BETTA FIN ROT? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

[Ashwate20]

Hey everyone, I have had my beta Neptune for about 6 months now. He is in a 2.5 gallon tank with a small filter, water heater, and a couple sprouted pothos cuttings. The temp is consistently around 80 degrees. I change the water 50% twice a week and clean the tank every 2-3 weeks. I test the water pretty frequently and the Ph is above 7, ammonia is a little above 0, and the nitrates and nitrites were low like they are supposed to be. Lately his fins have been getting more torn I believe due to fin rot. I started using Stressfix hoping that will help. There’s also been trouble with some brown algae growing on the walls. I posted some pictures of the tank setup. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Sgooosh]

Hey everyone, I have had my beta Neptune for about 6 months now. He is in a 2.5 gallon tank with a small filter, water heater, and a couple sprouted pothos cuttings. The temp is consistently around 80 degrees. I change the water 50% twice a week and clean the tank every 2-3 weeks. I test the water pretty frequently and the Ph is above 7, ammonia is a little above 0, and the nitrates and nitrites were low like they are supposed to be. Lately his fins have been getting more torn I believe due to fin rot. I started using Stressfix hoping that will help. There’s also been trouble with some brown algae growing on the walls. I posted some pictures of the tank setup. What am I doing wrong?

no change 50% at LEAST a week preferably 2 times a week because you have a small tank. maybe the plants are scratiching him? you should get rif of them and do a loooooot of water changes. nitrite and ammonia should be at 0 not low, so water change it out
i dont know a lot about bettas or fin rot so maybe someone else will respond with something better

 

[EllRog]

In a tank that small you will really struggle to keep the parameters in good enough condition to avoid making your betta sick. You're doing 50%+ water changes, twice a week and still getting ammonia and nitrite results above 0. Think you should get a tank atleast double the size and lots of live plants!

 

[Sgooosh]

In a tank that small you will really struggle to keep the parameters in good enough condition to avoid making your betta sick. You're doing 50%+ water changes, twice a week and still getting ammonia and nitrite results above 0. Think you should get a tank atleast double the size and lots of live plants!

yes some live plants do not hurt betta fins. also big tank means more stable water. also stress thingies do help treat it sometimes but with ammonia and nitrite both present, it will not treat

 

[Ashwate20]

In a tank that small you will really struggle to keep the parameters in good enough condition to avoid making your betta sick. You're doing 50%+ water changes, twice a week and still getting ammonia and nitrite results above 0. Think you should get a tank atleast double the size and lots of live plants!

Yes I’ve been thinking about upgrading the tank size so I will definitely consider getting him a bigger tank.

 

[Kyle E.]

That plant on the left side of the tank. It looks plastic in the picture. Is this true?

Plastic plants in a betta tank frequently tear a betta's delicate fins. Get either silk plants or all live.

Other than that fin rot is usually caused by poor water quality. If you have ammonia a little above zero you need to keep a close eye on it. If you could give us the exact measurement that would be great. What test kit do you use? Strips, or liquid?

Is he still eating and acting fine?

I don't see any algae so it doesn't look like you have a major algae problem. All tanks have some algae growth, it's not possible to not have any algae.

For treatment start with using aquarium salt. I will leave the dosage to others but it will treat it easily.

If it IS a plastic plant that ripped his fins then I would still put salt in because damaged fins can lead to fin rot so even if he doesn't have it now, he likely will get it later.

Your maintenance routine sounds great! Could you specify how you clean your filter? Do you use tank water to clean it or tap water? If you use tap water to clean it then the chlorine in it will kill the beneficial bacteria and crash your cycle so this could be why you have some ammonia readings.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

You're doing as good a job as you can with the tank you have. If you do have the ability to get a 5 gallon please do. Good job with the water changes and stable temperature. As noted above, nitrite and ammonia should be zero, not low. So keep those at 0 (will be easier with a larger tank).

 

[EllRog]

Yes I’ve been thinking about upgrading the tank size so I will definitely consider getting him a bigger tank.

If it was me, I'd invest in a bigger tank and remove anything sharp that he can catch his fins on. Until he's in a bigger tank, I'd be doing daily water changes of atleast 75%. Not only to stop the tears in his fins from getting infected, but also to keep the ammonia and niritie at 0. Without changing a lot of water daily, you'll struggle to keep those at 0

 

[Kyle E.]

n a tank that small you will really struggle to keep the parameters in good enough condition to avoid making your betta sick. You're doing 50%+ water changes, twice a week and still getting ammonia and nitrite results above 0. Think you should get a tank atleast double the size and lots of live plants!

I don't believe this is the things of most concern right now. Yes it is recommended that you get a tank at least 5 gallons but it sounds like they are doing a pheromonal job of tank maintenance so I think that something specific is causing the ammonia, not just the smaller tank.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

One thing I just noticed is your filter doesn't have a sponge over the intake tube. It's possible that maybe his fins are getting stuck on or sucked a bit on the intake tube when he passes it. Fluval sells a pre-intake filter (cylindrical sponge thing) that you can add to alleviate any issues. Just a thought.

 

[Kyle E.]

Ooh that's a thought as well. Didn't think about that one. Yeah betta's don't like a lot of flow in their tanks either so if the filter has a strong current it can stress him out trying to fight against it all the time.

 

[Ashwate20]

One thing I just noticed is your filter doesn't have a sponge over the intake tube. It's possible that maybe his fins are getting stuck on or sucked a bit on the intake tube when he passes it. Fluval sells a pre-intake filter (cylindrical sponge thing) that you can add to alleviate any issues. Just a thought.

Okay, I’ll look into that, I know with some of my past tanks have had that sponge. Thanks

 

[Ashwate20]

If it was me, I'd invest in a bigger tank and remove anything sharp that he can catch his fins on. Until he's in a bigger tank, I'd be doing daily water changes of atleast 75%. Not only to stop the tears in his fins from getting infected, but also to keep the ammonia and niritie at 0. Without changing a lot of water daily, you'll struggle to keep those at 0

I’ll plan on getting a larger tank then for now. My beta is always energetic, I’m just concerned about his fins. But I’m sure he’d do a lot better in a bigger tank.

 

[Sgooosh]

I’ll plan on getting a larger tank then for now. My beta is always energetic, I’m just concerned about his fins. But I’m sure he’d do a lot better in a bigger tank.

yes plus things dont fluctuate