# rescue betta: filter for tail/body rot treatment requirement



## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

hello, this betta has i think tail and body rot from the reading i've done online...... in tank he's in water temps range between 74-76 right now. occasionally if outside temp goes up it gets to 78 degrees. no filter (although i have one on hand), no airstone, it's heated.
this betta is by himself of coarse. i am feeding him pellets--new life spectrum and hikari bio gold. between 4-5 pelleets per day split up in two meals. i will change the water 100% every day for treatment. using api stress coat (and have alil bit of prime on hand). water paramters are unknown right now.
his symptoms: bits of a few ends of his tail and anal fin looks broken off or shorter. there are some tiny holes too. one end of tail looks to be bright red and on this part there is a small white fuzz appearance. there is also a fuzzy appearance on his body. i could only see the fuzzyness on his body when i looked up really close at him under lights. he swims around with occasionally laying near the bottom.

i was wondering about a requirement to maintain oxygen in the water during this fish's treatment. i bought a package of maracyn 1. although, i realized after doing a little reading that maracyn medicine takes some of the oxygen from water i believe. so, i have a filter on hand and have never used a filter before. i'm uncertain if its required for the fish to have enough oxygen. please help asap. i'm changing his water 100% with aqsalt, i'd like to start to treat him with medicine tonight, haha!  
thanksss


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

clean, warm water is the best for fin rot. Medications may help if it's infected or progressing to body rot. You will need to keep his tank closer to 78 or higher though. And temperature fluctuations can extremely stressful. So he is going to need a heater that doesn't fluctuate (adjustable heaters are best) to keep the water warmer and consistent. 74 is too cold for optimum healing.
It also sounds like he has a fungus in addition to the fin rot, the medication will help with that, although I'm not sure if the one you are using is for external illnesses or not, so double check that.
You don't need to worry about the filter, Bettas breathe air from the surface, so make sure he has access to the surface of the tank so he can breathe.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

sainthogan said:


> clean, warm water is the best for fin rot. Medications may help if it's infected or progressing to body rot. You will need to keep his tank closer to 78 or higher though. And temperature fluctuations can extremely stressful. So he is going to need a heater that doesn't fluctuate (adjustable heaters are best) to keep the water warmer and consistent. 74 is too cold for optimum healing.
> It also sounds like he has a fungus in addition to the fin rot, the medication will help with that, although I'm not sure if the one you are using is for external illnesses or not, so double check that.
> You don't need to worry about the filter, Bettas breathe air from the surface, so make sure he has access to the surface of the tank so he can breathe.


thank you, sainthogan! it's good to know all of this. from what i've read, from appearance, fin rot progressing to body is when almost all the tail/fin is gone. i forgot to say there's parts of his tail where it looks "ripped" or split. one of the split parts of th tail is sort of close to the body. i did the water change with aqsalt and, lo and behold, the white fuzz appearance on his tail dissapeared as well as the fuzzyness on his body. could the fuzz on his body be the fungus instead? i'm afraid the fungus may also still be present. he body looks thin so i'm hoping there's nothing internal. i'm just trying to feed him well.
i'll raise the temp to 78. i read in a different forum from someone that 80 is too warm because it encourages bacteria to spread.  they adviced 76- 78, so i'll just try putting it at 78. 
the heater is adjustable. i'll monitor the temp. i live in california and where i live the outside temp changes from coldish to warmish during morning to later in the day... and later temps drop again at night. so, i'll try and monitor the temp as night approaches.
maracyn 1 pack says it treats columnaris, fin/tail rot, and other diseases. popeye was one of them. idk, haha.  i read maracyn 2 treats any secondary conditions that can result from the bacterial rot, but i'd have to use both maracyn 2 with 1. i wish i had more knowledge, lol!! 
if the fuzzy appearance is gone, could the fungus still be there even if i don't see it? i'm guessing i'd need maracyn 2 with 1 to treat fungus from fin rot? i'm uncertain if maracyn 1 alone is good for external fungus. or if he's still at the stage to need tobe treated with medicine or not. so maybe just keep doing water changes for 2 weeks with the right conditions. maybe i won't use the medicine...... ? could clean water take care of fungus alone? if not maybe i'll treat with maracyn 1 and 2? hahaha
wow, i probably am driving you crazy with all of this. this is long. am thankful


