# Why is his Fin Rot not getting better? It has been Five days in QT?



## ArcticRain (Aug 11, 2011)

I have had my Betta for about two weeks now. Last week i noticed that he was either tail biting or had fin rot. I posted here and someone pointed out that he had little holes in his fins, they said that could be a sign of fin rot. Other people agreed and said i should put him in QT with 1tsp per 1gal of AQ salt and 100% water changes everyday. I have been doing that for Five days now and he is not getting any better, he is getting worse! I am really worried, I just want to make my baby better so i can get him out of QT! I have posted pictures and a little log i have been taking since i started treatment. Thank you for your help!


*The little log i have been taking.*
Day 1, Saturday the 24th. 
Started treating for fin rot with AQ salt.

Day 2, Sunday the 25th.
No improvement.

Day 3, Monday the 26th.
No improvement. Seems to be getting worse.

Day 4, Tuesday the 27th.
Much worse. Fins looking even more shredded.

Day 5, Wednesday the 28th.
Getting more holes in fins and bottem fin is slowly shrinking.


*Pictures.*

*When i first got him.*










*When i noticed he had fin rot.*










*Two days after i started treatment.*










*Today when i did a Water Change.*













Housing 
What size is your tank? Aqueon Mini Bow 2.5 Gallon. QT tank is 0.33 gallons that is floating in real tank.
What temperature is your tank? 76-82 degrees, I keep my house very cold
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, Two pellets each time.

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Three times a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Two 50% and One 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Betta Bowl Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? N/A


Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? His fins look shredded and have little holes all over his fins.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? None, But he does seem to be Flaring more
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a week ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I put him in QT with 1tsp per 1 gallon of AQ salt and 100% water changes everyday.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that i know of.
How old is your fish (approximately)? No idea.

On another note, some of his poop is turning black. It still looks normal but its black. What could this be?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Well, it doesn't necessarily look like fin rot. That looks an awful lot like tailbiting to me. But also, let me point out that HMs are notorious for fin problems because those big fins of theirs are very, very fragile. And very big. Lucky may be biting his own fins to relieve some of that extra weight. It's really hard to say what causes a betta to tailbite. 

Since the AQ salt isn't doing anything, it's probably best to get him out of it and back into his regular tank. He may have begun tailbiting more because he was stressed out being in the QT. Once he's in his own 2.5g, just keep the water as clean as possible. 1 25% and 1 50% a week should do until his fins heal up. We just don't want them getting infected because then he really WILL get fin rot. I also highly reccomend API Stress Coat as your water conditioner. It has added ingredients that help to heal fins. 

You may want to try tannins too. If you can find them, use Indian Almond Leaf. Just lay it in his tank. However, since IAL is really hard to find, you can also crumble up clean and dry oak leaves in his tank OR soak a decaffeinated green tea bag in the tank until the water changes color. Make sure it's DECAFFEINATED GREEN TEA and has NO EXTRA FLAVORS. 

Fast Lucky for a day or two and see if his poops go back to being a normal color. I'm a bit concerned about them being so dark. 

Hope this helps you. Keep us posted.


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## ArcticRain (Aug 11, 2011)

Thank you for your help! 

Most people said it was Fin Rot because of the little holes in his fins. What could those be? 
Could it be tail biting and rot? Do they normally bite their bottom fins? Because those are slowly shrinking away too. 
It's really weird with his poops. Some of them are black and some of them are the normal brown. So it's not that all of them are black, just some of them are. This really has me puzzled. Do you have any idea what could be causing this to happen?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, normally little pinholes in the fins is a sign of fin rot. But it's also accompanied by black ragged edges and the fins just seem to drop/melt off in big chunks. There's something about the edges of Lucky's fins that just looks like mouthbites, not fin rot. However, he might have some pinholes in his fins because he's a halfmoon and his fins are fragile. My HM has gotten a few of those before without having fin rot. If Lucky flared a lot and stretched his fins out, maybe he stretched them too much? 

And a tailbiter will bite anything he can reach. I had one betta who got startled by a loud noise and he bit off everything while I took a 2 hr nap. Caudal, a lot of his dorsal, most of his anal . . . it was awful. So yeah, I imagine Lucky's probably nomming his anal fin too. It's amazing how they can contort themselves. :shock:

I'm really not sure what could be causing his poops to be black. One thought is blood in his feces. But if he has blood in his poop, then there's something really wrong with his system and that doesn't seem to be the case. Aside from the fin problem, he's acting pretty normal, right? So I don't think it's blood. Does he poop every day or can it sometimes take days or even a week between poops? HMs are also prone to constipation. Such pretty fish, so high maintenance. ;-)


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## ArcticRain (Aug 11, 2011)

He is acting just like his normal self. He has got loads of personality and I think it would be pretty easy to tell when he felt under the weather. But, I know he wants out of his QT tank. 
He poops every day! After I feed him his tummy looks a bit big, but it is always gone by the next day.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If he's pooping every day, he seems pretty healthy to me.  I would definitely let him out of his QT tank. Just watch him and make sure he doesn't get bloated. Getting fat after eating is totally normal but being bloated all the time is definitely a sign something's not right internally.


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## ArcticRain (Aug 11, 2011)

Alright, I will let him out of QT. I am just so worried about my boy. Some people say it's rot some people say it's not. If it was rot, would the five days in QT have helped?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If it was rot, I do think 5 days in the salt would have cleared it up. He certainly shouldn't have gotten worse. Keep an eye on him and if you see anything that looks worrisome, post back. 

Good luck with him!


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## ArcticRain (Aug 11, 2011)

Thank you very much for all you help!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome, my pleasure to help.


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