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Kat03

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I am new here at the board so I dont really know my way around. I didnt know if I could post this here. But I have had this betta for a little over a year. It now has fin rot :( i noticed he was staying near the bottom and it was hard for him to swim. At first I thought maybe he had that Swim Bladder Disease. But later on I really looked at him and noticed his fins looked funny. I dont really know much about fish, and I guess I should have researched this more. I went to my local pet shop and they told me to get this stuff called Liquid Fungus Cure by API. Is there anything else you all can suggest for me?? He wont eat either. I thought maybe it was because he couldnt get to the top so I put him in a little container with some water and put some food in it but he still didnt eat. Also, should I have the water filled all the way to the top of the vase like I usually do, or should I have it half full so he can get to the top. Thank you soo much! i have been stressing over this forever and looking for stufff on the net. The guy at the store said that hes never seen a fish bounce back from tail rot :(
 
You've done the right thing putting him in shallow water, it'll make it easier for him to swim to the top.
What size tank is he in and what are your water readings like?
I had a Betta with fin rot and treated him successfully with Melafix, only use half the recommended dose though as they are quite sensitive.
Carry on the treatment for 7 days and hopefully you should see signs of improvement.
He may not be eating due to being stressed but are there any other signs of illness?
 
I dont see any other signs of illness. He doesnt have spots or anything. He just doesnt swim really. i see his poor lil fins trying but he just cant get to where he wants to. he can swim a little though. He lays weird. Like an S shape when I look from the top of the bowl. I usually have marbles on the bottle of the bowl but i removed them b/c I thought it would be better. Then i saw how he was laying and put some back in b/c he seems to be leaning on them. He is a vase looking bowl. I think its prob 1 gallon. Where do you get this Melafix? In the midwest we have a place called Earl May and thats where I went to get that medicine for him. I heard that some kind of salt stuff could work also to make him feel a little better. I am not sure what the water temp is, but it has been cold here in Iowa so it has probably been a lil chilly. Right now the weater has been good so I kept him by the window to give him a little warmth.
 
I'm not sure if you can get Melafix there but someone may be able to recommend an alternative.
His temperature needs to be about 78-80F as they can suffer if their water is too cold.
I know people have used epsom salts before but I'm not sure how much you need. I think it may be 1tsp per 5 Gallon but best double check on that.
 
hmmm. okay. i need to make a trip to the store fast. This was my first betta. when i explained to the guy at Earl May that he hangs at the bottom and doesnt really swim very good he said thats normal and betta fish dont really move a lot. but mine was so active! he was always swimming around and was happy. i hope i can make him better. how do you keep the water so warm though?

EDIT: I cleaned his water again this morning. I put warm water in and then put the fungus stuff in. He seems to be moving a lot more and swimming a lot more when I warmed up the water. But now hes on the bottom again. I am going to go to a local store to see if they have Aquarium Salt. I heard that will help with stress? Hopefully when he feels a little better he will eat. I also noticed he is breathing pretty heavy.
 
Kat03 said:
hmmm. okay. i need to make a trip to the store fast. This was my first betta. when i explained to the guy at Earl May that he hangs at the bottom and doesnt really swim very good he said thats normal and betta fish dont really move a lot. but mine was so active! he was always swimming around and was happy. i hope i can make him better. how do you keep the water so warm though?

EDIT: I cleaned his water again this morning. I put warm water in and then put the fungus stuff in. He seems to be moving a lot more and swimming a lot more when I warmed up the water. But now hes on the bottom again. I am going to go to a local store to see if they have Aquarium Salt. I heard that will help with stress? Hopefully when he feels a little better he will eat. I also noticed he is breathing pretty heavy.
Click to expand...

Kat, hi, first, don't panic--you obviously care a great deal for your little guy and want to get him back swimming again. The guy who said bettas normally hang at the bottom and don't move a lot is a moron. Laying at the bottom of the tank and not eating is a red alert that your betta is quite sick. Check out the Post its that are at the top of each category on this forum. You want to make sure you know what you are treating your betta for. You can analyze your betta's problems through many sites--I usually check www.bettatalk.com or www.nationalfishpharm.com. There are tons of sites that list fish diseases. I'm sure there's one under this forum under "tropical fish emergencies."

Meds are under "Tropical Fish emergencies" under "A to Z list of medications"

At the top of this Betta forum are several categories that can assist you re: heating the tank.

Are you dechlorinating the water you are putting into his tank?

What I did when my betta developed fungus to immediately get him a bigger home with a heater and filter. I've used many meds such as Jungle Fungus Eliminator which worked very well. When he was very sick, I used Maracyn/Maracyn 2. IMO Kanamycn is excellent but very hard to find. But you need to know what you're treating him for!

I keep his tank at 78-80, higher when he was sick--but again, this depends on what the betta has. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
okay i looked through the sites. It still seems to me that he has tail/fin rot. Yes i use Complete Water Conditioner to dechlorinate his water. Although, I did not know about this till later on. I should have read up a little more on bettas before I got one. I will check out the forum as well. I think I will go to PetCo and see if they have that Melafix stuff you were talking about. Thank you for the help!
 
Kat03 said:
okay i looked through the sites. It still seems to me that he has tail/fin rot. Yes i use Complete Water Conditioner to dechlorinate his water. Although, I did not know about this till later on. I should have read up a little more on bettas before I got one. I will check out the forum as well. I think I will go to PetCo and see if they have that Melafix stuff you were talking about. Thank you for the help!
Click to expand...

Hey Kat, I wasn't the one who recommended Melafix. IMO that is more of a preventative treatment--not something I would treat my betta with if he were sick. But that's just my opinion.
Don't feel bad--I got my first betta as a birthday gift and knew NOTHING about fishkeeping. I thought putting him in a vase was all I had to do, except for feeding and cleaning. I even bought him a couple of "fishy friends" who died almost immediately from lack of heat and filtration. I cringe at the memory. learned almost everything from this forum and tons of research and trial and error. You'll learn a lot here. Good luck. :)
 
I don't agree with Melafix being a preventative treatment, I used it to treat my Betta and it worked fine.
If it's only finrot he is suffering from, then Melafix should do the trick. Only use half the dose and within a few weeks you should notice a difference.
I've also used it to treat a guppy with finrot and again it worked well.
Obviously, other members may use something different but I've had no problem with this treatment. :good:
 
thank you all! i will keep you updated. I hope hes okay. Now, the directions say to put 5 ml per 5 US gallons. I have a 1 gallon so I put in a little less than 1 ml b/c i dont have the water filled up all the way because i want him to be able to get to the top. is that okay?
 
I'd put in about 1/2ml or a little under and see how you get on. Good luck!
 
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