# Chronic Tail and Fin Rot on a Betta



## CaPisces (Oct 28, 2010)

Hey guys,
I am at my wits end. I saved a male and female Betta pair from the LBBFS, and with this I knew I would be going up against any number of possible diseases. However, I did not anticipate the level of tail and fin rot I would be dealing with. I bought them this past July. The female came with anchor worms (did not know this until one appeared), and the male seemed to have only come with a REALLY bad case of tail and fin rot. I thought the tail and fin rot would heal once he was out of that horrible bowl and into his own 3 gallon, richly planted (right now only with plastic plants due to his infection), heated, filtered (very low flow so he doesn't get pushed around) palace. He really did perk up, but the tail rot is still there! 
I was treating him with Jungle's Fungus tablets and API's Tetracycline after water changes and aquarium salt didn't seem to make a dent. The treatment with the anti-fungal and antibiotics did seem to help and some re-growth did occur, however, that was short lived. I decided to wean him off of the meds since a total "dry-turkey" drop off might shock the tank and allow for the over production of the "bad" bacteria. I did end up getting a small algae bloom, but that was easily treated and hasn't come back since. But the tail rot also came back. I keep the tank darn near pristine with parameters of:
Temp: 77-80 F (I need a new heater, the one I have is not consistent)
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
GH: 75-90 ppm (the water here is weird)
KH: 120 ppm
pH: 6.8-7 (again, the local water is weird and never the same)
Feeding schedule is 3-4 Betta pellets twice per day. (He always eats it all.)
I started doing every other day to every two day water changes. Each time matching the temp and conditioning it with AmQuel (Yes, I know Prime is better but I have heard it can be dangerous to Bettas. Plus, it is $2 more for a 4 oz smaller bottle.)
Today I got fed up with the fact the tail rot is not getting worse, and his poor fins are not healing. It's like they are in limbo. So, I started him back on the meds.
What I need from you Betta/Tropical fish gurus is some advice. What am I doing wrong? His tank is clean, generally well heated, and he's constantly blowing his bubble nest, so why are his fins not healing?
I eventually want to breed the two, but I will NOT attempt that until both are totally well. 
Thank you for any help you can give me. I really appreciate it.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Surprised a Jungle lab product didn't do the job. Sounds like you are doing enough. I would try a different med and see if you get a better result.


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## CaPisces (Oct 28, 2010)

I also tried API's Triple Sulfa and General Cure. The General Cure wasn't really for the tail rot but more so for the fact the female had anchor worms and I wanted to make sure if his tank some how was contaminated with eggs that hatched, they wouldn't survive long enough to catch a ride on the male. The Triple Sulfa did nothing so I stopped that. I am wondering if giving him a little bit extra of the Jungle product would work. Currently I give him about 1/4 of a Jungle fizzing Fugus Cure tablet since he's in a 3 gallon tank, maybe a half a tab instead? Half a tablet is suppossed to treat five gallons.
What do you guys think?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How long has he been going through treatment? Is his whole tail gone?


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## CaPisces (Oct 28, 2010)

He has been going through treatment off and on since July. His tail is there, but its pretty damaged. It is his dorsal fin that is the worst. Its to the point that the most anterior aspect of his dorsal fin is almost gone. The rays are the only thing left. The most dorsal aspect of his dorsal fin is still pretty much intact. He's a Veil Tail Betta that looks like he's trying to be a punk rock Crown Tail (long pointy rays, with very little fin). However, I will say that his dorsal fin looks as if he might have some Double Tail in his genes becuase of the number of rays.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Maybe you should stop treating for a while. Just a suggestion. I had a platy that lost her tail completely. I treated her for about 4 days and stopped. I put her back in the main tank and her tail started to grow back a week or two later.


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## CaPisces (Oct 28, 2010)

I did try to take him off all medication but when I did his dorsal fin became even more shredded.


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