I think my male betta may have what seems to be pectoral fin rot...
He lives in a 10 gallon filtered/heated tank with about 6 other small fish (zebras, an african dwarf frog, a few tetras and an angel) I recently added a small water turtle to the tank after asking a few local fish store owners who gave me the "ok". my turtle hasn't been aggressive towards any of my fish at all, and in fact spends a lot of his time basting in the light.
i've never ever noticed any of the other tank mates nipping at his fins, in fact they've live in the same community for about 5 weeks now and i've had no problems. they actually all live very peacefully together. my betta is very friendly
however recently i've noticed that his pectoral fin seems to look almost as though it's rotted away and there's a few brown smudgy spots all over it. especially where the fin connects to the body. It also seems to be torn or ripped when i look at it from the side. It is only the pectoral fin on the right side of his body...the left one looks perfectly normal (I actually made the distinction of the right one looking funny when I compared it to the left).
he's still acting completely normal, swimming all around and eating like a pig. i haven't noticed any changes in his behavior.
any ideas what this could be? i also noticed that on his tail it seems that there might be a rip or tear...but it's hard to tell because if it's a tear, it's a perfect one...
I was also wondering...is it okay to add marine salt (for medicinal purposes) to my freshwater tank? i read that adding marine salt can help treat fin rot, but I wasn't sure if i could add it to my entire tank without isolating my betta.
please post any suggestions/comments...it's much appreciated!! i love my betta and I would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to him
He lives in a 10 gallon filtered/heated tank with about 6 other small fish (zebras, an african dwarf frog, a few tetras and an angel) I recently added a small water turtle to the tank after asking a few local fish store owners who gave me the "ok". my turtle hasn't been aggressive towards any of my fish at all, and in fact spends a lot of his time basting in the light.
i've never ever noticed any of the other tank mates nipping at his fins, in fact they've live in the same community for about 5 weeks now and i've had no problems. they actually all live very peacefully together. my betta is very friendly
however recently i've noticed that his pectoral fin seems to look almost as though it's rotted away and there's a few brown smudgy spots all over it. especially where the fin connects to the body. It also seems to be torn or ripped when i look at it from the side. It is only the pectoral fin on the right side of his body...the left one looks perfectly normal (I actually made the distinction of the right one looking funny when I compared it to the left).
he's still acting completely normal, swimming all around and eating like a pig. i haven't noticed any changes in his behavior.
any ideas what this could be? i also noticed that on his tail it seems that there might be a rip or tear...but it's hard to tell because if it's a tear, it's a perfect one...
I was also wondering...is it okay to add marine salt (for medicinal purposes) to my freshwater tank? i read that adding marine salt can help treat fin rot, but I wasn't sure if i could add it to my entire tank without isolating my betta.
please post any suggestions/comments...it's much appreciated!! i love my betta and I would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to him
