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Hi. I have a betta that has been battling fin rot for almost 2 months. I tried a million different meds... fungal and bacterial. Finally found a combination that worked, and it looks like we're finally on the mend.

He lost about half of his tail. It's looking like it's starting to grow back... I can see the new growth, like a really fine edge that's getting bigger every day.

My question is... how long do I continue his medication? I'm scared to death to stop... this has been the worst fin rot I've ever seen. Second, how much can I expect his fin to grow back? I would love it if he returned to his former glory... but I doubt they can grow THAT much fin back.

THanks for your help. This has been a long fought battle that I almost gave up more than once. I want to keep moving in the right direction.

Gotta say congrats on sticking with it Andrea , I know it can be tough when it seems that nothing is working.

I did read that you were to continue with treatments until the fins no longer appear to be rotting. Don't know if that helps any in your case. You didnt' mention what your final mix was that turned out to work, but you might try and see if melafix (or the betta equilivent) is safe to use with them. It does seem to help with the regrowth process.

^_^

Babel... This may be more information than you wanted, but here goes:

1. I took him out of his 2 gal hex. I couldn't seem to keep the water quality steady enough - no matter what I did - even changing water every 3rd day. That was just stressing him out. So, I got a 6 gallon for him - and did weekly partial water changes.

2. I went to BettaTalk, after I tried every stinking medicine I could find, and she suggested trying combinations of different meds. So.. I ended up with Jungle fungus eliminator, Maracyn plus AND Melafix. I figured that either the finrot was going to kill him at this point (it'd been well over a month, and he was left with nothing but "nubs" for fins) or the combination of the medications would.

About 2 or 3 weeks after I started using the combination of the meds I noticed the rot slowing down. Now, during week 4 of the meds I can see nice new fin regrowth. I just did a water change today with fresh meds... so I'll wait 4 days and do another change and just add the melafix. Hopefully it won't kick the fin rot back into gear.

I have to tell you, this has been the worst fish experience I have ever had. I was so close to euthanizing him. He was suffering, and so was I. THis is/was my favorite betta that I ordered online and had shipped in. A beautiful half moon turqouise with dark blue butterfly pattern on all of his fins. He was breathtaking. Now he's kinda pathetic, but what a fighter he is. So... as long as he kept trying I did too. Hopefully this story will have a happy ending!

(Sorry for venting! ]:|) and thanks for listening!

Oh my

*Pins dedicated betta doctor badge on Andrea*

I think your plan sounds good....the fact that you are seeing regrowth is very promising. A really good diet, combined with perfect wc (good choice on the tank upgrade btw, I dont'like doing 100% changes either) should hopefully help it along ... .

^_^

LOL I don't know about dedicated, but I sure am stubborn. I wasn't going to lose this guy, dangit!! LOL

I am really pleased with the bigger tank, and I have only 2 betta boys left in the 2 gal hexes... and as funds permit, I am going to get either 5, 6 or 10 gal tanks for them as well. Think one betta in a 5 gal would be okay with partial water changes? I am going to have to really struggle to find places in my house for two more 10 gallons, so hopefully the 5 will do.

Well, thanks again for your input and letting me vent. If you have any ideas on how well his fins will recover, let me know. I would like to have a glimmer of hope that he'd get back to at least PART of what he had.

Just an update... He's been in unmedicated water now for 2 days, and I haven't seen any sign of the finrot coming back.

Does anyone have any idea of how much of his tail length will grow back??

Good to hear there've been no signs of return so far...sorry I don't have any info to provide on the regrowth. My tetras did regrow theirs ( I think :%) ) but theirs was such a minor case compaird with what your guy pulled thru....is he the one in your avatar ?

^_^

Nope... that's Pete, and thankfully he's fine. He's my oldest, and although just a LFS veiltail, he's still one of my favorites. What a pet.

I'll see if I can attach a pic of "Turq" before he got the finrot. You'll see what I mean when I say he was breathtaking. (not to mention expensive... LOL)


Andrea attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/424762.jpg"]

My boys, Esteban and Enrique had some crazy finrot too for a looooong time. At one point Enrique had lost over half of his tail. Now, thank goodness they are both happy as clams, and very healthy. Their fins have regrown to their original splendor, Enrique has regrown over an inch of fin! The regrowth on my fish is not quite the same color as the rest of their fins, and not quite as pretty, but it's certainly there Good luck, Turq is an absolute dream, and will be more than worth the effort