Betta Fish Fin Rot

[Jennilee]

Hi everyone, this is Vistopher.
Before I got a live plant I had a plastic one and I think that hurt his dorsal fin, reddit users said he has a mild case of fin rot. He is currently in a smaller tank and I am doing 30% water changes daily with aquarium salt and general tonic. Do you think his fin looks better?
The first picture was taken on Wednesday morning and second picture today. Have been treating him for 5 days now.

I also want to find out about using brewed rooibos tea as a source of tannins, can I add like 60 ml to the tank? (I used tank water to brew the tea)

He is eating, making bubble nests and very energetic so he is happy.

 

[Colin_T]

It looks about the same to me, maybe slightly better but not majorly better.

Keep treating for another week and it should have healed by then if it's going to.

To add rooibos tea you just add a small amount to the aquarium. You can add as much as you like (within reason) but the more you add, the darker the water gets and the harder it is to see the fish.

 

[Jennilee]

It looks about the same to me, maybe slightly better but not majorly better.

Keep treating for another week and it should have healed by then if it's going to.

To add rooibos tea you just add a small amount to the aquarium. You can add as much as you like (within reason) but the more you add, the darker the water gets and the harder it is to see the fish.

Thank you Colin. Will continue with treatment. Do I need to be very worried?

 

[Colin_T]

You can be worried about drug resistant bacteria, which are appearing on more and more fish. However, the fact it appears to be slightly better is a good sign.

Monitor the damaged areas (dorsal fin and top of his tail) for red areas and white fluffy stuff. The red areas (not always easy to see on red fish) are bacterial infections. The white fluffy stuff is fungus. It's unlikely to get fungus now because that needs open wounds (damaged tissue) to get in. Bacteria can get into open wounds too and are a serious problem.

The salt should help prevent secondary infections (bacteria and fungus).

What dose rate of salt did you use?
Salt used to treat minor infections should be 1 heaped tablespoon of salt per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there's no improvement after 48 hours, you can double the dose rate to 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litre of water. Keep the salt in the tank for 1 to 2 weeks then stop using it and do small water changes to dilute it out.