I recall you saying create a "hospital" tank filled with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt, 2 gallons of water, 15 minutes a day. How many days should I do this for? As for Aqua Cipro, the directions on the bottle are a bit confusing. It says dissolve one tablet (for 2 gallons of water) in a bit of water. So I'm guessing if I have a 2 gallon hospital tank, I dissolve the tablet in a bowl of water, then pour that dissolved medicine solution into the 2 gallon hospital tank. Then, I take the fish out of his regular tank, and put him into the hospital tank for about an hour - and then put him back into his regular tank. Repeat this for 5-7 days, but not adding or changing the Aqua Cipro solution that's in the hospital tank, right? The label also says to do "daily water changes" - I'm guessing that's on his regular tank after he swims in the Cipro tank, but how much water should I change? And as you noted before, do the Epsom salt baths first, then do the Cipro, right? Thank you for clarifying all of this! Rob

Hello! So we have held off on the Epsom salt baths and the Aqua-Cipro, as we wanted to do a water change - about 25% - to see if anything stabilized. Can you take a quick look at this: https://photos.app.goo.gl/L36VL5Yg87p1nfFu5 Excuse the off key birthday singing - today was Curly's 1st "Birthday" (we brought him home a year ago). He seems to still be wanting to eat and trying to be active, but still has trouble swimming and doesn't seem like the fins are getting better, but maybe no worse. Would you still recommend the Epsom salt baths for two days followed by the Aqua-Cipro based on what you are seeing here? Thank you!

Okay should I do the Epsom salt bath before getting into the Aqua Cipro or okay to do at same time? I just tested the water: Nitrates and nitrites are 0, pH is 7.6 (this is how it's always been), ammonia looks to be 0.25 ppm - will do a 25% water change tomorrow.

Okay, I will try the Epsom salt bath in a bucket. But do you have any further thoughts or recommendations on the fins? I've attached photos here - may be a bit hard to see, but you can make out that they are pretty rotted away and the tail fin is sometimes clamped. What could be causing this? How do we get it to stop and rejuvenate? The fish still is eating, is sometimes spitting out the pellets though and then we try again and then he keeps it down. Swimming wise, he tries to swim to the bottom of the tank sometimes but just kind of floating back up horizontally. Again, thank you!

For the Epsom salt would that mean taking him out of the tank and doing it? As for swim bladder, yes it could be but would that cause the fin rot?

Hi again. I have an update. I completed the course of Kanaplex plus Focus on Wednesday. It is hard to tell but I dont think the fish got any worse but not sure he got better either. Since I stopped feeding the Kanaplex infused food, his energy level has picked up but the fins all around still seem dangerously eroded. He is still eating fine but a few times over the past week would spit up a pellet. As you can see from these pics and short video from here pasted below he has a hard time swimming. If he tries to swim to the bottom of the tank to chase food for example he struggles and then kind of floats back up. Any idea as to where to go from here? If you recall, we tried Kanaplex and Jungle Fozz prior to this round of Kanaplex, Cocus ana food pellets. Thank you for all of your help. Pics here https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sb11Yj49CAukZXkt6

When I do this, do I keep the carbon filter out for the length of the treatment? How long should I feed him this mix for? Is one week ok? As you can see here, he is still not looking so hot: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EMDYCqcUGLWWoyW47

Got it, thanks. As for the Dosing in Food, is it the same whether I use the Focus or not? Do I dose the Kanaplex and/or Focus based on the 2.5 gallons in the tank in the food recipe? Not sure if he will eat 1 tbsp of food - as we only usually feed him a few pellets at a time. Do we make the mix in some sort of bowl then scoop it into the tank? As for the leaf hammock, we bought one a few months back but he just didn't seem interested. We can try again.

