betta with never ending fin rot?

[themuffinbandit]

okay so my very first betta which i bought from petco which ive had for like 5 and half months now. something like that, has gotten fin rot. ive been treating him with salt and heat or tetracycline and sometimes a combination of both. however, for the past two months, both have failed. both alone and combined. i dont know what to do. it cant seem to be beaten. his tail fin is almost totally gone now. its so much shorter so id like to stop it from progressing. ive also done frequent (every 4 days) water changes and tank cleanings. with full on wipes. and yes i do have a filter and heater and salt. the water levels are normal and in good range. so i have no idea whats going on. well except for the meds of course. heat is about 80 degrees F.

[Red]

i would keep doing it even when it is gone..

sev

[cocoa_pleco]

a drastic thing to do is take the fish out of the tank, put him on a sterile paper plate, and cover his body and face with a wet paper towel. wipe Mercurochrome or hydrogen peroxide on the affected area, but dont get any in his gills or face. leave it for a minute, then rinse him in some water, and return him to the tank. this is drastic, but ive done it and it works. the problem with infinite fin rot is it can transfer to his body

[Nick_Pavlovski]

cover his body and face with a wet paper towel

Or wet cotton wool, if you have any.

Great suggestion, Cocoa!

[kaoticice]

I would also do what cocoa suggested for drastic actions.
However, it could also be a genetical factor, which unfortunately cant be stopped.

[Luna]

What is the general condition of the tail? Besides disappearing... I mean, does it look ragged or torn? Some bettas are known to bite their own tails. To the untrained eye, this can look like fin rot. If large chunks disappear overnight, then you should suspect the fist itself.

[themuffinbandit]

What is the general condition of the tail? Besides disappearing... I mean, does it look ragged or torn? Some bettas are known to bite their own tails. To the untrained eye, this can look like fin rot. If large chunks disappear overnight, then you should suspect the fist itself.

ive had this betta and my other bettas(1 other than this one already had fin rot which i fixed a few months ago) long enough to know that this is fin rot. he doesnt bite his tail. his tail thins first and then disappears.

[kaoticice]

^ yeah by the sound of it genetical factor is probably the reason. Some bettas have thinner and silkier fins than others, especially those long tailed ones. A single change in water conditions could start an unstoppable rot. I've tried endlessly with all the meds in this world, and even changing the water chemistry to that of the wild habitat (ie: low pH, very soft water, and tannin) still doesnt work

[ehjsne]

what cocoa pleco said does work. ive done it. Before doing this i would suggest a full water change. It is very stressfull on the fish but it most likely wont kill your fish. It worked for my betta ;]

And if you have a filter, remove the carbon. The carbon in your filter filters out the medicine. not the salt tho...