# Fin Rot



## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Hey!

I've seen so much scattered and inconsistent information on fin rot that I'm really unsure of what to take and what to leave for information...so I apologize if this is a rather repetitive topic. 

My veiltail betta (the same one that eats/relocates his sand) also has fin rot. I've been able to keep it at bay with the water changes but it hasn't been growing back at all and he's still losing little bits of his tail (I can see it breaking away). I've been at this for over a month now but it is getting rather frustrating that he hasn't been getting better. 

He's housed in a 2.5gal, heated, filtered tank, with no sharp objects (to my knowledge) that he could hurt himself on. I'm not sure if I should be medicating him or if I should just keep up on the water changes. It's probably about the bottom 1/3 of his tail that is affected, so it's not horribly advanced at this point. If someone with knowledge and/or experience with this could give me some pointers, that would be great. 

Thanks!
Bettalove

Edit: My halfmoon also seems to have developed fin rot. I've been doing regular water changes of about 50% for him since I got him. He's in a slightly smaller tank though. Attack of the fin rot!!!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Add aquarium salt. Add antibacterial medicine.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Fin rot is a bacterial disease that happens when water conditions are poor. As you know, it looks like the fin is literally rotting away. The fish will ultimately be fine, as long as it does not reach the body.

Many people successfully treat it with clean water, higher temperatures and a bit of aquarium salt. If it gets too bad, you may need to resort to using antibacterial medication. You will notice the rotting stop, and the fins begin to regrow when the fish is cured. 

Because it is usually caused by poor water quality, I would recommend more frequent water changes. Test your tank for ammonia and nitrate. If they are high, then that might be the cause of your fish's encounters with fin rot.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

lol That's not really true. Fin rot is cause by a weak immune system and stress plus poor water quality. Both times my bettas have gotten fin rot, they were in VERY clean water. Has your betta had any injuries to his fins lately? You may want to take him out of the water and take an q tip and swab the fin rot place with some betta revive which has methlyn blue and malachite green in it.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

How is anything I said untrue? It is *usually* caused by poor water conditions. Poor water conditions cause a lowered immune system, and stress. I've treated for fin rot on my bettas before.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

The other thing to keep in mind is that once a fish has experienced finrot they are more susceptible to it in the future than they would otherwise be. I was given a very sick betta. I nursed him back to health, but I fight finrot constantly.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

let me reword it. It's not ALWAYS true. Are you sure they're more susceptible to fin rot after they've gotten it? The ones I've had didn't get fin rot again.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2012)

Bettas are generally hardy fish which don't get sick very often. My halfmoon betta has not had anything wrong with him since I got him. Now he is having some white stuff on him but it keeps disappearing. I do have to clean the betta tanks, but if the white stuff comes back and stays I will post a pic and description and see what I can do about it.

I love bettas.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Bettas are awesome! If your male betta was in filthy water, he may have gill burn and fin burn which leads to fin rot.


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2012)

Then I will change the water and see if that will help the white thing that comes and goes on my halfmoon betta.

Sorry to hijack your thread BettaLove1.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your advice. 

Lfs guy said that aquarium salt doesn't do much because it doesn't kill the bacteria and just raises the pH....? He said to use bettafix instead. I've heard that aquarium salt is good though, but I have learned that the lfs people are moderately unreliable at times. Also, I've heard bad things about bettafix. So confusing sometimes!

Bml, I'll up the water changes and see if that helps out for now. I've noticed that the halfmoon's fin rot is progressing at a moderate rate so he's the one I'm most worried about for now. Last I checked the ammonia was 0ppm and nitrate was in the safe zone, I don't remember the number though but it wasn't crazy high. I'll test tonight and let you know where it's at. 

Fishpunk, I definitely did not know that so thank you! That's a great thing to be aware of.

No worries Angelclown. 

Thanks again everyone, and if anyone has more advice I'm definitely interested to hear!


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

BettaLove1, what I did when I had a betta with fin rot, was I changed the water to keep it clean, then I did salt dips. I think I did one or two salt dips a day. Since the bacteria are external, it does kill them. 

What are salt dips?
Salt dips are when you dip the fish in a very salty brine solution. Mix in 1/2 cup of aquarium salt with 1 gallon of water. Put the fish in the water. The fish will be OK for about a minute in the solution, then it will start to lay on its side. As soon as it does this, it is best to take it out, and put it back in the tank. The fish will be ok in a few minutes. The fish, being a more complex animal, is able to survive for a few minutes in the water before showing problems, the bacteria, however, can not. 

If I remember right, I had a really bad case of it on a betta. The rot stopped after the first dip, and the fins started to show growth after about a week. I would dip it once or twice every day for 5 days if I were you.

You could also go for medications, but if there are other fish in the tank, that's not the best option.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

I like the sound of the salt dips. I think I'll give those a try on my halfmoon since his fin rot is progressing so quickly. Sounds like a pretty easy to do quick fix! Both of them are in their own tanks right now, so if I need to do medication I'll be okay. I'm going to be using that as a bit of a last resort I think. 

