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Betta's Fin Rot Won't Heal After Two Months in Medicated + Salted Quarantine


Boulder_Betta
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Ever since I brought my halfmoon betta home (thinking of naming him Michelangelo or something like that) from Aquashella Dallas '22, he immediately started harassing the cardinals, shrimp and guppies in my 29 gallon tank which strained and damaged his fins, so I put him in his current temporary 3-gallon cycled quarantine tank with a sponge filter, heater set to 78 (now 81), no decorations/plants, and freshwater salt and API erythromycin. I tried to use a pH neutralizer because it was at 6.2-6.6 ppm, but because its effects only lasted a day or so unlike advertised, I haven't really been giving him that since, because that seemed to be the turning point from healing going back to more damage- then (back from his 29G residence) vs now below. Ammonia and nitrites at zero, nitrates at a constant ~15, GH around 130, and KH at 50. At this point, all of the medications and additives I've used have been a big waste of money, and I'm really trying to avoid Methylene Blue, just because I don't have the time for daily water changes since I've worked my schedule around reliance on the beneficial bacteria, which been highly trustworthy in all of my tanks thus far. Any suggestions on what I can do to affordably heal him until he's ready to go back in the community 29, or a personal 5-gallon? (Note: I also have a 10-gallon with constant 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, but there's 3 pea puffers in there, so I do have a last resort ready for him, at the cost of starting a war in the now-peaceful tank.)

Screenshot 2022-11-07 9.26.36 PM.png

Screenshot 2022-11-07 9.24.13 PM.png

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Well sadly first of all seems he'll have to be solo in a tank due to his aggressive personality from this point forward- stress from chasing other fish helping to cause the rot. I've actually not treated finrot on a Betta before as thankfully my rescues did not have it. 

Personally I've had better experience with Kanaplex in healing most of the issues with my fish let alone Betta. If you want to go medication route that's what I'd do next. 

If not, fin rot is typically bacterial and often due to water quality. So I'd be on a regular water change schedule 1x a day 10-20%, resalt and I'd invest in Indian Almond Leaves which IMO are a MUST for Betta tanks anyway. I get my subscription ordered from Amazon- Boil a leaf or 2 in a stockpot and let them soak- then use that water in my water change routine. Make sure his tank is no less than 80 degrees and feed high quality Betta food. Make sure he can't see his reflection (more stress if he's flaring a lot) and there's nothing in the tank that can cause damage. 

Understand too, don't know how far you were from Aquashella distance wise and where your Betta breeder came from- but I've taken to only getting Betta from local breeders because they are raised in your water. This Betta may have been raised in totally different water and the change was a shock to its system. If you have contact information for who you bought the Betta from I'd contact them and get their water parameters and recommendations. 

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On 11/7/2022 at 8:48 PM, Boulder_Betta said:

Ever since I brought my halfmoon betta home (thinking of naming him Michelangelo or something like that) from Aquashella Dallas '22, he immediately started harassing the cardinals, shrimp and guppies in my 29 gallon tank which strained and damaged his fins, so I put him in his current temporary 3-gallon cycled quarantine tank with a sponge filter, heater set to 78 (now 81), no decorations/plants, and freshwater salt and API erythromycin. I tried to use a pH neutralizer because it was at 6.2-6.6 ppm, but because its effects only lasted a day or so unlike advertised, I haven't really been giving him that since, because that seemed to be the turning point from healing going back to more damage- then (back from his 29G residence) vs now below. Ammonia and nitrites at zero, nitrates at a constant ~15, GH around 130, and KH at 50. At this point, all of the medications and additives I've used have been a big waste of money, and I'm really trying to avoid Methylene Blue, just because I don't have the time for daily water changes since I've worked my schedule around reliance on the beneficial bacteria, which been highly trustworthy in all of my tanks thus far. Any suggestions on what I can do to affordably heal him until he's ready to go back in the community 29, or a personal 5-gallon? (Note: I also have a 10-gallon with constant 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, but there's 3 pea puffers in there, so I do have a last resort ready for him, at the cost of starting a war in the now-peaceful tank.)

Screenshot 2022-11-07 9.26.36 PM.png

Screenshot 2022-11-07 9.24.13 PM.png

Unfortuanetly, a lot of long fin bettas tend to have fin rot easily because of the long fins. Its going to happen often even with other fish or no fish. 

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He might be just be so stressed. 2 months is a really long time to be treating with meds and salt. If he had an actual infection it would be gone by now. 

Also it’s possible he didn’t have fin rot but just injured fins. And he hasn’t had the right environment to heal. 

Honestly I would stop and focus on making him have a enriching place to recover.
Get him a hiding hole, like floating log, stop medication, keep up small water changes to keep the water chemistry correct and feed more. Add some plants. He looks a lot skinnier, and I think some people tend to underfeed out of caution and he needs the extra nutrients to regrow his fins. And needs to not have his body struggling against drugs and salt. Right now his environment sounds like there’s nothing to make him feel safe or any enrichment. Betta fish love to hide and explore. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So… when I was doing water changes recently, I was cleaning the filter when I found out why the meds weren’t working: I completely forgot to remove the carbon. I removed it and his fins are healing much faster now and his personality is so much better, and so haven’t added any more meds/salt. 

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