Fin rot or not?

[Tracy Y]

Hey all, I’m trying to determine if my Betta has fin rot. His dorsal fin appears to be deteriorating and has a fuzzy texture, however the tips don’t seem to be effected. I’ve had him for 6 months and he’s in a heavily planted 7 gallon tank by himself. I do water changes and testing using the API master kit every 2 weeks and haven’t had any issues with water parameters, which are below. I showed a pic to the folks at my local fish shop and they said they thought it was due to color change, so not sure what to think. Thanks in advance! 

• pH - 7.8
• Nitrates - 0
• Hardness - Around 35
• Nitrite - 0
• Ammonia - 0
• KH/Buffer - 40
• Water Temperature - 79

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Tracy Y

[Hally M.]

I can’t see the fuzzy edges that you talk about. But I would say it looks like the early stages of fin rot. Causes can always vary. If water parameters are always at good numbers than the source of stress is probably something else. I feel like bettas especially have a hard time avoiding fin rot. Maybe there’s heat fluctuations, or his diet isn’t meeting all of his needs, maybe he was just bred to have a weaker immune system. Depending on where you purchased him that can always play a part in how they’ll live and grow as you care for them. Another theory is he could be tail biting. It’s hard to tell sometimes. When one of my bettas got fin rot I assumed he was just bored and needed more stimulation, his fins looked just like that. But after the deterioration progressed I realized it was definitely fin rot. How long has he looked like this? And what’s his diet?

[Tracy Y]

Appreciate the response! I noticed his condition this past week, about 4-5 days ago. I got him from a small local fish store and feed him 4 Xtreme betta pellets with a small amount of frozen blood worms daily. Also add an almond leaf or two to the tank every month. Do you think it would be wise to quarantine him and treat with salt? Or maybe start by cleaning the tank thoroughly and add a fresh almond leaf? 

[Hally M.]

I think it’d be best to treat with salt and quarantine just to be safe, and add in a 30% daily water change for the little guy.

how has he been acting? Does he seem bothered? Less energetic than usual?  Laying near the bottom or near the surface more than normal. Seems different in any way?

[Tracy Y]

He’s been active with no changes in behavior. I’ll try your recommendation- thanks so much for the advice! 

[nabokovfan87]

It's definitely not normal for the fin to do that. I would suggest treatment as well. 

On 11/22/2022 at 1:09 PM, Tracy Y said:

Also add an almond leaf or two to the tank every month. Do you think it would be wise to quarantine him and treat with salt? Or maybe start by cleaning the tank thoroughly and add a fresh almond leaf? 

both!  Salt and almond leaves will do different things for this instance.

If you have something like Kanaplex, that's the med you'd want to start with for treating this.
Salt = helps with illness recovery and external issues
Almond leaves help with fungus issues (secondary concern with fin rot, often can happen)

On 11/22/2022 at 12:27 PM, Hally M. said:

I feel like bettas especially have a hard time avoiding fin rot. Maybe there’s heat fluctuations, or his diet isn’t meeting all of his needs, maybe he was just bred to have a weaker immune system.

Agreed. If water tests fine, keep nitrates low (10 or lower) if you can.  Then you would just want to verify temp and flow isn't causing stress on the fish.

Edited November 22, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[BAT]

On the second photo it looks like it has reached the body (see pink where dorsal fin meets body). I might also start kanaplex in addition to salt. I have had this happen to my betta with that kind of erosion. There is an article on titrations salt on the AC blog.