Ongoing Betta Tail Rot

I have an ongoing issue my Betta - tail rot . I used to have him in a 1 ½ gallon columnar vase. Our water is not chlorinated but I still treated the water, added salt, and changed water at least 2 x per week. In order to keep the tail from continuously rotting I had to put in Fungus Eliminator and it seemed like he’d be ok, but then after about 2 weeks post medicating his tail would start falling apart again. I didn’t have a heater in this container and I was wondering if this was helping the fungus in our water. I could see what looked like strands/shreds of clear plant-looking material floating around and growing off of his ornaments and his tail.

I bought a 10 gallon aquarium with power filter and heater (76-78 degrees). I had him in his new home for about a week and I noticed that his fins were rotting again. So I bought Pimafix and Melafix and have treated his tank twice already in the past 3 weeks with partial water changes. His tail looks like it starts to heal and then bad again a few days later. I am really getting frustrated and don’t know what to do. I monitor the water and all is fine. I realize that it hasn’t had time to fully cycle. It’s like I am going to have to keep him in Fungus Eliminator permanently just to keep his tail healthy. Has anyone else ever had to do this? Can I medicate his aquarium rather than putting him in that unheated, small container he used to live in? After making a 50% water change could I add the fungus eliminator even though there may be remnants of the pima and melafix? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. One last question would be: since I bought my fish at a store other than a pet shop (lack of experience on my part), is it possible that he has never been healthy and never will? Sorry for such a long post. Thanks!

It's certainly possible to buy a sick fish, because most diseases and parasites take a while to become obvious. From reading your post, however, I'd have to say that all those temperature excursions in the 1/2 gallon bowl were not very good for the Betta. I suspect all the salt and meds didn't help either. Any sort of rapid change in water conditions can shock and thus compromise the Betta's immune system, making him vulnerable to all the diseases and parasites common in aquariums. I hope the Betta is not too sick to be saved. To give him the best chance, you first need to provide a healthy environment. Changing 20 or so percent of the water every day for a week should clean up the aquarium environment. Even though you are apparently using well water, it would not hurt to use a good water conditioner like Stress Coat. Amquel+ is a little more serious and may be helpful dealing with the current water problems. After a week, the Betta could start looking better, and you can go back to weekly water changes using Stress Coat. Since the ten gallon tank may not be completely cycled, be sure to check for ammonia. A live, floating plant like water sprite or hornwort will help control ammonia.

If you didn't go to sleep reading all that, I hope it will help. Please let us know.

Thanks for the info and sorry for the late return. I did read your post earlier and have been making more frequent water changes. I have not added any meds but I still use Stress Coat+ and a pinch of salt.

Sharky's tail had been looking better, but now, from one day ago, it is ratty looking and I think he is chewing his own tail. I can't think of anything else this could be. I saw him do this once only, a few weeks ago, when I temporarily put him back in his 1 1/2 gallon bowl while I cleaned out his tank, but I haven't seen him do it since. I can't think of anything else it could be, especially for his tail to look so shredded over night.

Not sure what to do now. Not much I can do I guess other than keeping his tank clean and warm. Any suggestions?

I seem to remember a Betta's tail shredding when he was in a large aquarium with other fish. It's difficult for them to swim with such a large tail, so they tend to exercise their tail too much. Wild Bettas have smaller tails. That could account for some of the problems. Is the fish otherwise healthy? If not and if you decide to medicate, make sure to follow the instructions to the letter. Also remove any charcoal filter media, because it will filter out some medications. I would skip the salt and raise the temperature, gradually, a few degrees. Higher temperatures speed up the metabolism of the fish and the disease/parasite organisms. If you're not sure you are dealing with a disease and if the fish is getting better, the water changes may be the most effective cure. Most of the time when a fish gets sick, the problem can be traced back to the aquarium environment.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

could he be seeing something and making him flare and get stressed out? in my personal experence i think salt would be bad for there tail but nice clean fresh water works wonders on nasty tails

Thank you for the comments. I have done everything that I have read or been instructed to do to help my little buddy. However, I am finding there is always something new to learn. I appreciate this forum and your help.

