Now my betta has fin rot...

Hi guys,

I've been posting over the last couple of weeks about my new tank. If
you've been reading my posts, I've had some deaths in the family, and
I'm trying to figure out what the deal is.

My 55G tank started with 5 1-2" comet goldfish, a 4-5" fantail, a 4-5"
black moor, and a male betta (I didn't realize that the betta had to
be separate). So far, 3 of the comets have died, along with my
favorite, the black moor, and all followed the same pattern: they just
stopped eating and started acting lethargic, then died. They looked
healthy, as far as a newbie could tell.

I've been trying to put together a small 10G tank for my betta, but
until then I had to leave him in the goldfish tank (I had just spent
$200 on putting together the 55G tank, so buying the extra filter and
heater is more of a money issue). A few days ago, though, I noticed
him laying around more than usual. He's usually pretty active, but
lately he's just been sleeping a lot except for at meal time; he's
eating normally (betta pellets, from Wal-Mart), if not too
enthusiastically.

Today, though, I saw what can only be fin rot. The last 1/2" of his
tail looks like it's frayed, and all of his fins are drooping more
than usual. He sort of looks like he needs to wash his hair, if you
get what I mean; grungy. I haven't seen the other fish attacking him,
and there are no plants for him to get hurt on, so fin rot is my only
guess.

So, now I'm in the treatment stage. I'm going to see if I can find
BettaMax locally (this is what I read should be the first treatment),
but until then I've quarantined him into the little cup that he came
in. The aquarium water had a pH of 7.2 and a temperature of 72, and
although I don't have an ammonia test kit yet I've been changing the
water every several days to help keep my other goldfish alive.

Since I'm a total newbie with fish, any suggestions as to what I can
do to save my little guy's life? He's still eating well, and since I
moved him doesn't seem quite so tired, but then going from a 55G to a
cup might just make it look like he's moving more.

How long can I keep him in the cup without a filter? Should I change
the water daily?

BTW, here's the best photo I could get of him. It's hard to see, but
you can make out the frayed edges in his tail pretty easily:
http://www.oneworldshipping.com/300/betta.jpg


Thanks, all,

Mike

bettas can live in bowls because of their labyrinth organ, id put him in
something bigger then the cup he came in. your gonna need to clean that
every day and that much cleaning is stressful. put him in atleast a half
gallon bowl or a gallon bowl. the half gallon you clean twice a week, and
the gallon u clean once a week. id also get your water tested asap.
petshops usually test for ammonia for free just ask and bring a sample of
your water in. here are some good site with treatment info about bettas.
www.bettatalk.com www.bettastarz.com

5.5 gallon is better because there are heaters that are made for it. 6 inch
25 watt totally submersible heaters. they dont cost alot either. bettas
are afterall tropical and do better at a warmer temp then just room
temperature. i have a betta in a 5.5 minibow tank with a small pepper cory
catfish.


"High Flight" wrote in message
...
Mike says...
Today, though, I saw what can only be fin rot. The last 1/2" of his
tail looks like it's frayed, and all of his fins are drooping more
than usual. He sort of looks like he needs to wash his hair, if you
get what I mean; grungy. I haven't seen the other fish attacking him,
and there are no plants for him to get hurt on, so fin rot is my only
guess.

You might consider treatment with methyl blue. I've revived a couple
bettas with it after they were seemingly circling the drain. No
diaagnosis, though.


Since I'm a total newbie with fish, any suggestions as to what I can
do to save my little guy's life? He's still eating well, and since I
moved him doesn't seem quite so tired, but then going from a 55G to a
cup might just make it look like he's moving more.

How long can I keep him in the cup without a filter? Should I change
the water daily?

You might also consider keeping him in a 2.5 gallon tank. It's the
perfect size for a betta.

Jack

--
*Top-posters are generally ignored*
aka Keet Visit my webpage at http://junior.apk.net/~jac/
"Always proofread to see if you any words."

