Help my poor fishy!

[Sarah022]

Hi,

I got a free betta fish at a college event in September. Since I've gotten him, I've treated him for Cotton Fin Fungus once and what I thought was recurring fin rot several times from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I used aquarium salt and bettafix (the bettafix actually made it worse), then Jungle Fungus Clear Fizz Tabs. I saw little to no improvement, so I let him be from the end of December until now. I was gone for a week and my roommate was feeding my fish, when I came back he appeared to be blind and wouldn't eat his food! That was Saturday. Weirdly enough, he is seeing normal again (yay!) but his fins still look tattered and wrinkled, and there appears to be a spot missing from his tail fin. I don't know what to do anymore! I really like this fish (his name is Narwhal) and want him to be healthy! He is in a 3.5 gallon filtered tank with a heater. Please help Narwhal!

 

[Guppylover3x]

Hi,

I got a free betta fish at a college event in September. Since I've gotten him, I've treated him for Cotton Fin Fungus once and what I thought was recurring fin rot several times from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I used aquarium salt and bettafix (the bettafix actually made it worse), then Jungle Fungus Clear Fizz Tabs. I saw little to no improvement, so I let him be from the end of December until now. I was gone for a week and my roommate was feeding my fish, when I came back he appeared to be blind and wouldn't eat his food! That was Saturday. Weirdly enough, he is seeing normal again (yay!) but his fins still look tattered and wrinkled, and there appears to be a spot missing from his tail fin. I don't know what to do anymore! I really like this fish (his name is Narwhal) and want him to be healthy! He is in a 3.5 gallon filtered tank with a heater. Please help Narwhal!

Hello and welcome to the forum. It sounds like your Betta is suffering from finrot if you say he has frayed fins. This is what I’d treat for. Is there any other symptoms? Sometimes adding medicine can do more harm than good if not treated properly. However it cannot be avoided if your fish needs it. The problem with winning fish from events etc is that they are never cared for properly unfortunately. People then take these fish home and have a variety of problems with them. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of what’s wrong with your Betta and we can help him. How often do you do water changes and what are your general readings like for the quality of water? Best of luck.

 

[KrystaK]

I agree with Guppylover, prize fish are rarely cared for properly by the event giving them away. So the people who win them usually come home with a sick pet.

Him being in a 3.5 gallon with a filter and heater is excellent.
Based on your post chronic fin rot does sound like it's your major problem (with other side issues such as you mentioned). Fin rot is a bacterial infection which can be caused by a variety of microorganisms. The best way to fight fin rot is to prevent it - keep your fish healthy that way the fish doesn't become infected in the first place. Narwhal probably came to you stressed out and therefore he was more likely to get sick. The thing about fin rot especially if it's chronic - is that it takes a long time to heal. It may even scar so his fins never look quite right. The only way to know if it's getting better is his fins won't get shorter/will start growing back.

I think the best thing you can do at the moment is keep the tank very clean, I wouldn't use any treatment other than some aquarium salt and clean (de chlorinated) water. Hopefully a clean environment will help him get well enough to not be susceptible to secondary infections. Do you happen to know the parameters of the water in his tank? If you don't have a test kit take a sample to a local pet store they will usually test it for free. Do you have a water change schedule? Most people in the hobby have a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. The smaller the tank the more frequently the tank should be cleaned (and if the fish is sick the tank should be cleaned even more frequently.)

Edits: Spelling.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I agree with KrystaK. Excellent advice, keep us updated if you require any further help. Good luck.

 

[Sarah022]

Thank you both for your advice! So update, I took a sample of his water to Petsmart to have it tested and they said everything looked good. As far as a water changing schedule, I don't really have a set one. I change about 50% of his water about every 2 weeks. Since he has a carbon filter, I thought this should be enough. Should I change it more often? I use a gravel vacuum to change the water. As far as other symptoms go, his fins seem fairly clamped together, and he has been swimming around the filter intake a lot, and wrapping himself around it. I don't think the intake should be damaging his fins because it is very low flow and there are no sharp edges. I honestly can't tell if there is black around the fin edges (I've read that's a symptom of fin rot). I think there might be a little, but he is dark in places too so it's hard to tell.

