# Fin Rot and Fungus



## DalmationMolly17 (Apr 14, 2013)

I believe my Betta, Shark, is experiencing Fin Rot and possibly fungus. I have another fish in the tank, a Cory Catfish. Would it be safe for my cory catfish, whom is perfectly healthy to experience any medicine that I may place in the tank or should I separate my Betta in a separate place from the catfish and give the medicine? 

Yes, my Betta is in the same tank with another fish. I think he enjoys the company. Never chases or attacks the fish.


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## Berylla (Mar 4, 2013)

Sorry to hear your fish are not well. How large is your tank and how many fish are in the tank? How often do you vacuum and change out the water. What is your ammonia levels, nitrite and nitrate levels like? Often fin rot and other diseases are brought on by water quality issues and once resolved, the health of the fish return.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

First off I want to point out that bettas do not enjoy company. They are solitary fish, so have no need for companions. That being said sometimes they will be ok with other fish. 

What size is the tank, how often do you do water changes and how much at a time. Fin rot is a water quality issue. Fungus could be secondary to the initial cause of the fin rot. 

How many corys do you have? Corys need to be in a school, because unlike the betta, they need companionship to feel safe.


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## DalmationMolly17 (Apr 14, 2013)

I have one Betta and one Cory. I keep the cory to make sure the food that is leftover on the bottom is picked up. My tank is 2.5 gallon tank and I change out about 25%-50% everyday. I tested my ammonia yesterday and it ranged from .25-1.0. I do not have a test kit for the Nitrate and Nitrite. 

My Betta keeps to himself. I will often see both of them in the same place together just floating around (I found this rather strange but also fascinating!) My betta and Cory are the only fish in my 2.5 gallon tank.


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## DalmationMolly17 (Apr 14, 2013)

And I have recently cleaned my tank out and thoroughly washed the rocks. This was last Thursday at the least. I have just gotten these fish, I recently had a sick fish in the tank that died. Could this fish may have caused the fungus? My beta was perfectly fine until that other fish got sick.


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## chipmunk1210 (Jul 3, 2012)

Ok. Here is what I see. A 2.5 gallon tank with a betta and 1 lone cory that is having ammonia issues, probably nitrIte issues, and fin rot/fungus issues for the betta.

Is the 2.5 gallon heated? The betta requires a temp of 78F-82F. What other fish was in the tank that got sick? 

In my opinion, bettas and cories can co-exhist quite well given they are in a big enough tank that allows for both the fishes needs to be met. Cories need 6 (3 bare minimum) of their own species since they are a schooling species. The size of your tank is the bare minimum for 1 betta ONLY without any other fish. If you need something to pick up food off of the bottom of the tank -- feed less. With the ammonia reading you put up-- the fin rot is easily explained and the fungus is (like Majerah1 stated) more than likely a bi-product of the fin rot. Very clean warm water is all you need to heal fin rot no need for meds. I do not advise adding meds to a tank unneccesarily especially with a cory which is more sensitive to meds. 

My recommendation to you is to either get a larger tank so that you can house the betta and cory like they need to be housed and get the cory some friends or rehome the cory. Either way you need to get the 2.5 back to its capacity of the single male betta before you are going to see any improvement in your betta. I am sorry if this sounds a little harsh-- I am only blunt because I care about the well being of your fish.


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## Berylla (Mar 4, 2013)

I agree with rehoming the cory. 2.5 gallons with ammonia readings will stress any fish to death. With the one betta in a 2.5 gallon, changing the 50% of the water every other day should suffice. The clean water will clear up any problems with the betta too.


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