# Is this Fin Rot? Using salt cure - how long to improvement?



## SwimmR (Dec 8, 2011)

I just noticed my HM "Curly" today has quite the ragged tail. He has always had the curls at the end of his fins & tail (hence the name), but never the ragged end. I don't think he's biting, and I don't see any fuzz or black edges, but I'm assuming it's fin rot. What do you all think?
I've had him for 2 weeks. He's in a heated bowl (0.5gal for now, planning to upgrade). He eats very well (Top fin pellets), and seems otherwise healthy.
Today I bumped the heat up, started giving him New Life Spectrum pellets (supposedly better according to some here), and started 100% daily water changes with sea salt (no iodine) at 1 tsp/gal.
When should I start to notice regrowth if it's working?


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## gossipgirl1031 (Dec 7, 2011)

I've got a new rescue with fin rot so bad that basically she doesn't have any fins left. It may leave her with lingering spine problems since swimming is interesting for her. I use Aquarium Salt for freshwater fish. We are doing a 10 day course & are on day 2 with 100% water changes. She is also in a half gallon quarantine tank and is being heated. I think it can take a few weeks to heal up, but I'll let you know if I see any new growth on Maggie's fins.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Swim, have you seen the fins coming off in big chunks at a time? With fin rot, you'll often even see bits of fin in the tank.

It looks like possibly biting. You may never actually catch them in the act, they're so lightning fast at it.

Assuming he leaves his fins alone long enough for them to heal, you should see new growth (white-clear film at the edges) within a day or two. Don't keep him in the salt any longer than 14 days max, 10 days preferable. Also, try API Stress Coat, it's very good for healing fins.


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## Behati (Sep 4, 2011)

I'm not an expert so take this with expert opinion.

My current betta developed curled fins recently and I didn't really do anything since I didn't think it was a big deal. I was healing his split tail and a bit of possible tail biting from whatever. A week later, it developed into pretty bad fin rot. His fins started turning black around the edges, his rays got bloody, there were bloody lumps all around the edges where it wasn't black, and it seemed like his fins were getting clearer and clearer. I put him in AQ salt (a lower than recommended dosage) in a little cuppy which immediately stopped further damage. With the AQ salt, I just used a disposable paper cup, added some water dissolved a small plastic teaspoon of AQ salt into it and added a bit of stress coat. Since daily or quite frequent water changes are needed, I spoon a bit of the dissolved AQ salt into his cuppy which really helped.

The reason why I didn't put in the recommended dosage is because I didn't want to shock him with the salt.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

that's textbook tail biting. might have some rot due to it, but it looks like mostly tail biting. don't really need salt for it. he may stop after you upgrade him. just keep the water clean, and he'll be fine. :3


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

That is definitely biting, he may have developed rot, but if you are doing daily water changes then if there is any rot it should clear up. At this point all you can do is keep him clean to prevent the rot.

Oh tail biters, how they plague us.


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## SwimmR (Dec 8, 2011)

*Really? Tail biting?*

I'm really surprised to hear that the experts think this is tail biting. I was sure this betta wasn't a tail biter, because he doesn't move very fast. For whatever reason, he is an awkward swimmer, always looking like its a bit of a struggle for him to get to the surface to eat (but he does swim all around, slowly). I didn't think he could even twist around far enough & fast enough to reach his tail, let alone bite it.
OK, so now I'll go search advice on how to get him to stop. I'll get him into a bigger tank with a hiding place. What do you think he needs - more stimulation or less? More food? (I was giving him 2 Top Fin pellets twice a day - those are about 3X as big as New Life Spectrum)


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

they bite for many reasons, but it's mostly boredom, stress, or tail's too heavy. if he was in a half gallon, it could be a combination of boredom and stress. usually, they stop if you give them things to do, like adding more decor or changing the decor around on them. that's how i stopped my first tail biter, Dante. he stopped after having to explore his 'new' surroundings every water change.


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