Betta fin rot not improving

[serbusfish]

I currently have my Betta in a hospital tank and am attempting to treat his fin rot, however as far as I can tell the meds arent helping, in fact it looks worse (im using King British Fin Rot and Fungus Control). Here is a comparison of when I got him and how he looks now:





What else can I do? The water in the hospital tank currently has no ammonia or nitrite readings. Ive been doing small water changes once a week so as not to remove the meds.

[Lady Hobbs]

It probably needs to be treated with a gram negative antibiotic like Maracyn 2 instead of meds for fin rot. It's probably bacterial.

Looks to me as something is nipping at his fins. Perhaps you need to keep him in a separate tank alone. I believe you have this Betta with Barbs, correct? That never was a good idea. How about cleaning out this smaller tank and keeping him in it alone?

[madagascariensis]

Try changing half the water in the quarantine daily for a period of a week. Finrot is generally caused by bactial issues from substandard water(although bettas seem prone to getting it spontaneously) and in that case, throwing all the medications at it will not change a thing as the water remains dirty.

[Cermet]

How old is the Betta? Two years is average life span. Otherwise, water change is always a good idea and watch ammonia in a QT.

[Indian Woods Angels]

I don't see fin rot. I see a break down of tissue but in the photo I do not really anything eating the fins nor a fungus. I see what may be a break down of tissue caused by a diet that might be limited or from tissue damage caused by over taxing the fins. I would wonder what the diet might be and I would wonder what the water flow conditions might be in the tank. The meds are not going to be very good for the bio long term. I would monitor a lot and do frequent water changes with well conditioned water.

[serbusfish]

It probably needs to be treated with a gram negative antibiotic like Maracyn 2 instead of meds for fin rot. It's probably bacterial.

Looks to me as something is nipping at his fins. Perhaps you need to keep him in a separate tank alone. I believe you have this Betta with Barbs, correct? That never was a good idea. How about cleaning out this smaller tank and keeping him in it alone?

I had a lot of hard plastic plants in the tank (since removed) which I think might have caused it. The barbs dont bother him in fact he is the one that occasionally chases them, Pentazona's dont nip fins. The small tank is set up in a temporary place and I dont plan on keeping it there once the fins have healed, I dont have any room for another permanent tank.

Try changing half the water in the quarantine daily for a period of a week. Finrot is generally caused by bactial issues from substandard water(although bettas seem prone to getting it spontaneously) and in that case, throwing all the medications at it will not change a thing as the water remains dirty.

Ok I will try changing a lot of water and see if that helps.

How old is the Betta? Two years is average life span. Otherwise, water change is always a good idea and watch ammonia in a QT.

Ive only had him a month or so, no idea about the age.

I don't see fin rot. I see a break down of tissue but in the photo I do not really anything eating the fins nor a fungus. I see what may be a break down of tissue caused by a diet that might be limited or from tissue damage caused by over taxing the fins. I would wonder what the diet might be and I would wonder what the water flow conditions might be in the tank. The meds are not going to be very good for the bio long term. I would monitor a lot and do frequent water changes with well conditioned water.

I feed him betta pellets and occasionally frozen bloodworm.

[Tiari]

This looks to me like secondary fin rot. This is caused by initial damage to the fins, which become infected and then start to deteriorate the structure of the fins. I would recommend small daily water changes to remove the current medication from the tank, and then using a combination medication treatment, at the same time of Maracyn 1 and Maracyn 2. Since it is impossible to know what bacteria is causing the fin rot, a 1-2 punch of both medications takes care of both gram negative and gram positive at the same time. The reason to do the combination, is because long drawn out periods of medication is tough on fish, and if you choose the wrong one, not only will the Betta be stressed, but damage will continue to occur further deteriorating the health of the fish. Once the treatment is completed, and regrowth and healing occurs, use carbon filter media to remove the medications from the water, and give him 1 to 2 weeks of a 1/4 dose of aquarium salt in the water. This will aid in preventing fungus or re-infestation of bacteria on the newly growing tender fins. After this period, the salt can be removed by simply performing water changes and adding no more salt.

Needless to say, during all treatments, keep an eye on the water parameters, as the Maracyn medications will knock out any beneficial bacteria cycle in the tank.

[serbusfish]

This looks to me like secondary fin rot. This is caused by initial damage to the fins, which become infected and then start to deteriorate the structure of the fins. I would recommend small daily water changes to remove the current medication from the tank, and then using a combination medication treatment, at the same time of Maracyn 1 and Maracyn 2. Since it is impossible to know what bacteria is causing the fin rot, a 1-2 punch of both medications takes care of both gram negative and gram positive at the same time. The reason to do the combination, is because long drawn out periods of medication is tough on fish, and if you choose the wrong one, not only will the Betta be stressed, but damage will continue to occur further deteriorating the health of the fish. Once the treatment is completed, and regrowth and healing occurs, use carbon filter media to remove the medications from the water, and give him 1 to 2 weeks of a 1/4 dose of aquarium salt in the water. This will aid in preventing fungus or re-infestation of bacteria on the newly growing tender fins. After this period, the salt can be removed by simply performing water changes and adding no more salt.

Needless to say, during all treatments, keep an eye on the water parameters, as the Maracyn medications will knock out any beneficial bacteria cycle in the tank.

Ive done 50% water changes over the last couple of days + I plan to do more.

It seems the Maracyn meds arent available in the UK, are there any decent substitutes?

[Tiari]

I am not certain what the UK equivalents would be. You could attempt to look for gram negative and gram positive antibiotics for aquarium use.

[serbusfish]

I am not certain what the UK equivalents would be. You could attempt to look for gram negative and gram positive antibiotics for aquarium use.

I have a product called Myxazin by Water life that treats fin rot, though it doesnt say anything about it being gram negative/positive. It is a 5 day medication.