HELP!! My betta fish has severe black fin rot on his tail and I have no idea how to help him.

[Lovelybee427]

My betta fish Ronnie has had fin rot for about a month and I have done almost everything I can to help the situation but am stuck on what to do. I have been doing 100% water changes for the past few days and adding aquarium salt and adding Stress Coat + to get the chlorine out of his water, but have tried almost every possible fix in the book. The nitrite and nitrate levels in his tank are steady so that's not an issue. I'm not sure if I need to use BETTAFIX, MELAFIX, give him salt baths, or what. He has been doing well and was in high spirits but his mood and overall health has been declining over time due to his rapidly declining condition. The rot is getting dangerously close to his body (if it hasn't already) and I'm afraid that it will get to a point where he wont be able to bounce back unless I step in with an aggressive treatment for him. If someone has dealt with this issue before please tell me how you fixed it. I really care about this fish and would be heartbroken if something were to happen to him.

 

[Kyle E.]

@Colin_T

 

[Colin_T]

How much are you feeding him and what are you feeding him?

Feed him 3-5 times a day for a month and use a variety of frozen (but defrosted), live and dry foods. The extra food should help boost his immune system and might help him fight the infection.

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How much salt are you adding?

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there's no improvement after a week of salt you might need to try a broad spectrum medication or get a fish vet to take a sample and identify what is causing the infection.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[Lovelybee427]

@Colin_T You are a lifesaver, thank you! I have been feeding him three BettaMin worm shaped bites 2 times a day, once in the afternoon and once at night. And I have him in a 2.5 gallon tank (i'm a college student so I sadly couldn't bring a 5 gallon tank to school with me, there wasn't enough room) and have been putting 2 1/2 teaspoons of aquarium salt in his tank. I will invest in some frozen foods for him. Question: because I have already been treating him with salt for some time should I start the 2 week salt treatment now? I'm afraid if I continue on for 2 more weeks that his kidney could be damaged. Also, because his case is severe I don't believe that he could fully recover in 2 weeks. Does that mean that if he were to be recovering steadily but not fully healed and his two weeks of treatment were up that I should still begin switching out the salt water in his tank with fresh water? While trying to cure his disease I'd hate to cause another issue with his kidney, but I also understand that there might not be another way to go about it.

 

[hansgruber7]

You say nitrite and nitrate are steady, but what are the levels? And what about ammonia? I wouldn't recommend 100% water changes by the way, maybe do 80% to preserve more of the beneficial bacteria. Do you have a filter?

 

[Colin_T]

Start the 2 weeks of higher dose rate of salt now.

Hopefully the salt will kill whatever is causing the infection and allow it to heal. The fin won't grow back completely in the next 2 weeks but the salt should stop the infection so it can heal and grow.

If it doesn't improve after a week of the higher dose rate of salt, then you will need to try something else.

 

[Lovelybee427]

Start the 2 weeks of higher dose rate of salt now.

Hopefully the salt will kill whatever is causing the infection and allow it to heal. The fin won't grow back completely in the next 2 weeks but the salt should stop the infection so it can heal and grow.

If it doesn't improve after a week of the higher dose rate of salt, then you will need to try something else.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[Colin_T]

don't thank me yet, it might not survive.

 

[Lovelybee427]

don't thank me yet, it might not survive.

Sadly that is something that I've been stressing over for quite some time. Even so, I appreciate you reaching out to help, so thank you.