# betta emergency



## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

Hi,
My betta has lots of fin rot. Before, he didn't have any at all. I did a 25% water change and the next day it had fin rot. Help?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

When in doubt, change water! Also, get a heater if you don't have one. If warm and clean water doesn't work and it keeps advancing, try methylene blue. Post pics. Many other aquarists disagree with this practice, but if the fin rot gets almost up to the body, you can amputate with sterile scissors and put the fish on a plate keeping it moist. I successfully did this and the fish survived the operation. The fin rot went away too. I was about your age when I did it too.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2013)

Keep the water pristine clean with water changes. What are your water parameters? Your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH? There are meds that will treat fin rot and everyone has different options to use. I have to look when I get home at the meds I have and see what one treats fin rot. I will then mention on here. Do not amputate your fish fins by yourself. Matter of fact, don't do it at all.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

use mela fix to treat the fin rot...but make sure there is plenty of aeration in the tank...also make sure that you keep it's temp at 80-82 degrees...

only butchers chop fins...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

lohachata said:


> use mela fix to treat the fin rot...but make sure there is plenty of aeration in the tank...also make sure that you keep it's temp at 80-82 degrees...
> 
> only butchers chop fins...


Untrue. Amputation is a last resort only. Melafix is deadly to bettas.


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## Chard56 (Oct 10, 2010)

As far as I'm conserned anything that ends in "-fix" has tea tree oil in it and will kill most anabantoid fish. I personally supervised Bettamans fin trimming operation on the chat room. I have performed it myself on occassion. It is a last resort before the fin rot reaches the body. After that happens you may as well euthanize the fish. Cutting the affected infected part of the fin off eliminates the infection but leaves the fish open to new ones so it must be disinfected after the operation and kept in medicated water. Disinfecting the area cut with methylene blue and then treating the water with it and aquarium salt will ward of further infections.


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2013)

An anti-fungus will work on fin rot.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Chard56 said:


> As far as I'm conserned anything that ends in "-fix" has tea tree oil in it and will kill most anabantoid fish. I personally supervised Bettamans fin trimming operation on the chat room. I have performed it myself on occassion. It is a last resort before the fin rot reaches the body. After that happens you may as well euthanize the fish. Cutting the affected infected part of the fin off eliminates the infection but leaves the fish open to new ones so it must be disinfected after the operation and kept in medicated water. Disinfecting the area cut with methylene blue and then treating the water with it and aquarium salt will ward of further infections.


Thank you chard. This debate has been going on for a while and it was me vs about 3 or 4 of them when fishyfriends was around. Chard was very helpful and I was very thankful that he supervised it. It was a little scary, but it worked. Meds are usually the 2nd to last resort with me on finrot. They're not needed often, but if they are, do methylene blue. I would definitely say that you should never use malachite green on your fish. It is known to do some nasty stuff to your fish. Read the link I posted about malachite. 
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2013)

Read what I found:

http://www.koivet.com/a_melaleuca_tea_tree_oil_koi_wounds_healing.html


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i am still a firm believer that melafix is fine for treating bettas as well as other labyrinth species...i also believe that those that have issues with it killing or harming their fish do not use it properly...
no disrespect to anyones opinion as we are all entitled to our own...but my 40 years of my personal experiences with hundreds of thousands of fish of many species has provided me with at least a little introspect....
and i still see cutting fins as butchery....kind of like cutting off your babies arm because you don't wish to use the medications suggested for the cut on the hand...but that is just my own personal opinion...
i avoid using malachite green only because i hate the way it stains everything...the only thing i ever use methylene blue for is to prevent fungus on eggs....it just does not treat things like ich very well...it is actually not designed to do so...


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

lol. Methylene blue is only "designed" to stain things. Same with malachite green and many others. They were products of chemists' quest for cheap alternatives to expensive plant dyes like saffron and indigo. But when biologists started using them to stain microscope slides they discovered that certain dyes kill certain organisms and they found a new use as a "medication". Original purpose is pretty irrelevant to usefulness.

My feeling on "potential" carcinogens like meth blue is that they are better than ich like chemo is better than cancer. You can't expect to kill something without using a poison. I'm all for better, safer, more targeted products. But be wary of "safe" and "natural" products like with vague names like ich guard and ich away that want to be used all the time to ward off ich and won't actually kill ich before it kills your fish. I've had good luck with quickcure which was formalin (also a nasty carcinogen) and meth blue on the 2 cases of ich I've had in 30 years of fish keeping, but that isn't much of a sample size.

Be cautious with meth blue and soft water. It will drive your pH up, and of course you can't exactly run a color test. Do post-med water changes in a gradually increasing way to avoid a sudden pH drop.

Have you tried topical stuff. Things like neosporin on a swab rubbed on a fish held out of the water? The koi folks do this stuff all the time, but we (keepers of small tropical fish) use water meds almost exclusively and medicated food rarely.


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## Chard56 (Oct 10, 2010)

Unfortuneately babies arms don't grow back. Cutting a fin is no different than cutting the babies fingernails or hair. The hair, fingernails AND the fin will grow right back. Cutting off a gangrenous toe to save the foot is no different either. Except the toe doesn't grow back. Neither will the foot be ok by not amputating the toe.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Check your water, both tank and tap. A sudden change can trigger all sorts of issues. 

I've never seen a finrot extreme enough to threaten a fish's flesh. But I believe you that they exist. I expect there are lineages that are prone to it. 

But clean water + good nutrition clears up 90% of fin issues in most fish. Get the water clean, the ammonia 0, nitrite 0, pH > 7, and add a little salt and/or the anti-septic of your choice and see if fins stop eroding. Once you stop them from shrinking, you have time. Feed well, keep water clean and fins grow back. 

Its when the fins continue to shrink in clean water that you need meds. Rotate meds alternating with carbon and large water changes until fins stop shrinking. Do a full treatment with the med that works.


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## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

I did a coldwater water change...is that OK? I really dont want to do surgery.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

a coldwater water change ????? your betta needs to be in warm water.78-82 degrees..
your coldwater may well cause it to get ich and it could die as a result....
were it my fish i would increase the temp to 80 degrees..turn up the aeration and add some mela fix...


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## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

Its preset at 76 degrees...


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i would never buy a preset heater...i just don't feel that they could meet the needs of ,ore than a couple of species of fish...one should be able to handle any situation...


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