I don't consider this an emergency, but it is certainly a persistent problem I have had with one of my betta's and I'm looking for some advice on treatment. Parameters are currently unknown save that the pH is 8-8.2 and that temperature is steady between 77-80F.
My one Betta, Copper, used to live in the 2 gal was suffering from a pesky case of fin rot - he wasn't getting worse, but his fins just weren't growing back. I assumed this was because it was a rather small tank and the heater I had managed to keep it at about 73 degrees (It's one of those cheap ones which you couldn't set the temperature on.)
I recently came into a 20 gal long tank and decided to put all my betta's together (With opaque dividers so the betta's can only see each other sometimes). So Copper went from 2 gal to about 6 gal, with all new substrate and decorations (and a better heater). Each of the three sections of the tank has it's own filter, one filter (a Marina Slim S10) is cycled, the other two (An air powered filter and a top fin multistage internal filter) are not cycled.
This 20 gal has been set up since last Friday (Feb 10), so it has been just over a week and all appeared fine, Copper's fin rot did not seem aggravated by the change in scenery. I did my first water change on the tank this Friday (Feb 17), I changed about 30% of the water and added the recommended doses of Seachem plant food and Nutrafin waste control (Not necessary with such a new tank but I thought I would keep in the habit of it.) I live on a well, my water is not chlorinated (But I dechlorinate anyways). On Saturday morning I went to feed them and Copper's fin rot was much worse. I wasn't expecting this; if his fin rot was to get worse I would have expected it to be last Friday when I initially moved him, not a week later after the first change - it wasn't even a particularly large one.
As a treatment for his fin rot (I'm treating the whole 20 gal to ensure that my other two betta's don't get sick, as they have already been exposed to it) I have added 5 tbsp of aquarium salt (= 15 tbsp) (I found conflicting information about how much salt to add and this amount was somewhere in the middle as far as dosing.) I also added 5 tsp of Bettafix; I've read that it interferes with their gill function, but I have also read that it is a decent antiseptic so I don't really know what to believe about it.
I am hoping for advice on how I can get this fin rot under control, also opinions on my current method of treatment. I very much believe in following prescription/directions to a T, however with conflicting information I don't want to kill my fish due to an overdose.
It didn't seem much worse this morning, but then again it has been a fairly chronic case which I attributed to stress (between small tank size and low water temperature.) I was expecting his fin rot to get better and this set back is really discouraging and I don't want him to contract something worse.
My one Betta, Copper, used to live in the 2 gal was suffering from a pesky case of fin rot - he wasn't getting worse, but his fins just weren't growing back. I assumed this was because it was a rather small tank and the heater I had managed to keep it at about 73 degrees (It's one of those cheap ones which you couldn't set the temperature on.)
I recently came into a 20 gal long tank and decided to put all my betta's together (With opaque dividers so the betta's can only see each other sometimes). So Copper went from 2 gal to about 6 gal, with all new substrate and decorations (and a better heater). Each of the three sections of the tank has it's own filter, one filter (a Marina Slim S10) is cycled, the other two (An air powered filter and a top fin multistage internal filter) are not cycled.
This 20 gal has been set up since last Friday (Feb 10), so it has been just over a week and all appeared fine, Copper's fin rot did not seem aggravated by the change in scenery. I did my first water change on the tank this Friday (Feb 17), I changed about 30% of the water and added the recommended doses of Seachem plant food and Nutrafin waste control (Not necessary with such a new tank but I thought I would keep in the habit of it.) I live on a well, my water is not chlorinated (But I dechlorinate anyways). On Saturday morning I went to feed them and Copper's fin rot was much worse. I wasn't expecting this; if his fin rot was to get worse I would have expected it to be last Friday when I initially moved him, not a week later after the first change - it wasn't even a particularly large one.
As a treatment for his fin rot (I'm treating the whole 20 gal to ensure that my other two betta's don't get sick, as they have already been exposed to it) I have added 5 tbsp of aquarium salt (= 15 tbsp) (I found conflicting information about how much salt to add and this amount was somewhere in the middle as far as dosing.) I also added 5 tsp of Bettafix; I've read that it interferes with their gill function, but I have also read that it is a decent antiseptic so I don't really know what to believe about it.
I am hoping for advice on how I can get this fin rot under control, also opinions on my current method of treatment. I very much believe in following prescription/directions to a T, however with conflicting information I don't want to kill my fish due to an overdose.
It didn't seem much worse this morning, but then again it has been a fairly chronic case which I attributed to stress (between small tank size and low water temperature.) I was expecting his fin rot to get better and this set back is really discouraging and I don't want him to contract something worse.
