Marco's Fin Rot Journal

So I purchased a blue male CT for $50 in September or even later than that.
He's been good in his little 8G planted tank by himself. Temp at a solid 81*F.
It may have been almost 2 weeks ago I noticed the tips of his top fin had lost their usual blue colour and had started to turn a white colour, but more transparent than solid. Even though this was my first betta, I knew I was dealing with the early signs of fin rot. I waited a couple of days and then asked for help as I noticed it had progressed a little bit.
I did a water test - Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0.25, and Nitrate 10ppm.
I had thought this tank was cycled, but since it appears not, water quality would probably be the cause of the fin rot.
So, I was aiming to do PWC of around 75% but I did slacken a bit as I was working 9-6 for 7 days straight, I did not do as many as I should have.
With each waterchange I have added 1ts/G of tonic salts, dissolved in the tank water. I do not think this has helped.
Last week the fin rot had left about 1/2 a cm of blue fin left on his top fin (forgot the name) and the next day it had reached his body, but only just. the small area of affected scales have just changed colour, with a slight pinkish stain to them, but they are pale whitish/pink. 
This did not get worse overnight, thankfully.
I know photos would help, but my phone's quality isn't the greatest. 
I have reduced the temp to 75*F as TTA suggested because bacteria don't thrive in lower temperatures. This should hopefully slow it down. 
New Zealand (where I live) has for some reason discontinued Furan 2, so i went into my local vet clinic today (thankfully two blocks down) and asked them to order some. With this week being short, Marco will have to wait until next week to receive the medicine that will hopefully stop the bacteria from harming him further. 
Since I am poor, a kind person has sent me some IAL (Indian Almond Leaf) tea bags so I can add those, but for now am using tonic salt and peat in the filter whilst I wait for the teabags. 
 
I will add some photos and if anyone has more suggestions that could help me that would be great. Though, consider I do not have money.  

Following

Woke up this morning and no change - phew. 
Here is a picture - which the fins look like the rays have been exposed as the skin has gone. There is an area of redness between the body and the fin area.

Wow!
Hope he gets better!

LyraGuppi said:

Wow!
Hope he gets better!

Click to expand...

As do I. Hopefully he can pull through till next week. He's still getting super excited when he sees my face, still eating ect. 

Today I have visited both  supermarkets in town in search of rooibos tea, but to no avail. I work next door to a chemist so  will try there next , hopefully can find some. The things we do for our pets. 

Chemist had never heard of the tea, so I confused them when I asked for it. Also the health shop was closed. So I'll have to wait for the IAL to arrive. It's Wednesday, Marco's still not any worse (apart from possibly more fin rot on his tail) Still eating, and still doing w/c. 

Well, since ive turned the temp down (75*F) and have stopped dosing tonic salts per waterchange (stopped yesterday)
Just noticed whilst feeding him today, his rays on his dorsal fin have colourrrrrr. So happy, must be doing something right!

Ashley- rooibos is mostly available in the same places as you would find tea in general.  It may be easier to find online than in stores.

Unfortunately don't have money and $11/100g is rather expensive. It wouldn't get delivered by next week now anyway so it's probably better to wait for the Furan 2 to arrive.

Spread to his tail now, and the tips of the dorsal fin's rays ( like 2 of them) have a red spot on them, blood red. The IAL probably wont arrive this week. I have peat in filter but no tannins is being released.

Not sure if the red your describe fits this disease profile. Salient points are it can affect fins/tail and it required real antibiotics to treat.
 

 
Red Pest

    Symptoms: Bloody streaks on fins or body.   
 
Red Pest is called such because of bloody streaks that appear on the body, fins and/or tail. These streaks could proceed to ulcerations and possibly lead to fin and tail rot with, in severe cases, the tail and/or fins falling off. As the disease is internal, external treatments are usually not effective, except in very slight cases. In slight cases, treat the aquarium with a disinfectant and clean the aquarium as best as possible. Do not feed a lot while the aquarium is being treated. To disinfect, use acriflavine (trypaflavine) or monacrin (monoaminoacridine) using a 0.2% solution at the rate of 1 ml per liter. Both disinfectants will color the water, but the color disappears as the disinfectants dissipates. If the fish do not appear to respond favorably, discontinue disinfections.
     
Then add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. If you keep the fish hungry they should eagerly eat the mixture before the antibiotic dissipates. Antibiotics usually come in 250 mg capsules. If added to 25 grams of flake food, one capsule should be enough to treat dozens of fish. A good antibiotic is chloromycetin (chloramphenicol). Or use tetracycline. If you feed your fish frozen foods or chopped foods, try to use the same ratio with mixing. As a last resort add at most 10 mg per liter of water.

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from http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#RedPest
 
My best guess here is the med you ordered via the vet would be helpful for the above as well. The problem with bacterial problems is they can get out of hand very fast.

TwoTankAmin said:

Not sure if the red your describe fits this disease profile. Salient points are it can affect fins/tail and it required real antibiotics to treat.
 

 
Red Pest
    Symptoms: Bloody streaks on fins or body.   
 
Red Pest is called such because of bloody streaks that appear on the body, fins and/or tail. These streaks could proceed to ulcerations and possibly lead to fin and tail rot with, in severe cases, the tail and/or fins falling off. As the disease is internal, external treatments are usually not effective, except in very slight cases. In slight cases, treat the aquarium with a disinfectant and clean the aquarium as best as possible. Do not feed a lot while the aquarium is being treated. To disinfect, use acriflavine (trypaflavine) or monacrin (monoaminoacridine) using a 0.2% solution at the rate of 1 ml per liter. Both disinfectants will color the water, but the color disappears as the disinfectants dissipates. If the fish do not appear to respond favorably, discontinue disinfections.
     
Then add an antibiotic to the food. With flake food, use about 1% of antibiotic and carefully mix it in. If you keep the fish hungry they should eagerly eat the mixture before the antibiotic dissipates. Antibiotics usually come in 250 mg capsules. If added to 25 grams of flake food, one capsule should be enough to treat dozens of fish. A good antibiotic is chloromycetin (chloramphenicol). Or use tetracycline. If you feed your fish frozen foods or chopped foods, try to use the same ratio with mixing. As a last resort add at most 10 mg per liter of water.

Click to expand...

from http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#RedPest
 
My best guess here is the med you ordered via the vet would be helpful for the above as well. The problem with bacterial problems is they can get out of hand very fast.

Click to expand...

Thank you. It is Friday night so next week is not too far away. I found the tea today - it's called a different name - Red Bush. Luckily I read the fine print, or else I would've put it back on the shelf. 100% Rooibos, with no flavouring. Under $3 too, so i've added that. Dorsal fin appears to be healing, and only one red spot on the tip of one ray. Tail is still rotting, but nothing of concern at the moment. 

Sorry Ash- never occurred to me to mention that.
 
"Rooibos tea (red bush is what the name means in Afrikaans, which is derived from Dutch originally, but that is another story), well you would pronounce it as in the English name "roy"
and bos as in the English "boss" for your employer!"
 
That quote is from the Finarama site (dedicated to wild angefish) and, since you mush register there to read the forums, I will not bother to link to that quote as folks wont be able to see it and I do not want folks to think I am trying to reqcruit folks to join anywhere.

Haha yeah good to know the other name for it! It put marco in the "mood" as he built a bubble nest shortly after it was added. 
Update this morning: Rays have a thin layer of skin in between them, which is blue as well as the rays
Tail rot is looking okay, not progressing  to his body very fast.
Scales on his body are growing back/ area now has a blue tinge to it. Progress.