Damaged Betta Fin And A Possible Ill Otto

[finalfantay85]

Ok i've had a nightmare few days with my tank and you've all helped out greatly but i may or may not have another 2 problems.
Firstly the back story...
My ammonia levels went through the roof so following the advice i've been carrying out hourly water changes of 50-60% and testing and i've now got this down to 0.25ppm at the moment.
Also I had to set up a new tank for my betta in a hurry due to him attacking some male guppies I have due to an ill advised purchase.

Anyway onto the new problems.
Firstly one of my ottos has extremely red gills which is a new development. I've read this could be due to poor water quality and seeing as how my ammonia levels were 4ppm or higher i'd say that was poor quality water. Do any of you have any ideas if this is something to worry about or if it is ok?
He seems to be swimming around ok at the moment.
It's a 57L tank, all the other stats are within normal ranges at the moment, except the ammonia being slightly high still. He's in there with 2 other otto, 5 guppy, 6 flame tetra and 8 copper harlequins.

Secondly my betta has been moved into his own tank now due to the guppies but since moving him he's managed to tear his fin and also the fin has gone very pale or white in places. He's a blue veil tail with some white/pearl colouration on him. He's not got any signs of whitespot so that doesn't explain the whiteness to the fin.
I don't know if he's done it to himself or not so i've put a mirror next to the tank for him to flare at. He looks at it but doesn't seem aggressive towards it. What do people suggest I do to help? I'm having to do an fish in cycle due to the hastiness of having to rehouse him. He's in a 60L with 3 live plants and some decorations that allow him to hide.

I am getting very stressed out with them at the moment cos it seems to be one problem after another this week.

 

[kelly528]

The ottos have ammonia poisoning. Their soft, most likely porous skin makes then super vulnerable. Keep on the water changes, and hopefully you caught the gill damage before it became irreversible.

Is the betta QT-ed at the moment? Can you get a picture? The tail should grow back just fine. If the tissue itsself is simply white in color I would assume that its dead tissue (from being severed from the rest of the fin). If it is white fuzz then you've got yourself an infected wound.

 

[finalfantay85]

The betta is in his own tank with no other fish at the moment. I don't plan to add any until i've cycled the tank. The wound is very recent as in the last 4 hours i'd say. He's not got any fuzz on it, it just looks pale almost colourless over most of the fin plus the wound is in the middle of the fin not at the ends. He's a blue veil tail that has a pearl patch of colouration on his head/body. He's always had pale patches on his fin it just seems to have gotten a lot paler in a hurry. I will keep an eye on it.

As for the otto i think the one with the bright red gills is the one who was looking a bit listless earlier, hiding under the filter not moving a lot but now he's become a lot more active and is back to sucking on the glass so hopefully i have caught it early enough

 

[finalfantay85]

Ok i think my betta has fin rot, there are purple/brown patches of discolouration on the fin to go with the tear that has just gotten a lot worse. The purplish patches are right down to the body almost. All i've got to treat it is Melafix which i've heard is not great with betta. Can anyone give me some advise?
He seems to be going downhill and i really don't wanna lose him