New to betta fish (& severe fin rot!), Help!

Hi there,

I’m so happy I found this site, firstly! My neighbor left his new betta with me when pandemic hit but had him in the smallest bowl with brownish water, yikes! I knew that seemed maybe ignorant and even cruel. He assured me he only needed a weekly water change in that wee bowl. But I didn’t believe that so I immediately ordered a 15L filtered tank with a heater, decor, better food, and a net, marine salt and smooth stones.

But his fin rot really set in when he started biting his own tail! I check the temperature everyday, steady at around 80’ but his fins are still receding badly and he’s not eating. Tho I’m just fish sitting the poor little guy, I really want him to thrive! He’s a little fighter for his life an I’ve grown to love him. But I’m very worried for him despite everything I’ve tried. What fin rot medicine remedies do any of you recommend? I’m told betta fix is not good so I’m in the dark.
He has clamped fins and his top fin lies to the side. He still comes out to hang around with me but he’s not nearly as active as a couple weeks ago swimming laps around the tank happily. But he still comes out to hang out with me and seems to enjoy watching me but I’m heartbroken for him because I’m not sure if he’s just asking for help or just being social.
If anyone has ideas on how to help I’d be so grateful!

maybe call your local vet?

I would try salt but he might not make it if he is not eating.

Fin rot is caused by poor water quality. The easiest way to treat it is with big daily water changes and salt.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Add 1-2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of water. Keep the salt in the water for 2 weeks then dilute it out with 20% water changes each day for a week.
When you do the daily water changes, add salt to the new water before it's added to the tank so the salinity (salt level) remains constant.

Colin_T said:

Fin rot is caused by poor water quality. The easiest way to treat it is with big daily water changes and salt.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Add 1-2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of water. Keep the salt in the water for 2 weeks then dilute it out with 20% water changes each day for a week.
When you do the daily water changes, add salt to the new water before it's added to the tank so the salinity (salt level) remains constant.

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Thank you for this information (very much). Since he’s been in the new aquarium, I also bought the Ammonia nitrate level checker and it checks out as perfect. I think this probably set in when he was with the owner in the very small bowl with no filtration. I’ll never understand why he did that knowing what I do now!
I’ll keep refreshing water too as you suggested. Is there no medication that’s also helpful for fin rot you might suggest/have had success with?

Antibacterial medications can be used to treat bad cases of fin rot but I didn't see any fin rot on your fish. If it has fin rot, it is only a minor case and should respond to clean water and a bit of salt.

Think of fin rot like a minor scratch on your hand. It gets dirty and a little bit infected so you wash and clean it and then it heals up. Fish and all animals have a decent immune system and only need medications for major health issues. Most minor issues respond to cleaning the wound and providing the organism with good food and a nice clean environment to live in.

Fish respond to clean water and a clean environment. The big water changes and gravel cleans provide a clean environment and dilutes the number of disease organisms in the water. This allows the fish to heal itself.

The water changes will be the most effective as colin said