Continuous, prolonged Medicating

[Loboto-Me]

I have had my betta for a long time now. He's very very active, and playful so I assume he's happy and healthy. The only problem is, he's a chronic tail chaser/eater.
At one point his tail was so short, he looked like a plakat wanna-be (he's a veiltail BTW). I've had him on meds since about one month after having him. The first meds were "BettaFix" which seemed to stop most of the extra disintergration (looked like tail rot was setting in). After that bottle ran out, I put him on MelaFix. What an awesome difference that made. Within 3 weeks his tail became almost normal again.
My question is, how long is too long on meds? I'm afraid that his labyrinth may be harmed by prolonged use. His tail was just about normal a few weeks ago, and he realized that it was within easy reach again and managed to get hold of it again. It's not in too bad a shape, but naturally, I'm continuing the meds so that tail/fin rot don't set in.

What do you think?

 

[cutecotton]

i wouldn't recommend putting your betta on melafix or any other medication for so long. i think it could desensitize him to it as well, and make it stop wokring after a while.

If you're worrieda bout the fin rot, try adding salt in instead of the medicine, salt should prevent bacteria from growing and stuff. Also fin rot is usually caused by dirty water, so if you keep his water extra clean (since he likes to bite his tail), he should be fine wihtout the melafix.

I try not to let my bettas bathe in medication for too long, it just does'nt seem to healthy it's like you constnatly drinking cough syrup or something lol.

 

[Loboto-Me]

That's what I was starting to think as well (desensitization). I do add aquarium salt to his water, and do regular partial changes except when algae sets in, then I do full water changes.
Tail rot set in at the beginning I beleive, but never was absolutely positive. I assumed the slight discoloration at the tips of his bite marks were the beginnings of it. Unfortunately, every time his tail would start coming in he'd bite some more. so I continued medicating.
His playful, comical disposition has never changed, so I can't be positive that he was ever actually sick or even stressed (making him chase his own tail). Perhaps he's just a super aggressive guy who's too silly to realize that the tail chasing behind him is his own and not some other fish).
I did a partial change yesterday, but didn't add any meds to his tank. I figured that there are still residues from last week treatment cycle in the water I left in there.

 

[cutecotton]

acutally (correct me if i'm wrong guys ) but i believe the colorless bits are his tial growing back. when my betta got wounded i notice the new parts that grew back to were transparent. I believe finrot is a dark black lining around the tail which is a sign of fin rot starting.

Try taking away the medication and using salt only, see how he does, if you notice dark linings around his tail then i guess use hte meds again, otherwise, the colorless parts could most liekly be his tail gorwing back.

When my betta's tail got shredded (i believe he bit it off like yours), he never really got depressed or stressed about it, just his tail was shredded, otherwise he was fine.

 

[Mike&Diana]

I was actually going to ask the same question about the meds. My fish stopped chasing his tail for about a week and it started growing back with Melaix...but now he's at it again! It's so funny to watch, but at the same time, I feel so bad for him. He has the most beautiful fins before! But I've also had my betta on meds for quite awhile...so it's good to know that it may desensitize him. I will also just continue to add salt from now on. I just didn't think that salt could promote tail growth? Can it?

Diana

 

[cutecotton]

well, salt may indirectly promote tail growth becuase it'll keep the bacteria and stuff from growing too fast in the tank, so basically it keeps it clean, which in turn allows the betta's tail to regrow faster

 

[Loboto-Me]

You're right cutecotton, the clear tissue is the tail or fin growing back. When it is a dark discolouration, most likely it is tail rot.
By discolouration, I did mean dark colouring, rather than new tail tissue.
I will continue doing partial changes every few days, until all of the meds in his tank are so dilute that the amounts are negligible.
Then I'll do a full waterchange and add aquarium salt. I have a hard time measuring the salt for partial changes of a 1 gal tank. Salt minerals tend to stay in the water as the water either evaporates so I would not like to overdose on the salt either. That's the reason I only add salt when it's time for a full change of water for Tatsumi.

PS: My son named my boy on the way home with him. We were looking for asian sounding names and he suggested Tatsumi as a mistake. He actually wanted to say Tsunami, but it came out as Tatsumi.... I liked the name and decided to keep it. For fun about a month ago, I searched the internet to see if Tatsumi is actually a real word. I found it... and it's actually a NAME. It means "Beautiful Dragon" in japanese... which I found to be such a fitting name for him I think that bettas are actually beautiful little water dragons

 

[Origami Gourami]

That's a nice little tale Loboto-Me, nice to hear how animals get their names!

Sorry to hear you're still struggling with your nutty betta! Love the name...

PS At least Melafix is all natural ingredients as I understand it, I'm sure there's worse meds to have used long term...