I'll pick up some aquarium salt today or tomorrow so I can start the salt dips as soon as possible. 

One more question : Should I be disinfecting the tanks because of the bacteria? Or if I keep the water super clean would this be enough to stop it from coming back?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

no! DON'T ABSOLUTELY DON'T USE BETTAFIX MELAFIX OR PIMAFIX OR ANYTHING WITH FIX AT THE END OF IT! The fix stuff WILL kill your betta if even slightly overdosed. Putting in salt adds electrolytes. If you do a salt bath, MAKE SURE that you use AQUARIUM SALT or Epsom salt. If it gets too bad, amputation may be the way to go.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Betta man, I think that the harmful effects of those products is grossly over exaggerated. I have done 150% doses of Melafix on a betta. He didn't even react to it. Bettafix was specifically designed as a lower dose version of Melafix, since it is too difficult to measure small amounts of Melafix for a 1 gallon bowl.

Over dosing any drug is typically a bad idea. If you over dose Maracyn, you will have the same problems. If you dose Melafix correctly, you will not see problems with your fish.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

It's not good at all for bettas. I would recommend betta revive or treating your fish with medicines that have garlic in them.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

No medication is "good" for your fish at all. Medications are designed to kill things. Given the proper dose, it will kill the bad stuff, but not the fish. I think the problem with Melafix is that people are just stupid with it. I've heard many people say that Melafix is harmless, and that it's difficult to overdose. I have a feeling people overdose it, and then claim that Melafix killed their fish. 

I know people say that it hurts the labyrinth organ, but I've used it on both bettas and gouramis without harm. Use only the recommended dose, and your fish will be fine.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Here's what I did with my betta. I took bettafix, did the correct dosage in a small bowl and gave my fish a two hour bath.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

I did a salt bath on both of my bettas and it went quite well. The halfmoon was a bit lethargic before it and since he's been a lot happier and more lively than before which I think is a good thing. I've been away for most of the last couple days so I haven't been able to repeat the salt bath but I'm going to go at it a few more times this weekend/week. I'll use medication if need be, but as of right now the salt bath seems to have helped a bit. 

Thanks


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

good! Hope he gets better.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Update on my halfmoon...

I think he's actually chomping at his own fins. He's missing big chunks out of his top fin and his tail fin and it looks like the little bones (I'd imagine?) in his tail fin are sticking out the back. I don't imagine that there's anything I can do to prevent other than keep the water super clean and hope he doesn't get fin rot? It is so frustrating because he had such beautiful full fins when I got him.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2012)

I hope your halfmoon gets better. Maybe he is stressed, I think that they would nip their own fins if they are stressed. What do you have him in? Maybe put him in a bigger tank and see if that will help with him nipping his own fins. Some if not most like bigger tanks, maybe put him in a 10 gallon by himself. My doubletail betta loves being in the 10 gallon tank that I have. My halfmoon loves his tank, it is either a one gallon or 2.5 gallon.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

they also tail bite when they are bored.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

bettafix is like a 1/6 dose of a melafix. Because it is "natural" people assume it is safe, but any oil is risk to the air-breathing organs of betta. Natural does not equal safe, plants, insects and animals all product toxic substances to protect themselves from other living things. melafix works because it is anti-fungal and anti-septic. But no med is without risk.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks for the advice  I put him into my 5 (5.5?) gal fluval chi that he's quite enjoying now (I made a lid for it....so no jumping risk!). He's sharing the tank with a pair of blue japanese swordtail guppies that he's getting along with pretty well so far. Nibbled on one of them, but they get along great whenever I'm looking so I'm going to leave them be for now. If things get worse I'll separate them though. He seems to have stopped nipping his own fins which I'm super happy about. I'm keeping a close eye on him for now though until he's for sure settled in with his other little friends.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2012)

I think that you have solved your problem, your betta wanted friends and you provided that for him. Now he is happy and I hope that he stays happy with his little friends.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I'm always reluctant to ascribe "friendship" to fish. You may see it in large carp and cichlids, but, IMO, many fish may prefer to be left alone. However, there is no doubt they can get bored. Watch every combo of betta and other fish carefully. Problems can happen both way (picking, being picked on, eating all the food, not getting any food). But even strange combos often do work out well.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

I've been keeping a pretty close eye on them and the guppies keep their distance from the betta for the most part. The good thing is that the guppies can get into the plant box in the bottom, which I think the betta would have difficulties fitting into, so they have a bit of a hiding place that he doesn't. I've noticed that I have to feed them a specific way because one of the guppies is a huge pig, the other is a bit shy, and the betta bullies his way in to eat everything...so feeding is a bit more tedious than I like but I watch to make sure each of them gets some food. Luckily, they don't pick on each other at dinner time. 

Thanks again for the advice, I'm glad everyone is getting along now and they're happy and healthy


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