Treating Betta with Fin Rot with Melafix

[rdd1952]

The instructions on the Melafix bottle do not mention water changes but everything I seem to find says do a water change everyday, most saying 100%. The one thing that concerns me about all the water changes is the stress factor. Since fin rot is mainly caused by stress, does it not seem that the whole process of netting the fish, putting him in a bowl, leaving him there for the 10 minutes it takes to do water change, catching him again, sticking in a plastic bag, and floating to acclimate to fresh water would cause way more stress damage than just leaving him in perfectly good water. My water parameters are absolutely perfect: ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all 0 (I have live plants in 2.5 gallon so nitrates are 0) pH stable at 7.0. Since I started treating him, I check it every day and it is always the same. Why should I change this water every day and stress him more?

 

[SRC]

You need to do water changes everyday while using Melafix..just make fresh water and a new dose everyday...otherwsie it will be too strong and possibly harm or kill your friend.

Netting is not that stressful on the fish imo, unless you are just chasing him around the tank and not scooping him up. You can also just pour the water out of the tank and catch him in the net too.

 

[Raechal]

Depending on how big the tank is, I usually get a clean plastic cup that I only use for each tank and submerge it in the water and let the fish just swim into the cup. Then when I "catch" him I gently scoop the fish up and leave him in the cup until I change his water.

Although I dropped my male betta in the sink today. Thought he was going to flip and sink down one of the wholes in the drain. I quickly scooped him up with my hands and plopped him back into his bowl.