Looking For Advice About Possible Fin Rot

[evu]

Hi.

I got myself a betta fish about 4 months ago and I have a feeling he might have fin rot. I had 2 plastic plants in his tank at first but after I noticed his fins weren't doing too well I thought they were the cause so I replaced them with a silk plant. It seems his fins are still getting worse though, so I went to the fish store and they gave me some JLB Ektol Fluid because it might be fin rot.

But now I'm at a predicament because the instructions say to make sure the filter isn't running because it'll kill the bacteria but I can't just take it out for 5 days because the bacteria will die and the tank wont have a filter running. My tank is a Fluval Chi and so the filter wont really fit anywhere else. Would I not be able to keep the filter running and just use low doses or something?

Any help is really appreciated. I'm quite the beginner and didn't expect just how much goes into fish keeping but I am learning a lot and enjoying it I'm also on a tight budget thanks to my impending holiday so hopefully there's a solution that doesn't involve spending a lot on treatments.

Here's a pic of his back fins, which is the only place it's showing, in case it's apparent it's not actually fin rot. Taken today.

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And here's one from when I thought the plants were tearing his fins. Notice the hole and the difference between the pics. Taken about a month ago i think.

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Cheers,
~evu.

 

[KittyKat]

It is fin rot.

Try a medication which will not kill the filter (I use eSHa 2000 for such cases) and Indian almond leaves.

If you use a medication which will kill the filter, then you can do the following: remove the filter into a bucket of tank water, add ammonia to that, 2-4 ppm is a good amount and run the filter in that. In the main tank, do daily water changes with a dechlorinator which will deal with ammonia.

 

[evu]

Thanks Kitty. I'll try that esha 2000 by the looks of it.

#41#### that fish shop, sick of the stuff they sell me.

Cheers,
~evu.