Stubborn Fin Rot

dobiekad

dobiekad
Apr 24, 2006
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HI there,

I'm worried about my betta. He has steadily gotten worse over the last month or more and I have tried 3 meds on him (with breaks in between). I do at least a 10% water change every day/every other day. He is at 80 degrees.

The meds:
1) kanamycin
2) tetracycline
3) mayacyn 2

It's been suggested I use either furazone green or penicillian on him . I don't know if either are effective or strong enough.

I read online that penicillian doesn't work well on fin rot.


HELP!!
 
Have you tried Melafix? It works real well for a nautral product. It acctually helps promote new fin growth. I would give it a shot scince you tried everything else. I have always had sucess with it. Just so you know fin rot is casued by opertunistic bacteria and ussually can be associated to poor water conditions. What are your water parameters?
 
Well i haven't tried melafix, because it's too strong for betta fish. I don't have any bettafix, but i could try that. I know everyone hates those water strips to test water, but it's all I have. I'm actually not sure how to do it the real way. Anyway, the strip says:

nitrate: safe
nitrite: safe
soft
Alkalinity: ideal
pH: neutral

:huh:
 
10% waterchanges may not be enough. If there is ANY ammonia or nitrite in the betta's water, it can lead to finrot. No amount of medication will help the problem if the water is not pristine.

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings?
 
Ms.Bubbles said:
10% waterchanges may not be enough. If there is ANY ammonia or nitrite in the betta's water, it can lead to finrot. No amount of medication will help the problem if the water is not pristine.

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings?


thanks for the tip! as i wrote below, i have those stupid strips and the nitrite is "safe" what do i buy to find out the true reading of the ammonia and nitrite?
 
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals make an excellent water testing kit--it has a 2-part ammonia test that is very accurate. Those test strips are really not reliable at all. If you can afford it, I'd recommend Aquarium Pharmaceutical's "Master Test Kit" (contains almost all the tests you'd ever need) but an AP ammonia and nitrite test would do.
 
Great! I'll look into that, thanks so much! In the meantime? He is getting worse every day :(
 
plah831 said:
in the meantime, larger water changes. 50% daily I would recommend.
Really? When your medicateing with an antibiotic arnt you not supposed to change the water at all? You the expert but thats what I always read on the boxes. Maybe use some amquel in the mean time to stop if from harming the betta?
Also Betafix is just half streangth melafix so if you can get the regular just do half doses.
 
Use LifeGuard. It will kill parasites, fungus, just about anything, and it is not harmful to your fish!
 
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