I realized that I had a 1/2 gallon bowl laying around, so I cleaned it
really well and put the betta in it today. I eventually was hoping to
use my existing 10G, so that I could add some tetras, too. Bad idea?

So far, all is going well. He's a bit more active, which is a good
sign I think. There's been a few "dead fin flakes" in the bottom which
worried me (say, 4 particles about 1/4" in length), but it does seem
logical that the dead crap is going to have to fall off for new to
grow back. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

FYI, Wal-Mart doesn't carry anything like BettaMax, nor do they carry
ammonia test kits, and that's the closest thing to a pet store in this
little town. I'm going to the nearest city tomorrow, and hopefully
will have better luck at PetSmart.

One last question: the only food I could find here is "Aqua Culture
Betta Pellet Food." I was wary of it because it says "color enhancing
fish food," but that's all I could find. Is this OK to be feeding him?

Thanks,

Mike

PS, for future reference, do you guys prefer that I top post, bottom
post, or somewhere in the middle? It seems to change for each NG, and
since I'm posting fairly often here...




"blove" wrote in message . ..
5.5 gallon is better because there are heaters that are made for it. 6 inch
25 watt totally submersible heaters. they dont cost alot either. bettas
are afterall tropical and do better at a warmer temp then just room
temperature. i have a betta in a 5.5 minibow tank with a small pepper cory
catfish.


"High Flight" wrote in message
...
Mike says...
Today, though, I saw what can only be fin rot. The last 1/2" of his
tail looks like it's frayed, and all of his fins are drooping more
than usual. He sort of looks like he needs to wash his hair, if you
get what I mean; grungy. I haven't seen the other fish attacking him,
and there are no plants for him to get hurt on, so fin rot is my only
guess.

You might consider treatment with methyl blue. I've revived a couple
bettas with it after they were seemingly circling the drain. No
diaagnosis, though.


Since I'm a total newbie with fish, any suggestions as to what I can
do to save my little guy's life? He's still eating well, and since I
moved him doesn't seem quite so tired, but then going from a 55G to a
cup might just make it look like he's moving more.

How long can I keep him in the cup without a filter? Should I change
the water daily?

You might also consider keeping him in a 2.5 gallon tank. It's the
perfect size for a betta.

Jack

--
*Top-posters are generally ignored*
aka Keet Visit my webpage at http://junior.apk.net/~jac/
"Always proofread to see if you any words."

most tetras are fin nippers are a bad idea with a fish with long flowy fins
such as a betta. some people have good luck with neon tetras, altho im
reluctant to try it because i have hard water and neons like soft water.
just keep the water pristine for him, spring water is a good idea with some
dechlorinator because it neutralizes heavy metals and stimulates a slime
coat on the fish. Start Right is the brand i use wich is pretty good. i
loath walmart but my lfs didnt have betta fix but i had them special order
it for me. bettafix is pretty much melafix in a diluted formula because
labyrinth fish are pretty sensative. bettafix worked wonders on a betta
that i had that had recurring fin rot so i thought, turns out the brat is a
tail biter but the stuff stimulates cell growth. my aunt gave me some aqua
culture betta food when she gave me her emtpy 10 g tank with all its
accessories when all her fish died. i found the stuff to be hard as rock
and my bettas hated the stuff, even when i soaked it a bit before givin it
to em. i use Hikari Betta Biogold pellets. good stuff and i noticed the
local walmart started carrying it now not that i buy it there even tho its
cheaper then the lfs that i work at is but i remain loyal to the store i
work at cuz we know our fishes and the care they require and we loath
walmart cuz they are fish killers. posting at top is easier but thats my
opinion


"Mike" wrote in message
...
I realized that I had a 1/2 gallon bowl laying around, so I cleaned it
really well and put the betta in it today. I eventually was hoping to
use my existing 10G, so that I could add some tetras, too. Bad idea?