Aside from my Betta having tail problems he seems healthy, except one gill does not show when he flares. He's lively and interacts with me. This is definitely a change from his previous small home where he was lethargic.

I have placed a plastic container lid in his tank to break the flow of the power filter, so there is less current. He can now relax more on the bottom and he's not carried away in the current. I've also rigged up a cover with a burlap-type net to protect him from being sucked into the intake pipe. He liked to hang around it previously and had his tail sucked got in occasionally but not anymore. Aside from the sides of the aquarium there really isn't anything that would make him flare. I don't have shiny rocks or glass beads and even though I have only a shallow layer of rocks, the bottom is covered. I am going to cover the back with a scene to lessen the reflections.

I will watch him, do water changes, and increase the temp. His water is near a constant 76.5 degrees. What temp. would you suggest? If he does not get better in a couple of days I may medicate him, without the salt. I really haven't put much salt in, maybe a half teaspoon in total.

Thanks again.

I didn't know you were using a power head with lots of power. That could be why his fins are torn -- swimming against the strong current. You can use a piece of nylon hose over the filter intake; clean nylon is inert, but many textiles are treated with chemicals. Before adding any chemical fixes for the fin problem, I would turn down the power head. If it's hooked to an under gravel filter, you can replace it with a lift tube attached to a small air pump. Bettas do well in quiet waters, and you can get proper filtration with less turbulence. He may get better just from that and the regular water changes. If you change only about 20 or 25 percent of the water you can avoid rapid changes in water parameters.

Please keep us posted.

Sorry, I think I mentioned the power filter in my first post, but not how strong it was. It is not an under gravel filter. I've calmed it down a lot since I first put him in. I will post a photo when I get my camera hooked up - just to show you what I have done for the set up with the container lid and intake cover. He doesn't have the current to swim against anymore. There is only a gentle current and it barely moves him. Unfortunately, I can not control the flow of the filter, it's on or off. The only reason I have this power filter is b/c it came with the tank.

Regular water changes it is.

Thanks!

You probably did mention the power thing earlier; I'm a little slow on the uptake. When the Betta recovers, we should look at all the possible causes and the effects of your corrective measures and then maybe write a blog about it. The title of the blog will be: Tell Tale Tail Tales. Sorry about that

That's good, Johnarthur! And I shall be then considered an expert!

Right on!

Thanks for the invitation copper. I haven't forgotten about this great place

My Betta home continues to be a bit of a challenge and I am wondering if it will ever be normal. Seems it's taking forever to cycle his tank (it's been more than 2 months). I guess being a newbie doesn't help but just when I think things are going ok something goes awry.

Sharky's tail finally started to heal after regular (2 day water changes - 20 to 50%) and no medication, but it took a good 2 weeks or so to start showing signs of improvement. Then the nitrites started to go up and it took more regular water changes and finally a few days treatment with some "Stability" to bring it back down. I feed only what he can eat so there is no extra food in the tank. When I do water changes I vacuum the bottom, but not every water change. Now I see his tail is shredding yet again. I am quite frustrated and don't know what else to do. I really didn't think that keeping one little fish was going to be so much work and expense. Am I trying too hard? Anything else, less, that I should be doing?

Always glad to hear suggestions from you all. I do follow the advice I receive and thank you for it.

The adventure continues...

Cheers.

Welcome back. During my first few years in the aquarium hobby, I tried much too hard and usually ended up making things worse. If you still have that power head, you might want to replace it with an air hose on slow bubble. Can you post a picture of your Betta setup?

Good day johnarthur. Nice to hear from you again.

I thought maybe I had reduced the flow from the power head enough that it wasn't making a lot of turbulence. He seems happy and likes to hang out at that end once in a while. But, maybe it is still too much and I should look into what you suggest.

I was going to post pics before but have old system and editing is a pain. I have attached a photo for your info.

Thx

The water flows directly into the plastic lid and disperses out from there. No more stream down into the aquarium.

And here is my intake pipe; protected so his tail doesn't get sucked up and shredded. Seems to work well and larger particles still flow thru the mesh.