I just got a 1 gallon tank to use for quarantine. I am considering moving him to that, and adding aquarium salt and doing daily water changes. I would move his heater as well. Thoughts on this? And thanks again, hopefully Narwhal will be better soon!

 

[FishGuest5123]

If he is the only fish in the tank there is no reason for a quarantine tank. Especially since the main tank is only 3.5 gallons. I wouldn’t stress him by putting him in a smaller tank. I’m sure you didn’t cycle the tank when you got the fish so he has been exposed to ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate while the tank cycled. This would explain his fin rot as all of these things are toxic to fish. Please get an API Freshwater Test Kit. It is an important tool in fish keeping. Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The pet shop just saying the water was fine tells us nothing. We need to know the actual parameters before we can tell you if the tank is cycled and what to do from there. Simply keeping the tank clean and adding salt won’t help if the tanks not cycled. Let us know ASAP and we can advise. We’re all here to help. Oh, and weekly tank cleanings need to be done once we get the tank cycled if it’s not now.

 

[Sarah022]

So unfortunately, I don't have a testing kit right now or access to one at the moment. I will order one online but there's no telling when it would get here. So while I wait to get that (hopefully soon!), what do you mean by 'cycling the tank'? I have a carbon filter cartridge in the filter that came with the tank. When I set the tank up, I let the filter run for 2 days before acclimating Narwhal to the tank. I added TopFin bacteria Supplement when I set it up because I read that it was helpful for new tanks. That was in the water for the two days before I added Narwhal. Although there isn't a super set schedule, I do a water change pretty much every 2 weeks. Thanks for your help!

 

[KrystaK]

Deanasue is correct, if Narwhal is the only fish in the tank don't worry about a quarantine tank. I would recommend a 50% weekly schedule for Narwhal once he is healthy. I'm glad you are so concerned with his welfare

Cycling a tank is in essence building up the bacteria required to properly handle fish waste. This takes about a month. There are various ways to properly cycle a tank.
You are doing what is called a 'fish in cycle' using a live fish and the waste it produces to seed the filter.
While a filter cartridge offers good mechanical filtration (removing debris) it is the bacteria that builds up on the walls and other surfaces of the filter (and even in he substrate) that create the biological filtration (take the fish waste and convert it into other substances which are less harmful to the fish) - and it is these converted substances that you remove with water changes. Check out the link below for a more detailed explanation (Or just head on over to the Cycle your tank section. This site has an entire message board dedicated to it)
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[Sarah022]

Thank you all for all your advice! I had no idea there was so much involved with keeping a fish healthy in a tank! I thought the filter and heater would have been enough. I will get the testing kit and start the cycle and hopefully see some improvement!

 

[Sarah022]

A couple more questions... I should move Narwhal to the 1 gallon while I'm getting his real tank cycled, correct? When I do this would you recommend adding aquarium salt to help with his fins? Also, as far as 'acclimating' a fish to a new tank/water, the way I did it was put him and his old water in a bag, and float it in the tank for about an hour, then move him and not the water to the tank. Did I do this right or is there more to it? Thanks!!

 

[Colin_T]

I haven't read any of the above so if you have already commented, then disregard what I say.

If you have a male Betta and it is in a small 3.5g tank, do not move it into a smaller container. If you are setting up a new tank for him, leave him in his current tank and set up the new tank. Then after the new tank is ready, move him into it.

If you have an established filter on your current tank, you can move that into the new tank and it will be cycled. The best way to do this is to set up the new tank, add dechlorinator and let it aerate for a couple of days. Then move the old established filter into the new tank and let it run for a couple of hours. Then move the fish into the new tank.

If the fish has fin rot or damaged fins then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks.

Putting the fish into a larger volume of water will also help keep the water cleaner for longer and reduce the number of water changes you need to do. If you need a temporary fish tank get a 20 litre plastic bucket or a 20-40litre+ plastic storage container and use that. Make sure it is clean and free of chemicals and fill it with dechlorinated water. then put the fish in it.

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Don't bother adding salt to a Betta tank because they cannot tolerate salt very well. A low dose (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres) can be used in some cases but regular daily water changes will normally help Bettas recover better, than adding salt.