# Fin Rot



## Maya44 (Sep 10, 2009)

My male betta, Sushi, appears to have a case of fin rot. This is the first time this has happened. He was perfectly fine yesterday -- was actually building a bubble nest for the first time! -- but today all of a sudden there is a huge hole in his tail fin and it looks really ragged. He lives in a 2 gallon bowl in my office, and all I had on hand was aquarium salt and Melafix. I did a 60% water change and added about a teaspoon of the salt and 1 mL of the Melafix. He has nothing in his bowl -- no gravel or plants -- because every time I try to put anything decorative in the bowl he gets sick. He's happiest with just a bowl of clean water so I've given up on a fancy, pretty tank for him. I suction the waste from his bowl twice a day and do a 50% water change once a week. 

Is there anything else I can do to prevent the fin rot from getting any worse? The Melafix bottle says to dose him every day for seven days and then do a 25% water change on the seventh day. Is that correct? The stuff smells so strong and I don't want to overdo it. Would he be better off with an antibiotic? There is so much conflicting information out there on how to treat fin rot so I'm not sure what to do.

I've had Sushi for a little over a year and he's a beautiful fish. I hate to see his fin like this!

Thanks for any and all advice.


----------



## Maya44 (Sep 10, 2009)

Wow, 16 people viewed this thread and not one person can help? I guess I need to find a different forum. Thank you anyway.


----------



## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Maya44 said:


> Wow, 16 people viewed this thread and not one person can help? I guess I need to find a different forum. Thank you anyway.


Melafix, which can be found at Wal-Mart, Petsmart, or Petco is the best treatment for ich and/or fin fot. Try using it with aquarium salt for seven straight days and see what happens.


----------



## Guest (Sep 11, 2009)

cant say much. the stuff i use isnt available in UK.


----------



## jchutch (Sep 8, 2009)

Maya44 said:


> Wow, 16 people viewed this thread and not one person can help? I guess I need to find a different forum. Thank you anyway.



Hi Maya,

I am so sorry you feel that noone can help you with this. I just saw this posting. I just adopted a male betta from a friend and of course it has fin rot. Well here is what you can do:

What I do for early stages of what may be fin/tail rot is daily 25% water changes, temp 78-80F, aquarium salt 1tsp/gal, IAL (Indian almond leaf) and a high protein diet for about 10 days. 

As for Meds...Melafix is supposed to be the best natural for them. Since fin rot is a gram negative bacteria you can also use Jungle Fungus Eliminator and Tetracycline.

Good Luck and keep us posted.
John


----------