Okay, I will give this a shot. But are you recommending the Focus too? If so, it's a bit tricky to get based on what I am seeing online. Would you also recommend leaving everything out of the tank as I have it, or putting back in the ceramic log, silk flowers or anything else so he has someplace to "hide"? And as for food, we had been rotating between Northfin Betta Bits and frozen San Francisco Bay Spirulina Shrimp, but as he got sicker, we backed off the shrimp because it was hard for him to chase down and was fouling the water. So, we've just been doing the betta bits. Any recommendation here with food? Thanks again! Rob

Hi Colu, I hope you are having a nice holiday. We are back and did a water change as you recommended, vacuumed the gravel and put in a new filter element. As we were cleaning out the tank, the water still looked blue and there was some fizzing - it still looks a bit blue - so I'm guessing the medicine(s) are still in the tank in some amounts. We heard from the person who fed him during the time we were gone that he ate okay. However, he still doesn't look so good, his fins still seem jagged and wasting away. Here are a couple of photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/meJsQJFFxVuGkb9C7 I've also taken away the ceramic log from the bottom of the tank, just in case something is leeching off there. So, he's in a bare tank - just the heater, aerator and filter. Any other thoughts? He's still eating okay, but can't really swim and stays at the top of the tank.

We have someone who is feeding him daily. Since the last medicine dose and water change was last Friday, do you recommend we have that person who is feeding him drop in the carbon filter tomorrow or still ok to leave it out until we return?

Got it, thanks. Do I keep the carbon filter out of the aerator while we are gone, since we are doing another dose of the kanaplex and jungle fungus clear? Or, do we dose now and just slip the filter in before we leave? Just a bit concerned to go a week without a filter. We will have someone coming to feed him so maybe she can drop the filter in 2-3 days in after we dose today?

Tomorrow will be day 5 and I am following your schedule for both the Jungle and Kanaplaex. Do I do the 25% water change and then add the last doses? Also, I will be going away for the holiday and will only have someone coming to feed him for 7 days. They arent equipped to do anything else like water changes. Does your recommendation change at all since I wont be able to do any water change for a week after the 25 percent change tomorrow? Is it ok for the residula medicine to stay in there for the week? Thanks!

Okay, I already did this with the hot water. I was concerned there was some sort of bacteria that we couldn't get out of the tank despite doing a bunch of water changes and one Kanaplex treatment. I realize this un-cycles the tank. As for the treatment schedule you laid out up top - for the dual approach of Kanaplex and Furan (I substituted Jungle Fungus Clear for Furan as I couldn't source it), I started with Day 1 yesterday and did both Kanaplex and Fungus Clear. The Fungus Clear box differs from your Furan recommendation above. It says to repeat the second dose in 4 days. Should I follow what the box says? (I used 1/4 tablet - because one tablet treats 10 gallons, I have a 2.5 gallon tank) Your Kanaplex timing aligns with what's on the box. Thanks! -Rob

I am in the process of this right now. I got him into a 1/2 gallon holding tank, and am cleaning everything in hot water in his original tank. Will refill his original (2.5 gallon) tank with fresh water and maybe just his gravel, log, heater and aerator (no filter) so he has something familiar and then treat with Jungle Fungus Clear and Kanaplex. Let me know if anything doesn't sound right.

Thanks for the info. So it's okay to do another course of the Kanaplex - finish the treatment - and then do another antibiotic (like Furan). Do the Kanaplex first? Here are some new pictures if you have any change in your thoughts: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oaPmaLjbBC39rMR1A He seems to be having some trouble eating - he is spitting out a pellet or two after trying to chew them. Thanks - here are some updated photos. Any other advice from your end? https://photos.app.goo.gl/oaPmaLjbBC39rMR1A He seems to be having some trouble eating - he is spitting out a pellet or two after trying to chew them.

We weren't able to get him a hospital tank, so we went with the three day course of Kanaplex in his current environment. The third dose was given yesterday (not via food, just dropping it into the tank). Main reason for this is that it seems the fish is having trouble eating. He wants to eat but sometimes is spitting out the pellets a couple of minutes after we give them. He's also having more trouble swimming and as you can see, the fin situation is getting worse.Are we pretty much at the end here, sadly? Or, is there another treatment to try? If there is anything else to treat with, we can try something as the hospital tank.New pictures here:https://photos.app.goo.gl/rMUQXNcbY5FWC3Do8Thank you all for your continued help.

