My poor little betta, Gemini, has died. I have been fighting fin rot on him for several months, and nothing I have done has worked. I have tried different medications, etc. His fins were just shrinking away.

His home was a 5 gallon, heated and filtered tank with perfect water parameters. I treat my other bettas the same way as Gemini, and have not had fin rot probems. I also have one betta in a 2 gallon, unheated, unfiltered tank which I maintain differently than the filtered tanks, and he is healthy as a horse with beautiful long finnage. Go figure.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to try and paint the end of the fin with the worst finrot with merchurochrome. I followed the instructions to a "t", however, this morning I found him dead. I guess the stress was too much for him.

I feel really bad, since he would still be alive if I hadn't done this

OH I am sooo sorry to hear about your poor baby! I too have been battling fin rot (for a lifetime it seems). I just tried iodine & had drastic results with it as well (& I don't mean in a good way)

Oh I'm so sorry!

Jenn

I am truly sorry about your fish.

Im very sorry about your fish touchofsky.

Aww. i'm sorry to hear for your loass TOS. Im treating my first male i got for fin rot. And Owen for a torn fin. Hopefully I can get it cured...I dont want to loose my Bubble Making Flaring male. Hes the only male that flares at you and its so cute. anyways. yes. Sorry to hear about your fishy.

I'm so sorry for your loss

Poor Gemini I'm so sorry about your loss. It sounds like you did the best you could. I hope you feel better soon

It is just so frustrating when you try everything imaginable and you just can't cure the darn thing.

I haven't had these kinds of problems with goldfish. Their fins seem to heal well from fin rot.

Does anybody have any good suggestions, in case I run into this kind of thing in the future?

Weeeel - so far the best luck I've had (once you get it - I actually think that is the best - just don't get it!) is with the Maracyns - both in there at the same time & suuuuper clean water (think daily water changes & then very slowly extend the time between changes. I have found that by even skipping a day - the rot comes right back)

I've been fighting since May & the fish seem happy so.....

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your loss!

*Hugs* Jenn

I did have some success with the Maracyns, and I was keeping the water really clean. I did manage to get all of the fins healed but one, and I just couldn't get the bottom lobe of his tail to heal. It would finally heal, then in a day or two, it would get all fuzzy again, and another chunk would drop off.

Gemini had a split tail, and it was so gorgeous before this horrible rot set in. Poor little Gemini

I am so sorry to hear about Gemini (((((Hugs)))))

With really tough cases, I have had good luck with a betta version of tub to tub. Move the fish into fresh water every day, it's hard though unless you have a lot of tanks/heaters or a really warm house, but I've had good luck with it.

Again ((((Hugs))))) I know that Gemini was a special fish, but take heart in knowing that you did your best, and that he was much loved.


Jessica

Oh no!!! Hunny, that's terrible! I'm so sorry that you lost Gemini

I'm having the same problem with Montgomery. He was getting better for a while there, but it's come back and his tail just keeps getting shorter and shorter every single day. I'm worried, though he doesn't seem to be behaving any differently.

touchofsky...I'm so sorry about Gemini. I just lost two betta's that were very dear to me so I know just what you are going through. As for easy answers for fin rot,there seems to be no happy mediums.Lately it's like you either have it or you don't .I don't know what that strain of bacteria is,but it seems to be running rampant amongst bettas recently. There's not too many meds that I even trust for using on betta's. The maracyns as mentioned have been one of the few. I highly advise NOT using Melafix,iodines,bettafix,etc. going by my own findings of course. Melafix has been a wonder drug for alot of fish ailments,but I found even when using it in half strength of the recommended dosage-it still seemed to make my betta's worse. People are starting to find out that there's alot of different "fishy drugs" that just don't work for these guys. Betta's are not like reg. fish.. You did good by keeping him in the heated/filtered tank. I am a firm believer in that also,although I do have 1 betta in a non heated/filtered tank because of size. I think that really makes a difference on your chances of a healthy surviving betta. There are of course going to be a few bettas that it doesn't matter what theyre in,they're still going to have problems,but I think heated /filtered water stops alot of them from happening.

I had thought of the idea of putting him into a clean container each day, and had it been summer, I would have tried it. Our house is fairly warm, and the unheated tank stays around 70 - 73 f., however Gemini was used to much warmer temperatures his whole life with me, so I thought that a sudden drop might stress him even more. I wish I had tried it now

This is the first time I have battled persistent fin rot in a betta, and it has certainly given me a new respect for its tenacity.

Thanks everyone for your support. I am going to break down his tank today and give it a thorough cleaning. I didn't have the heart to do it yesterday, but seeing it sitting there without him in it is too heartbreaking

(((((((Hugs)))))))))

Jessica

So Sorry, its so hard, sometimes not knowing what to do, all we can do is our best, which i am sure you did..

Aww, that so sad! I'm sorry to hear that, you tried your best and sometimes those infections won't go away no matter how hard you try.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Gemini. I have had finrot two times with a couple of my guys. I caught it early (although it can quickly cause alot of serious damage, as you have seen) and had excellent response to the Maracyn.

So sorry to hear of your loss. It seems there is a real epidemic lately with this finrot. You did your best for him, that's what matters most.

Erin

I, too, wanted to say I was sorry for your loss. I felt I had killed my sister's Zorrito when we were treating him for an unknown ailment - it's so awful when you try to do everything you can for a fish and they die, anyway. You really did do your best, and you loved him. I think even little fishies know that they are loved, and love endures.

Oh my gosh... I'm really so sorry about Gemini. My Cassy (short for Casanova) is battling again fin rot also. Cassy also had ick which is about 90% cured so starting tomorrow he'll be duking it out with fin rot.

I'm sure you did everything you could think of to save your Gemini. It was just his time to go. He was loved. I'm sure he knew you tried.


(Reading all these posts about how they lost their Bettas to fin rot is starting to freak me out a bit. -_-; )

I am a little scared off by finrot now, too. I saw some gorgeous crowntails and halfmoons at my lfs, but I am kind of spooked right now. Maybe in a week or two, I will be ready to take the plunge and get a new betta

Good luck to Cassy, I hope he makes a rapid recovery.