New Betta Owner, Experiencing Fin Rot?

[nckiely]

Hi I am new to these forums I have been reading up alot of past posts finding them very useful and have now entered the wonderful world of owning my first betta! I have had him a week and have fallen in love with these fish!

This is Zeek...

These photos were taken yesterday night!

Sorry about picture quality still trying to get proper camera sorted!
This is him flaring looking great and healthy to me!

But when I checked on him this morning I have noticed what appears to be fin rot on his tail, that or a mega fin nipping fight happened over night between him and the danios, which I have been looking out for and apart from a little look at each other on day 1 hasnt happened at all they seem to swim very happily around eachother!

These are the best pictures I could really get, hard to see but part of the tail is definatley not as nice as last night and is fraying/rotting away

So I have done an immediate water change today, and started the use of "Interpet- Anti Fungus and Finrot" medicine treatment (which I think states to use once a week until cleared up but will double check tomorrow with the pet shop).

Since i have got him he has been picking at his food, seems a bit picky at first but from what I have been reading and carefuly watching him sounds normal to start with but he has definatley got an appetite which I am pleased! Loves his peas aswell, dont think he liked bloodworm yet!

Has anybody got any suggestions that may help? Thankyou for reading I hope to be posting some more about little Zeek more now I am on here!

Cheers

 

[james_fish]

Could possibly be the Danio's, they have been known to fin nip especially on male Betta's.

I'd keep a really good eye on your tank over the next couple of days. I'd also consider you giving him salt baths a couple of times a day using aquarium salt. This will help re-generate the damaged fins and inhibit the fungal growth.

James.

 

[nckiely]

Could possibly be the Danio's, they have been known to fin nip especially on male Betta's.

I'd keep a really good eye on your tank over the next couple of days. I'd also consider you giving him salt baths a couple of times a day using aquarium salt. This will help re-generate the damaged fins and inhibit the fungal growth.

James.

Ok cool thankyou, this morning Zeek is pretty quiet and seems to be hanging around the weedy plant at the back of the tank very still since i changed the water and added meds. Will keep close eye on him.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

To help boost his immune system (and fight off the fin rot) - it won't cure it but it'll give him a boost. Soak his food in garlic juice. My boy goes wild for blood worm but blood worm in garlic juice is even more a treat lol.

 

[fluffycabbage]

for it to happen overnight i'd assume it was the danios, especially since his behaviour change make sure you have added extra aeration during the medicine treatment. adding salt and melafix proves useful with bettas damaged fins too.
how big is the tank theyre in?

 

[nckiely]

Garlic juice eh? Thats a new one i'll give that a try thankyou! They are in a 15 litre tank but im hoping to get them into a 30 litre asap.

 

[fluffycabbage]

crikey thats quite a confined space for danios and a betta

is that a biorb i see too? it would be much better to get a rectangular tank - not only easier to clean but it gives much more 'straight line' swimming space for the fish

 

[nckiely]

just to update this post, zeek has his own tank now and is healing niceley and happily

 

[bassbonediva]

I know I've said it before, but I'm a firm believer that male bettas do not make good community fish. They are too much of targets because of their long, flowing fins and they don't handle the craziness of other fish very well (danios are about as crazy as they come).

Glad to hear Zeek is in his own tank and doing better.

 

[fluffycabbage]

great that hes in his own tank now how are his fins?

 

[Azaeil]

I'm agreeing with everyone else on the fin damage from the Danios. Fin rot usually attacks the entire fin and that looks like a very selective location.

I've heard around the forum though that male bettas' companion preferences vary from fish to fish, some males will tolerate the bottom feeders like cory's, plecos and shrimp - non-aggressive fish, whereas some males absolutely tolerate NO fish at all sharing their tanks. If you do want to put more fish in with the male, have them in an isolation container if they're not in a bag and see how the male reacts to them before releasing them into the tank. The isolation method is what I plan to do if and when I get a new female to see how the other three girls react to her, if they dislike her presence I'll remove her and the isolation tank and put her into her own tank.

I'm doing a test with some koi loach in my girls' tank, they're eel-like algae-eaters and stick pretty much to the bottom - low profile fish, and so far they're really loving the heater in the tank and are seen burrowing in the gravel underneath it XP the little buggers were plenty active when I got them and gave the fish lady a hard time catching them. Ghost shrimp seem to be the only available freshwater shrimp in pet stores, but I'd strongly suggest having them in the tank first as the bettas can and will kill and eat them if they're introduced after. It's a whole territory/food thing..

Btw welcome to the forums! Hope your boy is doing better!