Aquarium Salt?

Question

After treating my betta with BettaFix, I woke up this morning and he had many holes in his tail that wernt there last night. He is in a 10 gallon tank, by himself, and it is filtered. I did a 75% water change today. he is swimming normal, eating like a pig. I heard mixed reviews on treating betta's for tail rot with aquarium salt. Does anyone know some great advise for this situation? Please help! =)

Answer 1

I am personally a very strong believer in salt as a medication for freshwater fish. It works very well against a number of ailments and salt can be effective against fin rot. But I would suggest instead using a quality antibiotic such as Maracyn 2 or Maracyn TC. Treating fin rot with salt is time consuming and hard on the fish, antibiotics would be the better choice with this particular disease.

MM

Answer 2

GENERAL INFO FOR FIN ROT

This disease comes mainly from dirty water. It is not overly contagious, and bettas will more than likely recover if treated promptly. Fins/tail will grow back, though may not have same color or may not look as good or be as long.

SYMPTOMS:

Betta’s fins and/or tail seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Or they seem to be falling apart and dissolving. There may be a darker color (or a reddish one) to the edge of the betta’s fins/tail. He may be still active and eating normally, or may have stopped eating, fins may be clumped, color may be pale.
TREATMENT:

Do a full jar water change. Use tetracycline or Triple Sulfa combined with Fungus Eliminator. Change water every third day and add a new dose of same medication. Continue until fins/tail stop receding and start showing some new growth. This may take up to 4 weeks, so don’t give up. Once rot stops and fins start growing back you can stop treatment, but not before then.
Note: If the rot is very slight or mild, you could use Maracyn I and Maracyn II (together at half the dose each) by Mardel. These med can help but are not very powerful. They come in hard tablet which is a real pain to administer. You'll have to crush them into a powder before you can administer to a betta in a bowl. A tablet treats 10 gal of water, so you do the math. Do not overmedicate! If you are caught by surprise and do not have the above mentioned medication then you can run to a local Petco or something and probably find the Maracyn I & II and at least try that.


I use aquarium salt in all of my tanks.
What are the advantages of using aquarium salt? First, some tap water sources are very low in dissolved salts compared to certain fish-collecting or fish-raising areas, and the addition of aquarium salt might simply make the fish feel more "at home". Second, salt provides replacement sodium and chloride ions that stressed or sick fish need. Third, salt may inhibit the fishes' uptake of toxic chemicals like nitrite. Finally, salt inhibits parasites (for example, Chilodonella cyprini) that are sometimes difficult to diagnose or treat.

How much salt should be added - and what type - and how often? A tablespoon for every five gallons of water works well for us. Use either "Aquarium Salt" from the aquarium shop or Kosher or canning salt from the grocery store; the idea is to get just salt, with no additives like iodine or potassium. Salt should be added with the initial setup and only replaced thereafter with water changes (e.g., if you change 10 gallons of water in a 30 gallos of water in a 30 gallon tank, add 2 tablespoons of salt).

Answer 3

Salt does not heal problems like tail rot, but it does add additional benefits that can aid in the healing along with additional medication. Don't go overboard with its use though, and remember that as water evaporates it leaves the salt behind, so before doing water changes top off the tank with fresh, unsalted water.

Answer 4

definatley use salt, but you need more than that to get rid of the rot for good and get your buddy's tail to grow back.

i'd suggest doing a full water change if he is in a small tank/ bowl and using tetracyclin it is made by mardel and i have used it many times in the past with success.

after you do a full treatment make sure you keep his bowl nice and clean, one of the major reasons that bettas get fin rot is because of dirty water (not pointing fingers)

and if you feed your betta and he/she doesnt eat all of their food in like the first minute, take out the uneaten food.

Answer 5

Just add a little table salt, not much, a few dashes, it's good for them, not just for tail rot.