Nice setup! And Welcome back!

I can't imagine that you have too much water flow since that lid is in there...

The netting is a great idea...

Maybe Anime will chime in soon...

how often do you do water changes? and how much

Thanks for posting the pictures; your aquarium looks great. I've never seen a filter quite like that on this side of the Pond, but it looks like it would not create too much turbulence. Where did you get the filter? You may want to add some floating plants plus more rooted plants. That would give the Betta more places to hide and to rest from his continuing hunt for female companionship.

Most recently I have been doing roughly 25% water changes every 3 days. About a week ago I had high nitrite levels. So, depending on the nitrite level I do from 20 to 50% changes. At a point the nitrite level was still 0.5 mg/L after a 50% change and 2 days later. So kept changing, mostly about 25% until levels came down. Also used the Stability additive for about 4 days which seemed to help.

As for the filter: I purchased the AQUA-Tech 10 gallon started kit which included the AQUA-Tech 5-15 Power Filter with BIO-Fiber biological filtration and EX-Change fiber filter. I had to put a cover on the intake pipe because it was sucking up Sharky's tail when he hung out on that end. I used the top of a pop bottle and then bound the burlap-type mesh netting around the pop bottle. Leaving the bottle bare was sharp and wouldn't have worked well by itself so is the reason I put the burlap on it. The blue plastic thing at the top of the aquarium is just a round plastic Ziploc lid that I attached to the intake pipe. It seems to work well.

The plants are all artificial and I really don't like using them as they seem a bit sharp on some of the edges. I worry that he will catch his tail on them. I've added more plants from the whole aquarium photo so there are more places for him to relax under. I would like to put real plants in there but I am not experienced enough to take care of them and I seem to be having enough problems right now. But I've seen some awesome planted aquariums that I've envied...

I didn't notice that you were using real burlap, which is an organic product that is subject to decomposition. It could be why the nitrite levels went up. In addition, the burlap may have some additives that make it easier to process or use. None of it could be good for fish. Synthetic materials like nylon should not release anything into the water. You can always give materials the smell test to see if they are out gassing any volatile compounds.

With regard to live plants, half the battle is picking the right ones and starting with enough. If you throw in a bunch of hornwort, it should grow without much encouragement. Of course, there is a good chance it will bring in snails and duckweed, both of which will require a moderate amount of control. If you live near Phoenix, I'll give you all the hornwort your ten gallon tank needs. If not, you could try Aquabid.com. Probably you've already read this, but live plants like hornwort will help eliminate ammonia and nitrite.

Hi johnarthur,

Oops, I never thought about the mesh. I am not 100% certain that it is burlap but looks kind of like it; is reason I put burlap-type. It is used in crafts, I think to make flower arrangements; I think it holds the flowers. Anyhow, I guess I should look for something else to use, something more known and healthy. Thanks for that tip, johnarthur.

I shall check out hornwort. Thanks for the offer but I live in Canada. I will check out aquabid too. Do you recommend buying from pet stores? I will have to start reading. You guys may have me really getting into this hobby ::

I must finally be doing something right. My ammonia and nitrites are finally zero! I was going to do another partial change but thought I would test first. I am happy and Sharky is happy!

cheers

I'm happy to see you are really getting into the aquarium hobby.

Some pet stores are great, and some have good bargains. A resource like Aquabid.com is a good place to find the things you can't find in a local pet shop. Some of the on-line aquarium supply houses are also very good. My favorite is Drsfostersmith.com, but there are other good stores too.

About the burlap: it's important to make sure you are not putting reactive things in an aquarium. Some things sold by craft stores are probably OK, but others may contain dye, preservatives, etc., which could harm the fish.

I just read an article on Betta keeping, and it said they are a warm water fish that do better in 82 degree water. The article also suggests using an aquarium cover to keep the air moist. Lots of plants and hiding places are also recommended.

This information is great johnarthur. Thank you very much everyone. I shall do some more research. Soon Sharky will be happy hiding in his live plants :: I'll boost his heater up a little too. He will be whistling a pretty tune soon.

Cheers.

I hope so!!!

Good Luck!!!