Fin Rot?

[sb_onefish]

I have a male betta in a 2.5 gallon filtered aquarium. Not heated yet but filtered. In the last month he went from a tiny, dirty cup at Wal Mart to a one-gallon fishbowl to this tank. His fins by his gills look translucent at the ends and have shrunk back somewhat. There's a black spot on on his tail and the whole tail tissue is shrinking back between the "ribs". I don't have a lfs, I am 40 miles out in the country. So I got some "Quick Cure" at Wally world, made by Aquarium Products, the active ingredients are formalin and malachite green. Is this the right type of product? Do I continue to treat the water until the fins start to grow back or the black spot disappears or what? I figured on changing out 1 gallon of the water every 3 days while this treatment is being added to keep too much from accumulating, is that a good idea?

 

[ReMz]

I'm not familiar with that product. That is certainly fin rot by the sounds of it though.

If you can, Maracyn 1 and 2 is the best treatment imo for fin rot. This is a full spectrum gram positive bacterial, gram negative bacterial, and fungal infection treatment when the two medications are combined. Try to get it if possible. Sounds like you may not be able to though.

I like to isolate my sick fish in a treatment tank. Maybe go back to that 1 gallon while you are treating. You treat with a smaller dose, limit the infection spreading in your main tank, and dont risk the filter media filtering out the medication. Also, you can keep up on daily or every other day water changes (you dont want to stress them out too much changing the water).

Clean water is key for knocking out fin rot. It progresses very quickly. So keep up on water changes and use that medication that you have.

You may want to consider picking up some aquarium salt as well to aid in killing the infection and helping in recovery. This can safely be used in conjunction with other medication. Just dose appropriately.

You can stop dosing once you see no more fin rot and some new regrowth. This could take over a week.

 

[LauraFrog]

Get rid of the green stuff. It is suitable as a last resort only. It kills nearly every fish it contacts. In destroying a few of the bugs plaguing the fish, it will also damage the fish's immune system and often leads the disease to progressing faster. It also removes oxygen from the water. Melafix will help as a medium measure, with maracyn 1 and 2 being ideal if you can get them. If the water is kept very clean, the finrot should not progress very fast. When did it start and how quickly is it getting worse?

 

[ReMz]

Get rid of the green stuff. It is suitable as a last resort only. It kills nearly every fish it contacts. In destroying a few of the bugs plaguing the fish, it will also damage the fish's immune system and often leads the disease to progressing faster. It also removes oxygen from the water. Melafix will help as a medium measure, with maracyn 1 and 2 being ideal if you can get them. If the water is kept very clean, the finrot should not progress very fast. When did it start and how quickly is it getting worse?

That settles that. Good to know.

And yes. Don't count out Melafix. It is something you should buy regardless for aiding in fin regrowth. Just keep in mind it is not a "medication". Clean water with Melafix and aquarium salt is probably is probably your best alternative if that medication is as ineffective/detrimental as LauraFrog says.

 

[LauraFrog]

I can't vouch for every brand that exists but in my experience those ingredients do very little to help the fish and may even be (are probably) harmful. I have used them on several species including bettas at all stages of illness, starting treatment at the onset in some cases or almost at the end in others. I have never had a fish recover; the death of one of them I can only attribute to the medication because I know that it would have survived if I had treated with antibiotics and other antifungals. I used the 'green muck' as an interim measure to keep it alive until I could get some. Using it at the recommended dosage killed the fish. I think the main reason it doesn't help is because the ingredients are so volatile they compromise the fish's own immune system. There's a possiblility that using some in the water at a diluted dose rate will not harm the fish and could help slow the progress of the disease. I don't know, I have never used it this way. Somebody else could probably advise you better.

 

[sb_onefish]

I'm not familiar with that product. That is certainly fin rot by the sounds of it though.

If you can, Maracyn 1 and 2 is the best treatment imo for fin rot. This is a full spectrum gram positive bacterial, gram negative bacterial, and fungal infection treatment when the two medications are combined. Try to get it if possible. Sounds like you may not be able to though.

