I recently got my first betta about 2 weeks ago. Over the past week I have noticed what looks like minor fin rot. I want to stop this before it gets any worse. What is the best treatment for this? Should I start with salt and daily water changes since it is fairly minor? Or should I go a real medication?

He is in a 3 gallon tank with a small biowheel and filter made for that tank. Don't have water params but will check as soon as I can.

Keep his water perfect, that will help a lot. If you can find something that is specially made for bettas it would be better. The dosing for bettas is a little different than goldies.

I think Kissy will have some good advice for you, she has a betta with chronic fit rot.

The params will help, if your tank isn't cycled, the fin rot could be from nitrItes, in that case, you will need to change the water everyday.

Hi grubgal

Yep I've been fighting fin rot with my betta for quite some time. There are several types of rot, and lots of ways to treat. How long have you had the set up? Did you just set up the filter? How often do you do waterchanges and how much? If it hasn't been set up for more than 3 weeks my guess is that there could be ammonia in the tank because it is not fully cycled, and that is what is causing the rot. Did he have rot when you got him? Its important to have your water tested, especially if your fishy is sick. If you can't get a test kit yet, take a sample of your water to the LFS and they will test for you. Make sure to test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. These are the three things that will tell you about your "cycle". Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? How bad is the rot and how fast is it progressing? Is it ragged on the edges or are there huge chunks missing every day?

The best thing you can do is to keep the water perfect; ammonia and nitrites at zero. I keep my betta in a three gal too (but without a filter) and to keep ammonia at zero, I feed 2-3 small pellets a day and do a 100% waterchange every 2-3 days. The most common cause of rot is water quality, so do some waterchanges and buy a test kit. We'll see how it goes from there, he should get better with just that and its best to avoid meds if you can do without. Goodluck!! Hopefully some other member who are even more experienced than me can help out!

EDIT: Ooops! I didn't read your post thouroughly enough! I already got a couple questions answered

The tank had been set up for probably about 5-6 weeks before I got my fish. I filled it with tank water from my tropical set up which is fully cycled. I have to admit that I have been lazy about testing the water. I just assumed it would be cycled by then. As I've said I've had my new fish about 2 weeks. I've changed water 3 times in 2 weeks. I will test tonight no matter what and probably perform a water change if the results are bad. The rot doesn't seem to be too bad yet. At least from pics that I've seen I know that it gets much worse. I think mine is just starting. So I hope to get it under control before it gets worse. Thanks for the posts. I will definitely test water tonight and post back with results.

OK. I got the test results. The water is great.

ammonia: 0
nitrIte: 0
nitrAte: 10-15

So why is my fish, who otherwise seems very healthy (swims around, eats) developing this fin rot? It has definitely gotten worse since i first discovered it.

Did you get them to test pH? What is the water temperature? If things have changed drastically, that could have set it off.

OK, what I suggest is to try a betta medication, right now for my guy I am using BettaFix remedy. Its helping a little bit, but fin rot heals slowly.

I'm not sure about other meds though and I am not sure about salt as I have never used either of them.

Good luck and keep us updated!

Sorry my post was so chaotic last night. I only had a few moments before all my internet control programs were going to kick me off.

Anyways, I'm glad your test results came back good I used a lot of meds with my betta and it kept coming back, and it seems like he was on meds before I got him too, so I'm not doing meds with him anymore. I tried maracyn and marafyn2 (in conjunction) and the first time it worked well, but it came back, and the second time it did not work at all for me. A lot of others have had good results with the maracyns. After his last round of meds (I used super sulfa that time) I added 1 teaspoon of Aquarium salt to his 3 gallons. This is working out very well for him now. The rot came back only once so far, and that was from a strange cold night where the temp dropped 20* more than regular nights, then back up again. With the salt he healed right up, and he's still continueing to heal. If you want to try meds, I think most types would be okay. Stay away from melafix tho. Some bettas have very bad reactions to it, and it usually doesn't do much if there is an actual infection going on. All it really does is speed healing of open wounds and torn fins. And I swear, all the petsmart workers around here try to sell it to me like its an elixer. They even recomended it for my goldfish that had hole in head disease. I TOLD them the meds needed a certain chemical in it, but they insisted x_X Anyways, you can also try some aquarium salt instead. 1 teaspoon for the tank for right now, and be sure to dissolve it completely before adding. Be sure you have a container of his old water ready in case he has a bad reaction (some bettas do with salt as well). I am so paranoid whenever I add any med to a tank I watch them for at least a half hour with non medicated water standing by.

I'd start with a medication since you water looks good, there could be a type of infection. Most meds are in compressed tablets. Crush one and divide it accordingly so you will have the correct dose for 3 gallons, and save the rest for later. (EX: if you need 1 tablet for every ten gallons, crush and divide into thirds. Add the 1/3 to the tank, and store the rest.)

Yes, how cold is his water? Does he have a heater to keep the water at a constant temp? Any sudden temp changes? Temperature can be a factor as well

PH is around 7.5.

His water temp has been fluctuating between 80-84. There is no heater. I do have a heater to use, but I have not put it in since the water temps have been so high naturally. I will watch the temp a little closer to make sure it's not fluctuating more than i think.

I will probably try the salt for now before I start him on the meds.

I will let you know how he does.

Temps sound good. Watch him like a hawk with the salt. If he becomes less active, sits at the bottom, or starts breathing slower, much faster, or irregular, put him in the clean water.

How's he doing?