At End Of My Tether Can I Cut His Fins?

[babybell911]

I'm only using half treatment of melafix and when I used the treatment it was a seven day course so I didnt change the water until the end of the treatment. The ammonia is 0 as is nitrite and on a recent test nitrate is <10 so the water should be fine. It's a 6 Gallon tank and he looks happy enough in there so I dont think it's stress

 

[jollysue]

As I said, the issue with infections and infestations is the bacterial/parasite/fungus load (bio load.) There is no lps test kit for that. You would need a lab. If there is infection there is a bacterial load in the water. Consider soaking a cut on your hand in a tub of infected water. That is what your fish is swimming in. There are always bacteria, etc in the water. When a fin is damaged on a Betta, if the water is not kept very clean (translate: very little bacteria) the fin can become infected. If the fin becomes infected and the water is not kept very clean then the infection spreads and kills the fish.

 

[babybell911]

I dont see how the bacteria load can get out of control there's my betta a small apple snail (5p size) and thats it. He only ever gets fed what he eats never over so there's no waste on that. Filter is elite mini and water changes are frequent x

 

[wuvmybetta]

trimming fins is no big deal, and it doesn't harm the fish. It can be stressful for both of you though so if you do it- do it accurately and quickly. Use a clean razor and a wet towel to lie him on. I personally think it would be best to put him in a jar with methylene blue for a couple of hours before returning him to his cycled tank.

and you're probably correct to suspect the gravel.

 

[jollysue]

I'm sorry I offended you, babybell. I must be tired, and I guess I failed to mention that fin rot is caused by a bacterial infection. Gravel is surely a major lurking place for that. The nitrogen cycle really has little to nothing to do with bacterial infections, other than the stress caused by poor water stats.

 

[babybell911]

No offence caused Sue I really apprciate the help in understanding it all. Ok I'll give it a major clean out tomorrow get rid of the gravel and hope for the best with the new interpret treatment then If that fails cutting it may have to be Thanks for all of your help xx

 

[jollysue]

If wuv says it's ok to cut them, you are going to do a major clean up, and you have the heart for it, maybe the trim would be a good move, esp with the Interpret. The trimming I have no clue about, but wuv does!

Good luck!

 

[babybell911]

Ok I cleaned out the tank them whacked it on the bath so I'm now repairing a small crack in the bottom corner! Duh. Hades has been moved to an 11 litre whilst I'm repairing it I've kept it plain as possible no gravel bit of java moss and a pot to hide in.

I trimmed him a little bit got most of the edge of he's looks slightly plakat ish now! The trimming took about 3 seconds getting him the right took about 10 seconds cos he kept flippin about but when i restrained him with a wet cloth he was fine. He looked a little bit pi**ed at me but I gave him some blood worms later and he forgave me pretty quickly.

I'm going to keep treating with half doses of melafix to promote the regrowth and hopefully it'll all go perfectly and he'll get his beautiful tail back. The interpret is a one dose in seven days thing so I'm not sure if I should change the water until the seven days is up.