Well, i sort of saw it coming, and i did everything i could to prevent it, but now my Charlie Parker officially has finrot. I'm just heartbroken. I lost a gf to finrot a couple of months ago, and i'm so afraid to lose another fish.

I've medicated the tank with Maracyn 1 & 2. We're on day 3 of meds today. I don't know what else to do. It doesn't look like it's getting better.

Now the water is very cloudy from the meds, and i'm worried about that too. I want to do a waterchange, but i don't know how to calculate the meds replacement.

Poor Charlie Parker! We adore him, and i'm just sick about his condition. Any help would be appreciated! Here are some pictures:









Thank You!
Dana.

Dont worry about the tank going cloudy, its the meds that are doing that.
Have you tried adding some salt? Bettas do well with salt so you can use it at 1 level teaspoon per gallon and again 12 hours later.

Finrot is mainly due to bacteria so make sure you regularly change him out and clean his gravel.

Poor guy Sorry to hear about his finrot. I've had it a few times with my bettas and I've always used salt to clear it up so if the maracyn doesn't do the trick I would definitely recommend trying salt. In fact, it's so gentle that I would probably use it anyway after you are done with the maracyn treatment.

Thanks Sandy & Imber!

I had tried salting him in the last week or so. It's included in a thread called "Goldfish keeper gets a Betta" if you are interested in reading it. It didn't help, although i asn't salting to the concentration you suggested. I used half a teaspoon per gallon. During the time i was salting, it gt worse, so i did two 80% waterchanges to get rid of the salt, removed the carbon from the filter, and added the meds.

My regular routine for Charlie Parker is to do a 50% waterchange/gravel vac 3x/wk. The amonia/nitrate levels are always at 0, but it seems like the water has lots of floaties, and a white threadlike algae growing on everything, so i really keep up with cleaning the tank.

So, i would like to do a waterchange today - do i need to replace the meds i've removed through the waterchange? I think that the meds have an accumulative effect, so if i do a waterchange, i think i have to add back the meds i removed. I've been using a half a tablet each of maracyn 1 & 2 every 24 hours, over the last 72 hours. This makes 1.5 tablets each of maracyn 1 & 2 in total. So if i take out 50% of the water, should i add back in 50% of the meds? That would be 3/4 of a tablet each of Maracyn 1 & 2 that i would be putting in, in addition to today's dose of 1/2 a tablet each, which would make 1 1/4 tablets each? OMG, by head is spinning! Way too much math on a sunday!

Thanks again for your quick reply!
Dana.

To be honest i would ditch the meds and just do salt and regular water changes. Finrot always gets worse before it gets better and takes so long to see an improvement. He doesnt look too bad to me so just persevere and it should hopefully go in a couple of months.

Thanks for your advice! I think i'll finish this course of meds, and then go back to salting. I feel like now that i've started, i should keep going for the recommended treatment time. five more days, and then i'll start salting. Dana.

I'm still really worried about the cloudiness in the water. I can hardly see to the back wall. I've used Maracyn 1 & 2 before, and i didn't have this problem. I think i should change the water today, but i'm not sure how to replace the meds. Any thoughts on the subject would be so helpful! Thanks guys! Dana.

I would listen to Sandy's advice and get rid of the meds and do salt and water changes as she suggested

Thanks Sandy & Betta Queen! I value both your opinions very much! Thank you for taking the time to repond to my situation. The last prescribed dose of the meds is tonight, so i think that i will finish it up. I don't know if fish anti-biotics are the same as human ones, but i know that humans should always finish a course of antibiotics as prescribed, to aviod creating a strain of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. So one more day, and then tomorrow i wil do a massive waterchange, put the charcoal back into the filter, and go with salt. Do you think two weeks will be sufficient? At one teaspoon per gallon?
Thanks guys!
Dana.

Update on Charlie Parker:

He's finished his 5 day course of Maracyn and Maracyn 2. It was a tortuous experience, as i was so afraid for him in that cloudy meds water, that i held my breath every time i looks in the direction of the tank! But he made it through, and i was able to do a 160% water change, and put the carbon back into his filter - to my HUGE relief. He doesn't look any better, but he doesn't look any worse either.

He is now in all he nice fresh water, with 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon, and i'll keep him in that salt concentration for a couple of weeks (with regular waterchanges, of course!).

I also put a coffee mug (blue glass) in the tank to give him a hidey hole. I hope this will help him to chill out, and not be so stressed. I'm also looking for a background, so that maybe he will stop patrolling the back wall of his tank. Will a background with pictures of fish on it cause him to flare? I understand that this might also stress him out, so i'm looking for one without pics of fish.

Any other ideas on the De-Stressing of Charlie Parker would be appreciated - just incase the finrot is emotional in nature, as opposed to bacterial.

Thank You!

Dana.

Sounds like you are on the right track . Like Sany mentioned just keep the water pristine and keep up the salt regimen and you should see some improvement. I would not get him a backround with fish on it. Bettas will flare at other kinds of fish as well as bettas.Good luck and keep us posted on how he does.

Hi Dana, you've been given really great advice. How is Charlie Parker getting on now with just the salt? Like the others say, persevere with him - I'm sure he will recover well

Everyone has given you great adivce, I just thought I'd pop in and say you might want to think about leaving his light off, it seems to calm bettas down in my experience to have their light off.

Dana , how is Ragman doing? Any improvement yet?

I think Dana's Betta is called Charlie Parker, Kris
Blue has a Betta called Ragman if thats the one you're thinking of

Yup you are right Mr. B. I don't know where my mind is at this morning. Could be cause I had to get up at
5 :30 m today and come to work. I am not complaining or anything, it is some good overtime but I must still be half a asleep. I guess I need to go get me a cup of coffee before I need to answer the phone again

Any updates on How Charlie Parker is doing?

Hi guys!

Thas so much for asking about Charlie Parker! I've been keeping up with waterchanges, and salt. I got a background without fish on it. I also got another, taller plant for him to hide out in. I don't know that his fins have gotten too much better, but i don't think that they've gotten much worse either. So, i guess that's a good thing - he's hangin' in there anyway! Thanks so much fo all your help over the course of this issue - it helps to have experience on your side - even if it's not your own!

Dana.

Hi Dana, sounds like he's doing well then. If things don't seem to be getting any worse, maybe carry on with the salt for a little while longer (it's been a couple of weeks now hasn't it?) and then maybe phase it out gradually and try clean water alone - funny thing is, sometimes thats when you start to see the most improvement. Alternatively you could up the salt from one teaspoon per gallon (0.1%) up to maybe 0.15% or 0.2% and see if that turns things around. You'll just have to judge it as you go along though. Re-growth in Bettas can be very slow, but it can happen. The main thing is that he is not getting worse. Good luck with him