What happened?

[xxamyxx85]

Ok so this morning my Betta looked completely normal however by lunchtime his right pectoral fin looks stuck to his body and white.
He was injured a few weeks back and had some damage to his anal fin, I have been doing regular water changes and it seemed to be getting better. Please help.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I’m going to do a water change in a minute and wondered should I add some aquarium salt? I’ve never used it before so could do with a little advice with that too.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Sorry to keep posting, I think I may have discovered what caused it. I just did a water change and noticed a piece of driftwood had white fuzzy stuff on it, I removed it from the tank and it absolutely stinks. I added dissolved aquarium salt to the fresh water and will do daily water changes and add salt, could someone just confirm this is the right thing to do and any additional advice is much appreciated.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounds like you are doing all the correct things that would have been advised for your betta.

Keep up the good work and hopefully the fin should heal and repair itself with good quaility water which is what you are doing by doing these water changes.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Sounds like you are doing all the correct things that would have been advised for your betta.

Keep up the good work and hopefully the fin should heal and repair itself with good quaility water which is what you are doing by doing these water changes.

Thank you @Ch4rlie, I went into total panic when I realised he wasn’t ok and really don’t feel confident In myself yet even though I have read countless information on here. The reassurance really means a lot, thanks again.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Hi all, I have been doing salt water changes for the last week, his pectoral fin healed within two days! However his original anal fin injury is still there.
I had a soap dish with rounded pebbles as a buffer to reduce flow from my filter and he managed to jump into it, he could only of been in there for about 10mins but was being bashed about by the water in the soap dish ( I’m so lucky I look at him way to much and I noticed), this happenEd at the beginning of August.
I thought the injury to his fin was getting better but now I’m not so sure, I think it’s about the same. Should I continue with the daily salt water changes or is there something else I should be doing? I’ve attached a pic but it’s hard to see the injury because his tail hides it.
This is when he first did it

and this one is today, I think he tore the last ‘spike’ on his anal fin straight up close to his body and the steel blue colour has run the length of the spike.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Hi again, so I’ve been doing daily salt water changes for the last two weeks, his pectoral fin has healed and grown back lovely but the anal fin injury is the same if not worse, I have uploaded a short video to YouTube so the injury can be seen better. I’m sure it’s more bloody than before, can someone please advise the best course of action? Should I continue with salt water changes or will he need something else?

 

[xxamyxx85]

Hi all, I did the salt water changes for 4 weeks and in that time his anal fin definitely got worse, I am still doing daily water changes and since stopping the salt is has stopped getting worse but is not getting better! Everything is clean and his behaviour is normal, should I go back to weekly water changes or twice weekly and see how it goes or should I be trying something else? It’s so hard to get a picture of the injury I will try to get a better shot of it today.

 

[xxamyxx85]

These are the best pics I can get, the bloody area on his fin is definitely worse.....

 

[mbsqw1d]

Ive no experience with treating for fin repair I'm afraid .. but I wondered if something containing aloe vera would help? Also do you have any Indian Almond leaves and/or alder cones?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Melafix by API which contains Melaluca Tea oil probably might be able to help though I don't have experience in using it.

Aquarium Medications Part 4 | Organic Aquarium Treatments

This article deals with organic (herbal) treaments such as Pimenta extract (Pimafix), Melaluca Tea (AKA TTO used in Melafix), Naphthoquinones, and Usnea. Organic treatment information from fish disease guru Carl Strohmeyer

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

Stress Guard by Seachem probably might be able to help.

Seachem - StressGuard

www.seachem.com

I think Aloe Vera might be able to help too.
Some water conditioners contains Aloe Vera which promotes healing.
Stress Coat by API is one of them.

API® | STRESS COAT™

API STRESS COAT water conditioner makes tap water safe for fish by removing harmful chemicals from tap water, and contains the healing power of Aloe Vera to reduce fish stress by up to 40% and heal damaged tissue and wounds.

apifishcare.com

But don't use it for too long as some people suspect that Aloe Vera can irritate the fish gill.
Buy the smallest bottle that you can get.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I use Indian almond leaves already and I have heard bad things about melafix. Is it definitely fin rot because he had a major injury after jumping into a soap dish that was being used to baffle the flow from the filter and it’s just got worse but none of his fins have broken or come away or anything?!?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I use Indian almond leaves already and I have heard bad things about melafix. Is it definitely fin rot because he had a major injury after jumping into a soap dish that was being used to baffle the flow from the filter and it’s just got worse but none of his fins have broken or come away or anything?!?

Do you have a picture of the fish before and after?
I can't really see from the picture what wrong with the fish.

By the way, any injury or open wound to the fish can cause bacteria infection.
Salt might be able to help but you can't use it for too long (probably 2-3 weeks).
Also, how much salt do you use?

 

[mbsqw1d]

Could it be scar tissue and its actually healed but now discoloured?

 

[xxamyxx85]

The red area on the tail, all of the webbing of the fins is intact, there are no tears but what looks like a bloody area that got bigger with salt water changes but remains the same with just water. He seems fine and everything else is normal.

Scar tissue? Do u think I should just reduce the water changes back to once a week to see if anything changes?