My betta has fin rot in my 4 month old tank! Help!

Hi! I'm a new fish keeper! I recently set up a 20 gallon tank with live plants, a baby bristlenose pleco, and a plakat betta fish. My betta has developed fin rot, and I have maracyn and test kits on the way. I do not have a hospital tank, though, and I don't have room for one, and don't have the money to create one entirely. Is it okay if I use my 5 gallon home depot bucket for a hospital tank?? Also, I heard somewhere that bettas can die of lack of oxygen in buckets long term. Is this true? And finally, can I leave the heater and filter in my 20 gallon and put my betta in the bucket with nothing? It would only be 1 week, I can't put in my filter anyway, and my pleco baby needs the heater. However, the tank is in my basement and it gets down to 68 degrees fahrenheit. Is this ok for 1 week? Someone said that lower temps will kill bacteria, so will it actually be helpful? The only other thought I had was to put both the pleco baby and betta in the bucket, and be able to use the heater. But then, would that affect my tank by killing bacteria, and also, would it cause injury to my pleco being kept with his nemisis with no places to hide and only 5 gallons, mostly vertical? I just don't know what to do and I'm freaking out. I really need seriously useful information and helpful advice ASAP. Thanks in advance, plese get back to me if you can help. I would SERIOUSLY appreciate it!!

How do you know it has fin rot? Photos please.

Also parameters of your tank pH and hardness, Thanks

A large and suitably clean bucket would be fine as an emergency 'hospital' tank. A cover would be a good idea, to minimise the risk of jumping and leaving small gaps, so that air can still enter the water.
Consider getting a cheap aerator and run an airstone, to enhance oxygenation.
NOTE that Betta do suffer the cold and should be kept at least 75℉ minimum.
A cheap heater would be a good idea, (it's always good to have a 'spare' anyways), but consider that the water will reach the temperature of your home, so you could just keep one room in your house toasty. (Cheaper to get a heater, methinks ).
Throw in some plants, (especially floaters) and you have your hospital tank.

It's definitely fin rot, but it's early right now. These were taken yesterday, he used to have a spade shaped tail, now it's round and looks a bit ragged. His fins also look thin and duller than usual. He's still eating and swiming fine, comes up for air. I need to do something now so it doesn't get worse. Also, I have a well, so we have hard, chlorine free water with a ph of 7.5 I thought this was all you needed originally, I didn't realize you had to test every week for all the other stuff. I ordered some maracyn and a test kit with 800 whatevers in it. So I can use it 800 times. It was the cheapest one by the cheapest brand, cost me 30$ for both the maracyn and test kit. That was exactly all left in my account for spending. Where can I find a cheap airstone, how much do they cost, and how do they work? I will ask to borrow some money from my parents to see if they will help out.

Look through all the pics, the last one was a few months ago when I had just seen the initial notch that started it all... those pics were taken back before I had plants. Thanks so much!!

What do you call ‘hard’ water..? Betta are a soft water species

Fish Hobbyist said:

I need to do something now so it doesn't get worse.

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No argument here.

Fish Hobbyist said:

Also, I have a well, so we have hard, chlorine free water with a ph of 7.5 I thought this was all you needed originally.

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Whilst your well may be chlorine-free, it may well have heavy metals and other contaminants in it. Any water, regardless of source, should be treated with a water conditioner, prior to using in a tank.

Fish Hobbyist said:

I didn't realize you had to test every week for all the other stuff. I ordered some maracyn and a test kit with 800 whatevers in it. So I can use it 800 times. It was the cheapest one by the cheapest brand, cost me 30$ for both the maracyn and test kit. That was exactly all left in my account for spending.

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Yep...as with most hobbies, setting up can be expensive, but think of every purchase as an investment...and hold off spending money on medications. If you look after the tank properly, your fish are less likely to get sick and, even if they do, more often than not, water changes and/or tweaking temperatures can work wonders.

Fish Hobbyist said:

Where can I find a cheap airstone, how much do they cost, and how do they work? I will ask to borrow some money from my parents to see if they will help out.

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You buy an airpump. This pumps air and can be used to run airstones, or even basic sponge filters. An air pump is one of those not-quite-essential-but-you'll-be-glad-you've-got-one items. Again, a useful investment. As you're Stateside, I can't comment on prices, but here in the UK you can get a reasonable one for about £10-£12. An airstone, (assuming your airpump doesn't already include one), will cost about £2 or less.

He doesn't look that bad to me. If you test the parameters of your water and everything is good, I would just focus on doing more frequent water changes and keeping the water pristine for a while and see if that helps. It can be disruptive and stressful for a betta to do all of that moving him into a bucket and treating him, etc. When I was early in the hobby I did that with a betta who I thought needed slight treatment and he died from the stress of it all I think. Now I try to keep them where they are and focus on clean water and it usually helps.

NannaLou said:

What do you call ‘hard’ water..? Betta are a soft water species

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I don't know, it's just what my dad said ...

