Unsure if Betta Fin Rot, how can I be sure?
I was recently out of town for a 8 days in which little William's tank got pretty dirty (I cleaned it right before I left and right after I came back, three days ago). I've noticed that the ends of his fins have gotten pretty ragged and today I noticed a small tear.
After a few hours of online research I think it may be fin rot however he is still acting like he is in perfect health: eating like a little piggy, swimming around a lot, blowing bubble nests, and just happy in general every time I come up to his bowl. The edges where it's becoming ragged are not red or dark in color, but it is hard to tell completely with his dark blue color.
I'm nervous of medicating him if he doesn't need it. I have read that a good treatment for fin rot is Tetracycline (such as Mardel's Maracyn TC) and then following up with BettaFix to help repair. Also since this is new and doesn't seem too serious as its not affecting his behavior, I also read using aquarium salt can help.
How can I be definite it's fin rot to treat with medication? Should I just treat with BettaFix for the raggedness? Or hould I just treat with some aquarium salt? Can I combine BettaFix with aquarium salt?
A little background info:
- He's a male, dark blue split male betta that I've had for about a month.
- He is in a 2gal bowl with a rock substrate, large plastic plant, and small plastic rock shelter.
- I have a heater which keeps him between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and I change his water once a week.
I love him a lot and would hate for him to get sick 
Disclaimer: This site is a paid affiliate of eBay.com
Tagged with: Betta • sure • Unsure
Filed under: 3D Aquarium Background
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
im having the same problem please let me know how it goes
I would nip the infection in the bud now before it gets worse. It does sound like fin rot and being in an unfiltered bowl could easily cause it if left for 8 days – I recommend removing all that substrate and use a turkey baster every day to remove uneaten food/poop. Substrate in a bowl is just trapping waste and could easily cause water quality issues. Bare bottomed is the way to go (unless you want to get a proper filtered tank of course).
I recommend Myxazin by Waterlife for treating the fin rot, I’ve not used Tetracycline as its harder to get hold of here in the UK. Myxazin I’ve used on rescued Bettas with severe fin rot and got them healed up well!
In that small a volume I would also recommend small partial water changes several times a week. Without a filter you can’t get away with once a week.
I would first use aquarium salt and then use bettafix if that doesn’t work
http://bettacare101.com