I like to isolate my sick fish in a treatment tank. Maybe go back to that 1 gallon while you are treating. You treat with a smaller dose, limit the infection spreading in your main tank, and dont risk the filter media filtering out the medication. Also, you can keep up on daily or every other day water changes (you dont want to stress them out too much changing the water).

Clean water is key for knocking out fin rot. It progresses very quickly. So keep up on water changes and use that medication that you have.

You may want to consider picking up some aquarium salt as well to aid in killing the infection and helping in recovery. This can safely be used in conjunction with other medication. Just dose appropriately.

You can stop dosing once you see no more fin rot and some new regrowth. This could take over a week.

Thanks! I will look for the Maracyn. There is a Petco not too far from where I work. So I guess I will need to change ALL the water to get rid of the Quick Cure, then add the Maracyn if I find it?

Reading here, there seems to be conficting schools (no pun intended) of thought on salt. Some people say they add it regularly with freshwater fish but others say you don't need it. What benefit does it have for a freshwater fish? Seems like it would burn them.

With just one fish in a 2.5 gallon tank, I was doing a one-gallon water change every weekend, I guess that's about 40%. Only did it for 2 weekends in a row, as the tank is new. I try to feed lightly, just what he'll eat in a couple of minutes.

This was an impulse purchase because I felt sorry for the fish in the little cup, and he is very pretty - brick red with blue "sparkles" on his body.

 

[sb_onefish]

Get rid of the green stuff. It is suitable as a last resort only. It kills nearly every fish it contacts. In destroying a few of the bugs plaguing the fish, it will also damage the fish's immune system and often leads the disease to progressing faster. It also removes oxygen from the water. Melafix will help as a medium measure, with maracyn 1 and 2 being ideal if you can get them. If the water is kept very clean, the finrot should not progress very fast. When did it start and how quickly is it getting worse?

Started a couple weeks ago I think, but I didn't realize it then. Noticed the color was faded at the very edge of the fins. Then they seemed to be eroding and then the black spot appeared and the fin loss accelerated. Odd that this coincided with the larger tank and filtered water. The water should be cleaner now than the 1 gallon bowl. Maybe all the recent changes of habitat stressed the fish??

 

[ReMz]

Some stress may very well have caused it..... but usually poor water condition triggers fin rot. I've read a couple cases now where upgrading to a larger, filtered tank has appeared to have caused this.

Petco usually has Maracyn. Given what I've learned about "green muck", you certainly want to do a 100% change (or at least 90%) and get that out of there. Give your guy a break on the medication for a day after that. Overdosing can have a negative result in recovery.

I'm still not a believer in aquarium salt. I have no reason not to trust in it though. I've read good things and it does not have any negative side-effect, so up to you. Keep in mind, this is not the same as adding salt for a saltwater aquarium. It is more of a bacteria preventative and apparently helps the bettas immune system. It will not "burn" bettas... but they actually "should" respond to it positively. I've had a couple guys that I recently treated with Maracyn and aquarium salt, and the results were great.

I add it accordingly in all of my water changes and have not had any issues for a few months. It does reduce bacteria in a tank tho... so keep that in mind.

edit: btw, right on for reading up around here. glad to have you around and I hope you can get the maracyn for ur guy.

 

[sb_onefish]

Petco did have Maracyn but only in 10-gallon doses. I don't have a suitable vessel to mix up 10 gallons. If I tried to divide the powder to make a smaller dose, it probably wouldn't be accurate. So I ended up with aquarium salt and Bettafix, which is Melafix in a diluted form for the smaller Betta containers. So with fresh water and these additives, he should recover.

I had been changing water every weekend, 1 gallon out of the 2.5 gallon tank. Maybe that wasn't enough since the filter isn't cycled?? So I'll do a mid-week water change for awhile, too. (Haven't been able to bring myself to buy the water test kit yet; it costs as much as the fish and the little tank combined)

Appreciate the advice & encouragement from y'all!