Tail rot...Fin Rot?

[Suzie Q]

(copied from old forum)

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:17 am

One of my babies has 1/2 of its tail fin gone. I'm not sure if the biggest baby nipped it or not (this baby is one of the three biggest). It's "tail" is kinda white where the fin is gone (not ick), so I don't know if it is tail rot or not. I am going to treat it this afternoon just in case, but I'd like to know what "tail rot" looks like.

Please help!

[Charis]

hey...sry to hear a litle one may be sick...here's a link to pics of fin/tail rot. Scroll down on the page and you'll see it.

www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

good luck!

[Suzie Q]

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:59 pm

Good news, it does not look like that. It looks like a bite has been taken out of the tail. This may have been the baby that almost choked to death. I wonder if, while "choking", a snail could have come up and taken a bite out of it. It swims pretty good (little extra wiggle to tail). I am going to treat the tank anyway just to be sure.

[Charis]

cool. congrats on being fin rot free. hope you little finned babies are doing well.

[Suzie Q]

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:20 am

They are. I am still adding meds to the tank. It seems to help them grow the fins quicker. His/her tail is starting to take shape again.

[Charis]

excellent! babies are so cute.

[carlrs]

I know this is an old post that we have also covered in private emails.

The first step is to check water parameters as ammonia in particular can make a fish very weak, primarily by burning the gills which will turn make a fish more susceptible to opportunistic diseases such as aeromonas bacteria.

A 30 minute bath with methylene blue at double the recommended strength is VERY effective for a first step treatment, this will help with nitrite and ammonia poisoning, and is effective for many parasite infestations and for bacterial infections as well.

Another common infection especially in betta tanks with poor or no filtration is columnaris. This disease is best treated with Kanamycin if it is progressing quickly, if not, Pimafix will do.

It is important to perform frequent quality water changes, but not large water changes as these can be too stressful and even harm the tank environment.

Keep regular checks of your ammonia, make sure your water has proper electrolytes, such as sodium Chloride (salt), magnesium, and calcium. A tablespoon of pure salt per 5-10 gallons along with a Wonder shell can help here.

www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

Carl