# If it's not one thing, it's another... fin rot and head standing questions



## FlightsOfAngels (Oct 25, 2005)

I've recently become a Betta-phile, though my interest in them is strictly for pet purposes, not breeding. I'm perfectly content with my $3.47 Walmart Bettas, because those little guys need good homes too 

Anyway, here are my problems, and I'm hoping somebody can help me out here:

First, my beautiful dark blue male, Kevin, had a little bit of fin rot when I got him about 2 months ago. It wasn't on the tips of his fins, but rather, it started at the very base of his dorsal fin, right where it joins his body. It was a small spot a little bigger than a pin head. It got a little bigger, then suddenly, the whole front part of his fin turned loose from his body. Then he started showing signs of true fin rot, and his fins look just terrible. 

He lives in his own 2 gallon aquarium, and I've been pretty meticulous about keeping his water clean since I got him, which is why I can't figure out why this stubborn rot won't go away. I've started doing a full water change every 2 days, and I've taken the substrate out of the bottom of the tank to make it easier to siphon out the poo and uneaten food (I do that twice each day). I have started putting about 1/4 teaspoon of aquarium salt in his tank to try to ward off bacteria, and I started treating him with Betta-fix 4 days ago. None of this seems to be helping. His fins look worse now than they did last week. He's lost about 1/4 of his fin length. He seems healthy otherwise, and is still eating like a piggy. Any ideas on how to treat this nasty, stubborn fin rot situation? I bought some Maracyn-Two, but I haven't used it yet. If I can find another way to treat him besides antibiotics, I'd like to do that . I'm not a big fan of antib's.

Problem 2: My beautiful pink female, Narcissa, is new to my fish menagerie, so it's sort of hard to tell what is "normal" behavior for her. She seems to swim with her tail and dorsal fins clamped most of the time, though she can flare them. She doesn't seem to notice Kevin in the tank next to her, and she hasn't exhibited any of the flaring behavior that my other female does. She pretty much ignores everybody, and would prefer to hang out at the bottom of the tank and stare at her reflection in the plastic... She spends a lot of time sort of standing on her head, "kissing" her reflection (hence the name... Narcissa). Now, I know they all have their own distinct personalities (and anybody who says fish don't have personality has obviously never owned a Betta), but I've never seen a fish stare at herself this much. The floating on her head is what bothers me the most. She eats and swims, but I'd say 50% of the day, she's floating with her tail in the "air". Do you think she could have something wrong with her? Swim bladder disorder? Some weird, exotic Betta disease? Help?

If brevity is the soul of wit, I am sadly witless tonight. Congrats if you've made it this far, and thanks for any help you might be able to give.

Jennifer


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## kelicom (Sep 27, 2005)

Hi Jennifer

Is her body arched? In other words, with her tail pointed down, does her body arch in a curve? If so, I've seen this before, and it's usually a sign of both sickness and fear. Perhpas the latter simply comes with feeling vulnerable because they are sick, but a few females that I got from Petco (before I learned how bad they are) all did this, and two of them died within a week of taking them home. The third one I treated the whole tank (10 gallon shared with another betta) with ick twice, and then I put her in a smaller, separate tank (2 1/2 gallon) where she is now. The first day, she spent either hiding or head pointed down, body arched. I think she was terrified. A large, aggressive male was right next to her so I carded the tanks so she couldn't see him, and she did start swimming around more. I am truly perplexed by this disease however--I am as frustrated as you about the idea of giving more anti biotics as my experience with them or betta fix has not been good. 

The indian almond tea works very well with fin rot however--I got it from ebay from a Thai breeder, but I believe you can get it from other places as well (I know the IBC sells a liquid version, but I prefer the actual leaves). I treated one of my bettas that got in a fight and had his fins shredded, and he went from almost no fins to glorious long, aqua fins within three weeks. This stuff is basically a preventive--it acts as a microbial, anit viral so your betta can heal. The Thai breeder who sold them to me said that when he gets a sick betta he isolates them in water with a lot of the indian almond tea, keeps it covered for about ten days, only feeding small amounts of food once a day. I have not tried this yet, but if this last female doesn't show improvement, I'll give it a shot.

I wish I could help more. Some of these fish diseases are really stubborn, and sometimes the medicines are worse than the disease itself (in terms of their affect on the fish). But if you find out what's wrong with your girl, please come back and let us know.

Good luck.


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## FlightsOfAngels (Oct 25, 2005)

The female is the one who stands on her head, and her body is always straight. She just seems to move slower and more gracefully than my other female (who is VERY healthy... and has an attitude like you wouldn't believe), and she likes standing on her head. 

My male is the one with the fin rot, and I found a "pinhole" about halfway up one of his fins today, so it's obviously still getting worse. I broke down and gave him the antibiotic to see if I can get it cleared up. I'm pretty attached to the little guy, and I'd hate to lose him


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## solar-ton (Aug 15, 2005)

fyi if ye cant get the tea leaves then a small dosage of melafix and pimafix might work marycyn is also good but you need to remove the carbon


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