Could it be finrot?

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi,

I noticed this morning that my betta Bob seems to either have fin rot or he injured himself. He has sand for substrate, and yesterday I saw him weaving in and out of one of his plants. Could he have scratched them on the sand? In either case, his tail fin is splitting in four spots. I added some salt, should I add betta fix too? He is eating like normal and swimming around, he doesn't seem bothered by it at all. But like any new mom I am worried. Is there something more I should do? Increase his water changes? I change 20% of his water every day. Here is a pic of his tank

Sorry, I can't get a close up of Bob's tail, he doesn't like the camera very much. The splits look clean, they don't look like tears. You can kind of see them in this pic

The splits in his tail were not there yesterday. What should I do? Thanks for your help.

 

[Kiarra]

I don't see anything in his tank that could possibly have hurt him.....

If you want to add some Bettafix, then that should be fine. Keep to whatever dosage it has on the bottle. Some people swear by it; I personally don't use it, so can't tell you much about it.

Adding the salt was a good move.

It doesn't look serious for now, and his fins look too clean right now for finrot (what little I can see of the jetting little blur). Just keep up with his water changes and keep an eye on him. If it gets worse, take more aggressive action, like adding the Bettafix if you decide not to add it right now.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I think I might add some Bettafix and see how it goes. I added 1 tbs of salt to his 5G tank. Is that enough, too much, or just right? The directions said to add 1tbs for every 5G and he seems ok. I don't want to hurt him anymore than he already is.

The bettafix says I shouldn't do a water change while I am treating. The thing is, his tank isn't filtered, which is why I change 20% daily. Would it be safe for me to go 7 days without changing his water? Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Kiarra]

The dosage on the salt is good.

In a 5 gallon tank with one fish, it would be fine to go 7 days during treatment without changing the water out. Just make sure to take like a turkey baster and siphon out uneaten food and waste.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Thank you very much.