Can you look at your water provider's website to see if they give the hardness? You need a number and the unit of measurement (there are several they could use)

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

No argument here.

Whilst your well may be chlorine-free, it may well have heavy metals and other contaminants in it. Any water, regardless of source, should be treated with a water conditioner, prior to using in a tank.

Yep...as with most hobbies, setting up can be expensive, but think of every purchase as an investment...and hold off spending money on medications. If you look after the tank properly, your fish are less likely to get sick and, even if they do, more often than not, water changes and/or tweaking temperatures can work wonders.

You buy an airpump. This pumps air and can be used to run airstones, or even basic sponge filters. An air pump is one of those not-quite-essential-but-you'll-be-glad-you've-got-one items. Again, a useful investment. As you're Stateside, I can't comment on prices, but here in the UK you can get a reasonable one for about £10-£12. An airstone, (assuming your airpump doesn't already include one), will cost about £2 or less.

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I was looking online and found petsmart has one for $5, but people are leaving reveiws saying it doesn't say what size of hosing it takes. So it makes me think there are multiple peices you have to buy separately. What parts will I need? Just the hose and the aerator? Also, should I just put my betta in the bucket with the airstone? I'll put a hardcover Children's book or something on top and leave just a small gap, maybe ¾ inch. (Like 1 ½ cm gap). Will he be fine without the heater? I'll see if I can convince my parents to let me bring him upstairs, where it's about 72 degrees fahrenheit. His tank is 77.1 degrees most often. Wish I knew how to convert that to Celsius... sorry

Essjay said:

Can you look at your water provider's website to see if they give the hardness? You need a number and the unit of measurement (there are several they could use)

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We have a well on our property.

Fish Hobbyist said:

I don't know, it's just what my dad said ...

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When you get your test kit, you should be able to test for water hardness. Look to test for GH...'General Hardness' and KH...'Carbonate Hardness'.
Assuming you're the guy taking on the care of your fish, then you're then one that has to learn about their care. Never just accept what your Dad, or anyone at the pet store says...always, ALWAYS, check it out yourself, using a quality resource, like this place. Even the likes of Wikipedia has its uses, as most stuff has to be accurate in there, whereas there is a lot of complete rubbish on some forums and YouTube videos.
(That said, there are some quality YouTube videos about. Look for Aquarium Co-Op, KGTropicals and Rachel O'Leary, for starters).

Fish Hobbyist said:

We have a well on our property.

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Like I said, you still need to add water conditioner and, when you do get your test kit, you'll be using it.

Fish Hobbyist said:

I was looking online and found petsmart has one for $5, but people are leaving reveiws saying it doesn't say what size of hosing it takes. So it makes me think there are multiple peices you have to buy separately. What parts will I need? Just the hose and the aerator? Also, should I just put my betta in the bucket with the airstone? I'll put a hardcover Children's book or something on top and leave just a small gap, maybe ¾ inch. (Like 1 ½ cm gap). Will he be fine without the heater? I'll see if I can convince my parents to let me bring him upstairs, where it's about 72 degrees fahrenheit. His tank is 77.1 degrees most often. Wish I knew how to convert that to Celsius... sorry

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Hosing is a standard size and this is cheap. The airpump is connected to the hose is connected to the airstone. If you were to put him in a bucket, an operating air pump and airstone would be very helpful, but not essential.
Temperature is important, however.
Betta need 75 to 80 ℉, or 24 to 27℃. You can Google a lot of this info. (I just did ).

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Like I said, you still need to add water conditioner and, when you do get your test kit, you'll be using it.

Hosing is a standard size and this is cheap. The airpump is connected to the hose is connected to the airstone. If you were to put him in a bucket, an operating air pump and airstone would be very helpful, but not essential.
Temperature is important, however.
Betta need 75 to 80 ℉, or 24 to 27℃. You can Google a lot of this info. (I just did ).

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I found a kit on Amazon (we also have Prime). I think I'm going to get that. It comes with hosing, a pump, and an airstone.

Also, as for the temperature, his tank stays at 77.1- 78 degrees fahrenheit consistently. I talked to my mom and she recommended I put the bucket in my grandmother's house. We turned our garage into an apartment when I was little, so she has her own space. The best part, though, is that she keeps the apartment very warm- typically about 80 degrees. So the bucket shouldn't be too cold that he will be very stressed. I expect the water to hover at 70-72 degrees fahrenheit, which is colder than he's used to, but I'll acclimate him going into the bucket, and then again going back into his tank.

As for Zeus (my betta's name), I have Maracyn on the way, so he should be alright. But also, he looks better today for some reason. His ventral fin was shredded looking and clamped to his chest, now about ¾ of the fin is back and there is some clear parts. His tail also looks like it has a bit of a spade shape again. The strange thing is that he essentially healed a tiny bit over last day and a half. I did fast him because also got a bit of bloat, it goes away after a day of fasting. It's also not been happening very often as I soak his pellet before giving it to him.