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## Freyja (Jun 22, 2012)

Give this a read as well: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73332


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

thanks freyja for the link. i could have read this first before writing a thread. the info is all there. i forgot. 

update, some of the split part of his tail is just beginning to grow in.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

thanks freyja!! i could have read this first before writing a thread. the info is all there.  apologize, appreciate it


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

...


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

Hey dbrooke sorry you having problem with your betta 
Continue with aq salt. I would really recommend higher dose 3tsp/gall. Are you able to post a picture ? I would just continue with salt for now and see how he doing. If you think that he is getting worse then start Marasin's medications. Use combination of both medications. One is for gram positive and another for gram negative. Fuzzy white cottony like patches on body or head,bloody tips, fins getting shourter and shourter,falling apart, ragged edges,black edging would indicate a really serious rot and need to be treated. Or large parts of the tail just drop off... 
Keep him in 76* it fine. Both bacteria and fungus thrive and multiply in warmer water.


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## inveritas (Jan 24, 2013)

I've used Myxazin to treat finrot on my betta in an empty small 1G hospital tank/jar - no filters or pumps, just conditioned tap water and the chemical. Just remember to do a water change every 3 days or so, and you'd be able to see improvements in a week!


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

anhel123,
got it. i up'ed the aqsalt from 1 tsp to 3tsp/gal. question, is it harmful to up the dosage of aqsalt? would it be best to do it gradually? maybe it's ok if he already had 1tsp of aqsalt in water to up the dosage to 3tsp. just wondering.  
i'll post a pic of him. i apologize i do not have a good camera, so the pic i'll post soon is not good quality.
his temp is 86. i agree, less warm may be good.

inverita, thank you good to know!! sounds good.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

the tail and fin.


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

The fact that fuzzy patches disappeared is good. But if he has red ends, and like you wrote he is swimming with occasionally laying near the bottom, and fins getting shorter and shorter i would continue aq salt. Fuzzy patches could be also his slime coat which is his natural protection against the bacteria.
So if he has red ends which i don't see on the picture and if his fins getting shorter and shorter, and if he is a little lethargic i would continueaq salt. 76* will be perfect temperature for him. 
Is he eating good ? Is he really a little lethargic or he is active most of time? Is his color fading away? Did you buy him like that or he developed it while you had him? I am wondering if he might bite his tail. 
Continue with aq salt since you already treating him. You can use 2 tsp for a few days and see if it helps. Give us update how he doing. But if he got worse or more lethargic use medications right away.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

ANHEL123 said:


> The fact that fuzzy patches disappeared is good. But if he has red ends, and like you wrote he is swimming with occasionally laying near the bottom, and fins getting shorter and shorter i would continue aq salt. Fuzzy patches could be also his slime coat which is his natural protection against the bacteria.
> So if he has red ends which i don't see on the picture and if his fins getting shorter and shorter, and if he is a little lethargic i would continueaq salt. 76* will be perfect temperature for him.
> Is he eating good ? Is he really a little lethargic or he is active most of time? Is his color fading away? Did you buy him like that or he developed it while you had him? I am wondering if he might bite his tail.
> Continue with aq salt since you already treating him. You can use 2 tsp for a few days and see if it helps. Give us update how he doing. But if he got worse or more lethargic use medications right away.


