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Betta Panic! | |
RockmaninovRachs Hobbyist Posts: 57 Kudos: 39 Votes: 39 Registered: 05-Mar-2006 | Ahh! I'm very worried about my poor betta. He is a beautiful scarlet red and loves just swimming around and hanging out in his bowl. Yeah I know, lots of people think it's bad to keep a betta in a gallon bowl, but I keep the water very clean and like to think I take good care of him. I normally do a full water change every five days or so. The water is never dirty looking, always clean. Well I just changed his water last night and was looking at him and notice the very tip of his tail is very dark on the edges. I started freaking out but looked online and it looks exactly like the pictures of fin rot, just at the very beginning stage. I'm very worried because I don't fee like I've ever neglected him. His mood hasn't changed at all. He's still active and his fins aren't clamped down at all. He looks completely normal and beautiful except for the very tip of his tail. I was reading up on fin rot and some places said to treat it with medication, while others said that just keeping him in v.v.v. clean water (full change everyday) will let it heal on its own. What should I do? I just noticed it and it's definitely in an early stage, but I definitely don't want it to progress any further. I'd appreciate comments. |
Posted 06-Apr-2006 22:12 | |
meanypoo6 Small Fry Posts: 9 Kudos: 5 Votes: 0 Registered: 21-Oct-2004 | Wow. ive had a couple of bettas myself. one in a very nice tank i received from a friend, but the other in a bowl like yourself. ive never had them have a tail rot or anything like that exactly, but recently i had my one in the tank die. like completeley out of nowhere. i mean he was about a year old, but he was very healthy i thought and active as usual. but maybe he had that sort of thing because when he died he sunk and turned like a weird blue navy color. and then the next day he was black and floating. and the tank has gotten this like brown scum sort stuff on the sides that i cant get off. and it grows on everything. do u have any idea what it may be? i certainly would like to find out before i stick any other kind of fish in there. but my advice would be to do the water change daily and just watch him closely. but if it seems to spread i would go w/ the med. other than that good luck and im sorry i dont know much more to help u. |
Posted 20-Apr-2006 00:25 | |
longhairedgit Fish Guru Lord of the Beasts Posts: 2502 Kudos: 1778 Votes: 29 Registered: 21-Aug-2005 | Rach - while the water should be clean as possible, dont take the chance , get some quality antifungus and finrot meds from your lfs. Your other major option is that it might be the beginnings of a columnaris infection, in which case meds are definately required, and quickly too. meanypoo- that sounded like velvet. Ah well, youll know for next time. The brown scum could simply be brown algae- that often means the tank is going through mini cycles or has problems remaining established. How did you perform water changes and filter cleanings, you may well have killed the filter bacteria. |
Posted 20-Apr-2006 07:10 | |
meanypoo6 Small Fry Posts: 9 Kudos: 5 Votes: 0 Registered: 21-Oct-2004 | normally i do about 35-50% water changes every other week, because the tank stays really clean and just doesnt need it. but i did do a complete water change like the week before my betta died. i cleaned everything, but i made sure the water temps were the same when i put the betta back in, and i didnt use any cleaners or soap on the tank. i just scubed it and used water. i put the declorinator in after i was done and everything seemed fine. what can i do about the brown algae? anyway to get rid of it? |
Posted 21-Apr-2006 19:18 | |
Two Tanks Big Fish Posts: 449 Kudos: 328 Votes: 13 Registered: 02-Jun-2003 | Rach, It sounds like it could be ammonia burn. I had a betta like that once - black right on the edges of his tail. It could actually be the water you are using, depending on the area you live in. Around this time the water companies do their "anual flushing of the lines" and pump a lot of extra stuff in the water. One year my water company did this and I lost one betta (very quickly, within minutes of the water change), and another actally had small holes, like they were shot through, in its fins. To save them, I made a mad dash to get bottled water. Just keep an eye on him, and keep up the water changes to see if it improves and use something like melafix and/or Primafix, for the dammage. it it seems to be getting worse for no apparent reason, then it could be your water. Meanypoo, You need to do a water test, find out what your parameters are. It sounds like you have some water issues going on as well. |
Posted 22-Apr-2006 17:32 | |
Inkling Fish Addict Posts: 689 Kudos: 498 Votes: 11 Registered: 07-Dec-2005 | I think you need to do a test on your water. It should be treated before you put new water in as well. If you do not have a test kit, take some of your water to an LFS and they should be able to test it for you. I would do an "All Purpose" treatment in the tank or an Anti-fungus treatment (bolth kinds of meds are good to have anyway, just in case ) Inky |
Posted 22-Apr-2006 19:20 |
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