# Fin Melt



## Maura (May 13, 2012)

A couple of bettas at work came in with some pretty severe fin melt. Is there a better way to treat this than 80º water and aquarium salt? There are 6 bettas in a divided 20 long. 2 of the 6 have fin melt. They've been here a week and haven't improved, so I started AQ salt at 1 tsp/gal today.


Housing 
What size is your tank? 20 long
What temperature is your tank? 80º
Does your tank have a filter? No
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? 6 bettas total in divided tank

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? A mixture of several different brands of betta pellets, depending on what we have in stock.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, 3 pellets each

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% (purely because of the amount of fish coming in and out each week)
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? RO Right and Neutral Regulator (we use RO water in all of our tanks)

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

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: <5 ppm
pH: 7.1 
Hardness: I tested this the other day and already forget. Will retest in the morning.
Alkalinity: I tested this the other day and already forget. Will retest in the morning.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Fin melt
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? N/A
When did you start noticing the symptoms? They came to the store with it
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? AQ salt at 1 tsp/gal, started today
Does your fish have any history of being ill? N/A
How old is your fish (approximately)? ~ 5 months


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Bump. Suggestions before I leave for work would be great.


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

Ok, so fin melt is pretty much fin rot right? Fin rot also means gill burn, which comes long before fin rot, so make sure you have AQ. salt to open up the gills. I usually use the metric system, 2.5 ml/1500 ml and slowly raise it to 5 ml/1500 ml aver a few days. Pristine 0 amonia water heps treat fin rot because it is caused by amonia. It takes a while to treat fin rot, but usually after a week or so of treatment you should stop aq salt and continue with clean water. Using AQ salt for more than 10 days causes kidney damage. I suggest another 50% waterchange during the week, or at least a 25% just to be sure the amonia is down.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Pogthefish said:


> Ok, so fin melt is pretty much fin rot right? Fin rot also means gill burn, which comes long before fin rot, so make sure you have AQ. salt to open up the gills. I usually use the metric system, 2.5 ml/1500 ml and slowly raise it to 5 ml/1500 ml aver a few days. Pristine 0 amonia water heps treat fin rot because it is caused by amonia. It takes a while to treat fin rot, but usually after a week or so of treatment you should stop aq salt and continue with clean water. Using AQ salt for more than 10 days causes kidney damage. I suggest another 50% waterchange during the week, or at least a 25% just to be sure the amonia is down.


Their fins don't have any rotting edges at all. They look perfectly normal other than being smushed together. The gills look fine as well.


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

can you add a pic? and fin rot doesn't mean they are literally rotting, its just what we say, and it is usually describes as "fins appearing as if they are rotting away or simply melting off, sometimes with a black or red line at the edge"


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I would suggest pristine water conditions, aq salt and stress coat (both dosed to "repair fins" it should say how much on the back). Also if you have it Indian Almond Leaf (or dried oak leaves) in the tank. They release tannins, and the IAL promotes healthy bettas


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Pogthefish said:


> can you add a pic? and fin rot doesn't mean they are literally rotting, its just what we say, and it is usually describes as "fins appearing as if they are rotting away or simply melting off, sometimes with a black or red line at the edge"


I know what fin rot looks like -- I'm trying to tell you that it's not fin rot. There is no fin loss. The fins are not shorter, just stuck together.


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

What tail types are they?


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Pogthefish said:


> What tail types are they?


VT
There's only one left now -- the other sold sometime this afternoon.


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## TheCrabbyTabby (Jul 7, 2012)

Then its clamped fins.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

TheCrabbyTabby said:


> Then its clamped fins.


I'll have to get a picture at work tomorrow because clearly I'm not explaining things well enough. I'm sorry that I did not provide a picture in the first place.

The fish tries to stretch his fins out but they are stuck together, particularly the tail, and he can only get them to stretch so far. The end of his tail comes to a sharp point, making the the whole tail look like a triangle. He's not clamped (in the sense of hunkering down because he is uncomfortable, which I assume is what you meant by clamped fins), or lethargic, or anything like that. He doesn't look bothered by it in the least.

Unfortunately, part of my job is actually selling the fish, not just caring for them. If I can't fix this, I probably can't sell him (and I do _not_ have room for another personal fish. *Sigh*...I wish :roll.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

lvandert said:


> I would suggest pristine water conditions, aq salt and stress coat (both dosed to "repair fins" it should say how much on the back). Also if you have it Indian Almond Leaf (or dried oak leaves) in the tank. They release tannins, and the IAL promotes healthy bettas


I know what your talking about. I've seen it before. I think its caused by a fungus (usually) but unless he's got some fuzzies then I would do what I quoted above.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

lvandert said:


> I know what your talking about. I've seen it before. I think its caused by a fungus (usually) but unless he's got some fuzzies then I would do what I quoted above.


No fuzzies to speak of (thank God!). The tank was treated with Stress Coat (along with RO Right and Neutral Regulator) two days ago when I did a water change. Yesterday I added aquarium salt at 1 tsp/gal. No access to IAL though.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I'd keep up on the water changes and the treatments. Just dont use the salts for more then 10 days. He should start looking better by the 3rd or fourth day.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

lvandert said:


> I'd keep up on the water changes and the treatments. Just dont use the salts for more then 10 days. He should start looking better by the 3rd or fourth day.


Okay great. Thanks much! :-D


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## Pogthefish (Mar 24, 2012)

Wait, what type of tail? VTs sometimes do that


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Pogthefish said:


> Wait, what type of tail? VTs sometimes do that


VT. 
Did a water change and more AQ salt today. Still no change.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

it'll take a few days to start showing signs of improvement. If you still don't see ANY improvement by day 7 then we need to figure out a new treatment.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

*Photo finally uploaded*

Sorry it took so long.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

yup. thats fin melt. Is it getting better at all?


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

lvandert said:


> yup. thats fin melt. Is it getting better at all?


Not really. Today I noticed a small tear in the middle of his tailfin. Wasn't able to get a picture of it though.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

hmm I;d just keep up with the good water conditions+ stress coat and aq salt. Today is day 2 or 3? by day 4 or 5 you should start to see something change.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

lvandert said:


> hmm I;d just keep up with the good water conditions+ stress coat and aq salt. Today is day 2 or 3? by day 4 or 5 you should start to see something change.


Today was day 3.
Is it alright to use Stress Coat even though I use RO water? I've been meaning to ask...


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

RO?


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

lvandert said:


> RO?


Reverse Osmosis


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

Oh! ok um... I have no idea (to be honest) I've never worked with it. Maybe PM OFL, Mo or Aus? They seem to know a bit more than me about this sort of stuff.

I would think it is but then again I have no idea...


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

The fish sold before I got in to work this morning. :-?


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