hello! oh anhel123, the bright red part on his tail had dissapeared when i took the pic. i forgot to mention!! his tail/fins is no longer getting shorter. one part of the split tail has begun to grow back very, very slightly by the time te pc was taken. 
aqsalt was in his water for ten days. within the ten day period i changed his water 100% three times/3 different days. i changed water again and discontinued aqsalt monday night (after ten day period), just clean water. yesterday (tuesday), i wasn't home most of the day. that night i arrived home and from his behavior i decided to treat him with th two meds. petsmart was closed so i bought maracyn 2 today there when i was on the way to my school's campus. i just now changed his water clean and began using maracy 1 and 2 by following instructions and being careful not to overdose.
yesterday morning, one of my roommate's cats was in my room when i was sleeping. he maybe had a sudden burst of playful energy, bc i woke up from the noise of the cat running across my room and running into an electical chord by my wall that's connected to fish tank heater.  i wasn't fully awake yet when ichecked tosee if it was still plugged in. i thought it was, but two other chords conncted to two other betta heaters were connected, but not the third chord. the heater for my sick betta was unplugged. that was ths morning. i came back tonight and found the unpluggd chord. i checked his temp and it was 70 degrees. shoot!  annoyed and i feel nervous. grrrrr. sigh.  i graduall changed his temp to 74 over a several hours. is it too much of a change for the betta?  i jus now adusted his heater setting to 76 which slowly & gradually changes the temp to what it's set to...... last night the red color in his tail and fins were coming back until this incident. it's more faded again.
his eating? just now tonight i tried feeding him one pellet. he seemed like he couldn't see his way to the pellet. like temporarily blind? otherwise, i know he would've eaten it. i'm going to try again after typing this, and now that the maracyn 1 and 2 remedy is in his water. 
he swims aroun the edges of his tank. just now he floated at the bottom for like around 40 seconds then swam up near the top and is swimming around there. swimming not as active or fast like a healthy betta would. like partially sluggish. he's swimmin around.. partially slowish speed... most of the time if i makes sense. mostly swimming. 
his color was faded when i got him from the local pet store...... 
on the up side, his activity level has a slight improvement with the medicine. like slightly faster. 
thank you.


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

You have 2 other bettas? Are they yours bettas? I know that you know do not cross-contaminate any equipment with other bettas. 
I hope he will get better. Usually with aq salt you need to do daily water changes, not sure how much it helps without it. But you already did 10 days anyway. If you started medications just finish course of it. And you also can do more water changes with medication. Just redose the required dose of the medications for that day. Of course acclimate slowly. I just think that it better to do more water changes if you can. Or just follow the box instruction. I thought he biting his tail, but now i don't thinkthat it the case because of his sluggish behavior and faded color. So he has some kind of bacteria infection. I hope medications and then clean water will help. 
Give us update. I was sad to see that you having a problem again.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

oh, there are three other bettas total...... yep, they are mine...... thank you for everything. appreciate your care for bettas and for taking out your time again. you're the best. i'll definately keep you updated on his progress! praying he'll get better too. thank you.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

for anybody out there who is knowledgeable, i have two small questions?
first of all, i'd like to say this guy's 5 day maracyn 1 and 2 treatment is complete. there is an improvement in his color and his activity so far...... he's in clean water, 76 degrees, and api stress coat. i should continue to change his water with proper conditions daily. how long is it good to do daily changes? a week or more? 2 weeks maybe?
i fast my bettas one day a week. i won't fast him at all while he's sick though i'm thinking......


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

How large is his tank? If it is over a gallon, you can start doing partial every other day changes. If it is over 2 gallons, you can do partial changes once or twice a week. By partial, at least 50%. 

I also agree, don't fast him while he's recovering because he needs all the nutrients he can get to heal up his fins. High protein food is best, frozen if you have it. 

Glad to hear he is recovering.


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## dbrooke1 (May 29, 2012)

his tank is 5 gallons. okay, sounds good for his diet. new life spectrum, omega one pellets, frozen blood worms, brine shrimp and daphnia he'll eat. thank you, sakura8.


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