Okay, we will look to do that. Do you know how we use the Kanaplex, as it's not clear from the package instructions: Should we do a water change first, then add the appropriate amount to the tank with the fish in it? Or do we take the fish out into a hospital tank and apply the treatment there? My tank is a 2.5 gallon Aqueon Mini-Bow.

Hello everyone. Things were getting better with Curly but over the last few days, things have taken a turn for the worse.See just taken pics and short video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6WPDsYcKLWjWGeJt6As you can see, the fins are not in good shape - concerned that once they get to his body, it's all over.We have never medicated him - tried just focusing on water quality and food - but wonder if it's time to try. I have Kanaplex and API Fin Cure ready to go. If we didn't add a medicine, our plan was to do another 25-40% water change tomorrow (we did a 60-70% water change yesterday).He is almost exclusively hanging out at the top of the tank. When we feed him, if the food pellets drop he tries to go after them by diving. He definitely looks like he's having trouble swimming. When we shut his light off, he does try to swim around a bit - this is usual behavior for him; maybe he sees his reflection better. The breathing doesn't seem too labored though.His demeanor doesn't seem too bad, except he's just sitting at the top of the tank. When our son comes into the room, he does respond.As for parameters, I checked everything yesterday. pH was about 7.6 but this is consistent, 0 nitrites, possibly slightly elevated nitrates but hard to tell on the color chart, ammonia looked to be 0 to .25 ppm. Temperature is about 78-80.One other variable: A few weeks back we started feeding him San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp. He really likes it, but it's hard to manage in the tank - anything that he doesn't eat floats around and to the bottom and it's hard to remove. We're thinking this may be leading to a change in tank parameters and leading to the fin rot.Any advice here? Should we start a medication and if so, which one? Thank you!

Hi everyone. We held off on the KanaPlex with Focus because Curly seemed to be getting better. He still is hanging out at the top of the tank most of the time but also is showing more activity and swimming better. Fin growth and coloring appears to be better but I assume that it's a long process. Others have pointed out a possible tumor or cyst behind his left gill - as well as a bulge towards the caudal fin (swim bladder?) It's not clear though. So is this group's consensus to still try the antibiotic or hold off?

Thanks for the additional replies. Live plants: Correct, we don't have any in the tank - and it's safe to assume it's not cycled. Damage to himself: We don't have a mirror, but when we turn off the light in the tank it creates a reflection on the sides and he does seem to act like there's another betta staring back at him. We haven't noticed him nipping at his fins but we could try the mirror too. I did get a shipment of Indian Almond Leaf and haven't added it, yet. Just was a bit concerned - I've read a couple of reviews where the IAL killed someone's fish possibly due to a toxic batch? But if there isn't a lot of risk there, we may try. I've also held off with the KanaPlex and Focus, just because things aren't getting worse - though they aren't getting much better either. The dorsal and tail fins seem to be regrowing a bit but the ventrals not at all. We've added San Francisco Bay Brand fish food to his diet - frozen SPIRULINA brine shrimp. This is what the store had. Is spirulina okay for bettas? https://www.sfbb.com/Spirulina-Brine-Shrimp_41.php.html Attached are updated photos and a video here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UYXbsdEQYCKWgiS36 There looks to be some sort of bulge behind his left gill? Thanks again for the help!

Thanks for the advice. We are planning to start the Kanaplex tomorrow. It doesn't look like the fins have gotten worse on Curly since we started the more frequent water changes, but he hasn't gotten much better either. If you see the "before" and "current" photos attached, what's most concerning is that his entire front fins - just below his "chin" are almost all gone. Those are the reddish ones.Do you know if these will grow back? We're operating on a hunch that these front fins allow him to steer and better maintain buoyancy, because when he does swim he can't really navigate well.Check out these videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9BvveSTXJQLjApmq5Especially the first one - both from today - where he tries to swim down to the bottom of the tank but kind of flips over. Not sure if you see anything in these that we are missing.

Also, on the advice of some I purchased frozen "Spirulina Brine Shrimp." Is that ok to feed him? I wasn't sure if the Spirulina is okay to give Curly.