Betta with fin-rot?

Question

My betta got fin rot shortly after I added him into my community tank. None of the other fish showed signs of the fungus so I began to think it was a bacteria only prone to Betta's but I still looked up fin-rot and he shows all the symptoms so thats what Im going with. I took him out of the tank and placed him in the little container that i bought him in (I always save them just in case >.>) and I have him medicated with Fungus Clear.

So anyways, my question:

How long should it take before he's cured? If this is causing him unecessary pain, ill be willing to euthanize him but that'd be as a last resort and I really wouldnt want to do that. Does anyone else have any suggestions on some other, stronger, medications that I can use? Ive had him in the container with the meds for two days now with no signs of improvement.


In the tank I have:
Two calico fantail goldfish.
Four Marigold swordtails.
Two rubbernosed pleco's.
Two tetra-like fish.

THESE FISH ARE IN A 25 GALLON TANK!
Not a goldfish bowl!

S'more details:
Ive had my tank this way, (without the Betta, hes new) for a while now and it's never been any sort of problem. The Goldfish need a minimum of ten gallons per fish and the other fish need a gallon per inch so im just six gallons below the req which is just fine.

My Pleco's are shy and creep away from the even the tetra's touch. Its not gonna cause a problem to my goldfish any time soon. Plus, i have a live planted tank with random algae flurishes every now and then which keeps them busy. When they do start causing a problem ill do soemthing about it.

Answer 1

are you sure its fin rot? bettas suffer a certain amount of fin loss from physical stress. this makes their fins look jaggedy.

fin rot is something entirely different. if the fins are falling off in bits like you lose dead skin off of dry patches than your fish has fin rot and it isn't a fungus its a bacteria. what i do is combine maracyn and maracyn2 -- they are antibiotics. you treat them in an isolated tank for 5 days. you will need a bigger container than what you have -- about a gallon -- it is impossible to dose antibiotics in anything smaller.

fish fins don't really feel pain -- however the bacteria fin rot will kill the fish if it eats up to the body because the body does feel pain. it is a flesh eating bacteria that starts on fins and goes from there. when i have a betta with it sometimes it goes really fast -- like 1/2 the fins are gone in a day -- thats the whole fin. not just little bits. so acting fast is really the key. if you have melafix or something like that you could use that until you get to the store for antibiotics. but you will need antibiotics and not fungus meds.

Answer 2

OK ... first of all fin rot is not a fungus and the fungus clear won't treat it. I know... I know, but it really isn't, that's why you have seen no improvement yet. Odds are good the bacteria was in your tank all along but couldn't attack your healthy fish, the betts tail was probably injured slightly when you bought him and that allowed the fin rot to set in.

Fin Rot, or peduncle disease is caused by one of several different species of Cytophaga bacteria. Another name for the disease is coldwater disease because it's more often found in coldwater. It does not do well in warm, tanks, so get your heat up to 80 - 82 while you are treating.

You need to treat the entire tank, not just the one sick fish so the first step is to remove the carbon from your filter and do a large (50 - 60%) water change. Then turn the temp up and tret with a gram negative antibiotic. Be sure to use gram negative as a gram positive anitbiotic will have very little effect on the tougher gram negative bacteria. Furanace is a very good treatment option if you can get it. Also Sulfamerazine, Oxytetracycline or Sulfisoxazole. That's not a complete list, just a few good ones. Treat the tank for a full 7-10 days to be sure you have killed off the bacteria in the fishes system, even if you see improvement before then.

Since you need to treat the whole tank anyway, you might as well move him back into the tank.

Dont' put the carbon back before the treatment is finished, it will remove the medicine from the water.

Be aware that this treatment will also kill off the good bacteria in your tank and you will get an ammonia spike, so after treating for 3 days begin to do 25-30% water canges every day until the ammonia cycles back down. Yep, you will need a test kit to keep track of it, but with that many fish in an uncycled tank, you need to keep close track of it and change even more water daily if needed to keep it safe.

This treatment will work, but it's lots of work.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

OK first of all you should NEVER have a betta, a pleco , swordtail, or tetra like fish in a goldfish tank. That is asking for trouble. The betta should never EVER go back in or this will happen again and again. Fungus clear is ok, but you need to add a little aquarium salt, and make sure his water temp is about 80 degrees.

The fin rot wont cause pain per say.....the only other thing that might help is if you have some human type amoxicillin....mix a little in safe water (just a few power pieces) and mix it in the water. Amox is safe for fish in SMALL doses.

Answer 4

It should clear up soon, the fins will start turning black around the edges while they heal. I hope you have a 40 gallon tank for those fish, if less you are overstocked. Bettas, I find, tend toward losing most of their long finnage in community tanks with strong filtration and fish who randomly nip their fins thinking they are food. It is good because it helps them get around better. Even though they look less beautiful, they function better in the tank. Torn fins and fin rot does not cause physical pain to the fish.
Just to let you know, the plecos will sooner or later start eating away at the sides of the goldfish. You should never have sucker fish and goldfish together.

Answer 5

You are on the right track with the meds you are using. We as breeders perfer Fungus Eliminator by jungle labs as a good all around fungus medication. We also use mercurochrome, but with this med. you must apply it to the affected fish directly avoiding the gill areas. It is however the best cure.

Your betta should be in a isolation jar and have daily water changes until he is better. A nice vase would work great for this so as not to cramp him to much.

Many times with serious fungus cases you will fight secondary infections of ich or velvet in bettas. To combat this in bettas we add 1 tablespoon of non-iodized salt for each gallon of water. This may seem like alot but remeber bettas breath air from the surface not from the water so the quantity of salt in the water will not be detrimental to the fish, but will kill the parasite.

Some breeders advocate excluding light since the parasite relies partly on chlorophyll production. To depend on just this as treatment however would not be wise.

Good luck

Answer 6

definitely adding a lil salt (aquarium type) can help stave off some bacteria. it could be stress related, from moving to a new tank. make sure to isolate that fish away from others. go to the pet store and get the tablets that you can drop in and will medicate the entire tank, don't forget to turn of the filter pump. good luck. most fishies with fin rot or the white spots are goners and the best u can do is keep them away from the other fish, and give the tank (and the inside rocks and decorations) a good cleaning (bleach solution).

Answer 7

Try a little aquarium salt, that should help him. Add it to his container as well as your fish tank. Make sure though that it's aquarium specific salt.

Answer 8

my goldfish had it, we just ernt to our local pet store and asked. It wont take too long, buit it's not a quick process. The medication wont affect the other fish, but keep him away because he could spread it.

Answer 9

It should cure him...and it should tell you about how long it takes on the bottle or the box.

Answer 10

Eat him now!