Hi. I have male betta that just got tail rot. Must have happened overnight coz it wasn't there last night. Prior to that he had his tails clamped and staying at the top. He's still swimming around and not lethargic. He's eating fine also. I give him betta bites once a day 4-5 pelletes. I have been doing 30% water change for the past week or so coz the Nitrites were high, but it has been 0 for 2 days now. Ammonia is between 0-.25. It's a very pale yellow. PH has always been high like 8-8.2, KH143.20, GH 232.70. I've had him close to a month now and this is the 1st illness he manifested. he's in a 3 gal eclipse tank. He's the only resident there.

I am wondering what is the best to do as far as medication. I already bought Maracyn and Aquarium salt, but haven't put in any yet. Do you think I should just do 100% water change and not put any mediacine hoping that it can be cured by just doing that? OR Should I tranfer him to a bowl w/o gravel, filtter and do 100% water change everyday then just put medicine in there? I have carbon in the tank. If he's going to stay in there with the medication I should take the carbon out right?

I am clueless as he is my 1st betta. Thanks!! Any help is appreciated.

There is a product called Melafix which may be of some use. It treats things like fin and tail rot. I'm not quite sure if u can use it on bettas, but u probably can!!!

Melafix and Maracyn can sometimes complicate bettas, meaning it does more harm than good. You can do water changes every 2-3 days without meds and see if really he is a tail bitter or it truely is rot. Tail rot is a black "fungus" around the edges of the tail, bitting looks like there are vite size chuncks missing. If it is rot there is a general betta medication called either Bettafix or Betta max that is speacialy formulated for small doeses and will not overwhelm the bettas system. I'd aim for these rather than meds for bigger fish, simply because of the numerous stories about them.

So, do the water changes alone for a week then if it progresses try the Betta fix/or max. Good luck!

Thanks for the replies.

Tam, how much water should I change? Do you think it's the ammonia that's causing it? The edges look ragged. There used to be like a translucent edge on his tail but now it's gone. It does not seem as if he bit them off. I will just exchange the Maracyn toBetta fix. Thanks again.

Change at least 25% every two days. Rot is caused by params being down so yes, amonia could play a roll. Bitting is in the psyke of the betta. and is caused by numerous unexplainable reasons. White edging is generaly tail re-growth. Keep us updated, best of luck!

The tail rot does not seem to be progressing. I did change the water around 50% 2 days ago. I will change 25% again today. He seems to be acting normal..eating and swimming, not being lethargic w/c is good. I did not put in the meds coz water change seem to help. Thanks again. Will keep you posted for any developments.