Elderly betta constantly fighting infection?

[hallospacegurl]

I have a betta that is around 5 or 6 years old, and to be honest, he's starting to look his age. His fins are all but gone. He's developed a 'slump', where most betta's swim and float in a straight position, his body is always hunched over.

Despite the slump and loss of color, he's still a wonderful fish. He's got a great personality and begs for treats whenever anyone comes near his tank. He can really put on a show if he wants to.

The problem is, recently he's developed a serious problem with fungus. It has gotten to where I am treating him every day of every week. No matter how many water changes I do and treatments I give, it comes back. What part of his tail that was still there is quickly disappearing because every time I get the white fuzzy spots to go away, the medicine makes him lose parts of his tail.

The fungus only appears on his fins and tail, never on his body. They are like little fuzzy clouds. I have been using BettaFix and after a day or two of treatments, the fuzz disappears. Then the next day you can tell it's starting to develop again. By the second day the fuzz is back and I have to start over again.

I have 4 other betta's who are much younger and have absolutely no health issues. I keep them housed in seperate 2 gallon tanks, and there are no other creatures in the tanks with them. I am wondering if this is something relative to his age?

It's obvious that even though the BettaFix is working, it seems to be just a temp fix. What else should I try for him?

I realize that he's a very, very, very old betta. I just want to attempt to treat this because even if it is his time to go, I don't want the little guy to suffer.

[webcricket]

I would try a Melafix and Pimafix combo treatment. Dose both of those at 1/4 dose the first day. If he handles it okay, up it to 1/2 dose the next day. I have found the 1/2 dose to be sufficient when treating bettas in a small tank. I believe both medications recommend a full week's treatment, be sure to do the full week even if the fins look better after only a couple of days.

It sounds as if you are only treating 1 or 2 days with the Bettafix? The bottle states to use it daily for a full week. You may only be treating long enough to get rid of the visible problem - go the full week.

Also, are you keeping the tank warm? In his age and weakened state somewhere around a steady 78-80 degrees would be helpful in getting him over the fin rot. Daily water changes would benefit as well.

[NinjaPirate]

Was going to say, the fact that it keeps coming back means you probably aren't treating for a long enough period of time.

[liv2padl]

it sounds like this fish has reached the end of it's life. a 5-6 year old betta is VERY old. in my opinion, the kindest thing you could do is to euthanize it.