Well, now that Bruiser is eating like a little piggy, his fins are looking really ragged.I read with finrot the fins often look kindof inflamed around the "rotten" part. But his fins are red at the tips so I can't tell! He's very happy, not acting strange in the least. In fact, he built his first bubble nest since I've had him. But it seems like the last couple days, especially his tail fin, looks smaller and more ragged. I change both my boys' water every 5-6 days since they are each only in a 1 gal. My other boy seems fine though. Bubble nests every day( he accidently destroys them swimming around and flaring at bruiser). And his fins look just about perfect.
Anyway, do I treat him for finrot or not?

Thanks guys!

You could try upping his water change to once every 3 days or so and see if that helps. Is the water that you are using for the water changes the same ph as the water that is in the tank? Sometimes ph will change over a number of days, as it sits. I usually fill a watering can with water and let it sit for several days to use for my betta water changes.

Some bettas produce more ammonia than others, so perhaps this little guy will just need more frequent changes.

You could try a bit of Bettafix.

Ph is about the only test I don't have. I'll have to pick one up today, alng with the bettafix. Do you think maybe it could be the plastic plant, making it worse anyway?

I usually let their water sit for a couple of days before change day, too. Sometimes, I'll be in a rush, though and forget to refill the pitchers when I'm done. So then I lose a day.Thanks for your help, btw. We'll see how it goes.

Yes, the plastic plant could be a problem. Bettas fins are pretty fragile, and it is best to go with silk or live plants. Check the silk plants and make sure there are no sharp edges to the plastic that is used for the stems. Any points, etc., can be smoothed or cut off.

It can't hurt to put a bit of Bettafix in the water, and a ph kit is a good idea. It will let you know whether the ph is different when the water first comes out of the tap. My water has a ph of 7.2 when it comes out of the tap, but after a few days, it rises to 7.8. This can be the result of dissolved CO2 in the water as it comes from the tap, and after it dissipates, the ph rises.

This isn't a problem in tanks that only get partial changes, but in small betta tanks that get 100% changes, it can be a problem.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

I bought melafix since I could't find bettafix at any of the 3 stores I went to! Also, each of the boys has a new silk plant. Bruiser will get his first as I'm changing his water tomorrow. Here's another question. Since melafix is stronger than bettafix and that's supposed to be used half strength, should I use 1/4 strength melafix? Did ya follow that double talk? B) What's your opinion?

I have never used Bettafix, so I am not sure how that is dosed.

What is the size of your tank?

He's only in a gallon. It says 1tsp of melafix for 10 gal. Everyone says to use it 1/2 strength, so that brings it down to 1/2 tsp for 10 gal. Long story short, I used about 1/16 of a tsp. Which is only approximate, for amounts that small a dropper seems better that messuring spoons!

Oh yeah. My ph out of the tap is 7.2. Then I checked all my tanks, including my bettas, they were at 7.6. That's also what the water was that was sitting out for my goldies water change. So the ph from bruiser's old water is pretty much the same as his new. Is that about right for bettas?

I think your dosage is pretty well on. It should be 10 drops of melafix per one gallon of water.

You should try and keep the ph close when you do a 100% water change. So, if you leave the water sit out for a couple of days and the ph rises to 7.6 (the same as the tank) that is great. A ph change of more than .2 can be stressful, and bettas fins seem to shred easily. Especially some bettas! Some seem fairly tolerant, but others seem to have fins that shred easily.

Your ph sounds fine for a betta.

Let me know how it goes with the melafix

Just wondering if there's anything else I could do for Bruiser, or just stick to the course of melafix treatments. He's on his fourth day now, without much of a change. It doesn't look any worse so I guess that's a good sign. But not looking better yet either. I guess I'm just impatient. I want him to get better so I can move them both to nice big divided 10 gal. The more I watch them, I hate that they each only have a gallon of space. One more question. What's a nice small filter I could put in the 10, when I get it, that's not going to cause too much current for them?

I use AquaClear mini's on my 5 and 10 gallon betta tanks.

It is good that the fins are not getting worse. The first signs of healing will be a transparent looking edge to the fins. I would stay the course with the melafix. The fact that they are not getting worse is a good sign.

Well, 8 teatments and 9 days later, Bruiser doesn't look any better. In fact he looks worse. I don't know what to do. I've been changing his water every 3 days with the melafix. Do I go ahead with the 10 gal, and hope for the best? Keep on teating? I'm lost. He's still not acting sick in any way, eating like a piggie, flaring up a storm. What should I do next?