So far, all is going well. He's a bit more active, which is a good
sign I think. There's been a few "dead fin flakes" in the bottom which
worried me (say, 4 particles about 1/4" in length), but it does seem
logical that the dead crap is going to have to fall off for new to
grow back. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

FYI, Wal-Mart doesn't carry anything like BettaMax, nor do they carry
ammonia test kits, and that's the closest thing to a pet store in this
little town. I'm going to the nearest city tomorrow, and hopefully
will have better luck at PetSmart.

One last question: the only food I could find here is "Aqua Culture
Betta Pellet Food." I was wary of it because it says "color enhancing
fish food," but that's all I could find. Is this OK to be feeding him?

Thanks,

Mike

PS, for future reference, do you guys prefer that I top post, bottom
post, or somewhere in the middle? It seems to change for each NG, and
since I'm posting fairly often here...




"blove" wrote in message
. ..
5.5 gallon is better because there are heaters that are made for it. 6
inch
25 watt totally submersible heaters. they dont cost alot either.
bettas
are afterall tropical and do better at a warmer temp then just room
temperature. i have a betta in a 5.5 minibow tank with a small pepper
cory
catfish.


"High Flight" wrote in message
...
Mike says...
Today, though, I saw what can only be fin rot. The last 1/2" of his
tail looks like it's frayed, and all of his fins are drooping more
than usual. He sort of looks like he needs to wash his hair, if you
get what I mean; grungy. I haven't seen the other fish attacking
him,
and there are no plants for him to get hurt on, so fin rot is my
only
guess.

You might consider treatment with methyl blue. I've revived a couple
bettas with it after they were seemingly circling the drain. No
diaagnosis, though.


Since I'm a total newbie with fish, any suggestions as to what I can
do to save my little guy's life? He's still eating well, and since I
moved him doesn't seem quite so tired, but then going from a 55G to
a
cup might just make it look like he's moving more.

How long can I keep him in the cup without a filter? Should I change
the water daily?

You might also consider keeping him in a 2.5 gallon tank. It's the
perfect size for a betta.

Jack

--
*Top-posters are generally ignored*
aka Keet Visit my webpage at http://junior.apk.net/~jac/
"Always proofread to see if you any words."

On 16 Dec 2003 20:27:05 -0800, Mike wrote:
PS, for future reference, do you guys prefer that I top post, bottom
post, or somewhere in the middle? It seems to change for each NG, and
since I'm posting fairly often here...

Please intersperse your reply below the relevant bits of the
previous post, and snip the rest - makes life easy

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\_/\_/ \_/\_/ \_/\_(_)__, \___/_| \__, \___(_)___/_| \__, |
|___/ |___/ |___/

(Mike) wrote:

I eventually was hoping to use my existing 10G, so that I could
add some tetras, too. Bad idea?

Not a bad idea at all, though it will depend on the personality of the
individual betta. He'll certainly like having the room to swim around
int, but he might not like having tankmates. No way to tell until you
try. I had a male betta in a 20 gallon planted community tank for
months with no problems at all.

it does seem logical that the dead crap is going to have to fall
off for new to grow back. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

No, that makes sense.

One last question: the only food I could find here is "Aqua Culture
Betta Pellet Food." I was wary of it because it says "color enhancing
fish food," but that's all I could find. Is this OK to be feeding him?

It should be fine, but you should give the fish a bit more variety. I
feed my bettas mostly Top Fin Betta Bits, but every couple of days
they get freeze dried bloodworms, and once in a great while a little
bit of flake food. And in the summer when mosquitoes are all over the
place, I feed them any I happen to catch.

PS, for future reference, do you guys prefer that I top post, bottom
post, or somewhere in the middle? It seems to change for each NG, and
since I'm posting fairly often here...

This seems to be generally a bottom post group. I personally like
interspersed replies like the one I made here, with anything not
relevant trimmed away, but I realize it's more work.

But figure you made yourself popular already by just asking the
question!


--
www.ericschreiber.com