Again With The Blue Betta

[Korki Buchek]

Hi all, I wrote in a few days ago about what I believe is fin rot on my betta. It appears to be getting worse. He is still not eating. His pectoral fins are very short now and they are developing a blood red color starting at the base. His other fins are still getting shorter daily. He also has a red ring around his actual eye (the Iris?) which was not as pronounced before. His face has two identical red stripes on each side which were a pale color before but have become a brighter red. Also he has what looks to be a pea sized bump in his abdomen close to his tail. I don't know for sure if this was there before and I may be imagining things.

Bowl Conditions:
He is in a 2 gallon bowl with nothing but a silk plant to rest on and a thermometer.
The temperature now varies from around 75-80 throughout the day.
PH level is neutral.
Nitrates/Nitrites are in the safe range.
The water is in the middle of hardness scale ("soft")
Total alkalinity is in the ideal range.

Treatment:
50% water change every other day.
Water conditioner for chlorine, PH and ammonia.
1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water.
Maracyn-Two

He is on the third day of the Maracyn-Two according to the recommended dosage. I also have tetracycline and Betta-fix on hand but am hesitant to use them as he is not eating and the Mardel boxes all say if the fish isn't eating use Maracyn-Two. I am not sure what else to do for him. He seems to be getting worse and worse.

Help, please.

 

[tttnjfttt]

First of all, is the betta in a cycled tank or an uncycled tank? If it is uncycled, are you using somethign to neuteralize the ammonia and nitrites between water changes? Regardless of what any test kit company says, the ONLY safe readings for ammonia and nitrite are zero.

From the sounds of it, your fish has an internal bacterial infection, which has gotten pretty nasty. If possible, i would add Maracyn to the mix. The reason is that Maracyn-Two only treats gram negative bacteria, while many fish illnesses are gram positive. Maracyn (aka erythromycin) will treat gram positive.