I would go ahead with the 10 gallon. It will be much easier to keep the water quality up in a 10 gallon tank. It sure sounds like a water quality problem.

Unfortunately, it is kind of a catch-22. Ammonia is hard on betta's fins, but water changes in themselves can be stressful to some bettas.

What exactly do the fins look like. Is the any red on the edges?

Well, his fins are red with like a stealish blue in the webbing. So, I can't really go by redness. But the "rot" I think, has got to be the darker edges. And there are still some parts to the edge that look like that. It was just on his tail fin, but now I see the edge of his anal fin(? belly fin) is looking darker and almost crumpled at the very edge. It's spreading I guess.
So I'll probably pick up the 10 this weekend. I have a 10 already, it's about half way through the cycle. I do daily water changes of about 2 gallons, still waiting for the nitrItes to drop. Should I take some water from that 10 for the new one, maybe try to jump start the whole process? Or, what else could I do to speed up the cycle and make it less damaging for my boys? I used Nitromax to help the bacteria develope, but ran out. That was for my goldies, though. Petsmart didn't have any, so I got Stress Zyme, same type of thing, it adds the benificial buggies to help speed up the colonization.
Also, the reason I asked about filters is because the kit I as going to buy comes with the whisper power filter. Now I'm wondering if I should look at something different since you can't turn down the flow. I think I'll drag my husband out tonight to compare prices and options. (Alterior motive: Petsmart gets new fish today!!! Shhh) Anyway, I think I'll close this book now! Thanks for all your help.

I wouldn't write off the Whisper, since I tend to keep my AquaClear minis set to high on the 10 gallon tanks. Then in order to cut down on the current, I wedge a piece of filter floss material in front of the water outflow. This cuts down on the current, but I find that the 10 gallon does better for me with the high setting. I have three bettas sharing a 10 gallon so their is a fairly high load.

I have one Whisper filter, and rather than using the biobags with the carbon, I just buy sheets of plain filter floss and cut rectangles and wrap those over the frame. It is very inexpensive and if you want you can put a thin piece of filter sponge in where the carbon would have been. It works great for me :-)

In order to speed up the bacterial cycle on the new filter, you can cut a piece of filter media from the establishing filter and put that in the new filter. It will help colonize the new filter with bacteria.

I hope all of this helps. Also, if Bruiser's fins continue to deteriorate after he gets into the 10 gallon, I recommend using Jungle Fungus Eliminator or Jungle Fungus Clear. These have the same active ingredients, but the first one contains some salt. These medications contain ingredients to combat both fungus and bacterial infections, and I have had good luck treating fin rot with them.

However, I would try the move into the 10 gallon first. I think any medication can be stressful, and I like to combat the problem using all natural remedies first .

Thank you so much for all your help! I'll try that filter floss trick in the outflow. But first, I'll see if it's really bothering them, though. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. When his fins are better, I'll have to use my friend's digital and figure out a way to post some pics.

I wouldn't treat him again, till i find out the true cause of his raggedy fin!

I have a betta who had fin rot... developed in the store.

I treated him just by giving him clean, warm water. (Their tails come back pretty quickly, esp with this treatment!)

Then I gave him his tank, and a chunk of his newly regrown tail was missing. I assumed the plants were too "harsh" on his fin, so I threw them out, and replaced them with very soft ones.

A few days later, his entire butt looked raggedy....again! A little bloody as well. I have a few other bettas, with the same kind of tank set up, but no raggedy butts.

Then I caught him the other day BITING HIS OWN TAIL!!!! I laugh now cause although he's been keeping me pretty frusturated with shredding his tail, he looked kind of funny biting it!

I looked up one day to see his head in the gravel, wiggling his butt in the air so that his tail would fall over, and he woud reach up with his mouth, and bite it! I think he eats it too cause I can't find traces of his tail! And trust me, his tail is as raggedy as can be!

I don't feel bad now though, knowing he's the one doing it... and probably for sympathy too so I can throw in an extra blood worm or two! lol

Just keep an eye out for infection, etc. Otherwise, I wouldn't treat until I find the culprit!

That's kinda comical, Bethany, LOL! I can picture him, like a puppy, trying to chase his tail! I watch my boys pretty closly and haven't seen anything like that, so I guess I wasn't changing the water often enough. Though, I did it about every 5-6 days. But, until I get them their 10 gal to share, I've been doing it every 3-4 days. At least it's not getting any worse since I've been doing more. Hopefully, soon I can get it. I'm dying to get them out of these puny little 1 gallon things!