Aggressive Finrot

[LauraFrog]

It always happens to the good ones..
my best crowntail boy has finrot. It started when I got REALLY busy and I didn't change his water for over a week - he's in a 2 gal that didn't have a filter at the time. As soon as I noticed I did a 100% water change, added salt (1 tsp/gal) and put in a cycled filter from another tank. There was no improvement. If anything it got a bit worse. For about a week now I've been increasing the salt to over 2tsp/gallon and changing water frequently and increasing the flow from the filter but it's not working. The tips of his rays just go red then grey and then they fall off. There is no damage to the dorsal or anal fin, or any of the paired fins. It's just the caudal fin and there is no damage in the dips between the rays, just on the extended parts of the rays (crowntail). I'm getting quite worried because it's progressing rather fast - in some places it's almost down to the level of the non-extended parts of the fin. I have very limited access to medications. What should I do? What's the safe concentration of salt and could I use seawater dips?

 

[ReMz]

i would love to elaborate on this... but it's getting pretty late here. the following site has some very good information on finrot that may assist you (even extreme treatment if it comes down to it). read up and see if you can find a good solution. given the time, i would link you to the topics that helped me out.... just need to get to sleep.

[URL="http/bettatalk.com/browse_our_database.htm"]http/bettatalk.com/browse_our_database.htm[/URL]

best of luck. finrot is so horrible.

edit: maybe go to the main page of the site and use search feature for the FAQ.... there is some good advice buried there.

 

[devon_charm]

If i was you i would up the temperature, add melafix and do a minimum of a 50% change a day. I had mega issues at one point where i couldn't fix i fish with rot..more heat seemed to be the key and now he is on his way to normalness. I'm not on about excessive increase but a few degrees

 

[LauraFrog]

I'll do my best about the heater - I might have to take him outside. Dunno how i'm going to pull it off but I'll try.

EDIT: I did read what Faith did (painted the fins with mercurochrome). This betta is bloody feisty, I don't think much of my chances of holding him down the way she did. Could I clove oil him first? She also says usual finrot antibiotics first and then after the treatment. What antibiotics? I can get tetracycline and almost nothing else. I can also get malachite green and methlyene blue mixed with various other chemicals but every time I have tried to use them they have failed and the fish have died of multiple organ failure. The medications seem to be as harmful as whatever I'm trying to cure with them and I've had better results with hot water and salt. This time salt isn't not working and this is the betta I can least afford to lose.

Has anybody else heard of another surgical treatment where you basically clove oil the fish, cut off the affected ends of the fins to about 1mm below the finrot line, paint salt on them, leave it for a minute or two and then return it to the water?