My Betta has lost his tails and one of his fins... help!?

Question

My beautiful blue crown tail betta has become tail less and is missing his right fin (the arm he swims with). This is sad as it's the same thing that happened to my white betta who died as I was floating him to change his water after separating from my ex-husband. I really would hate to lose this fish. He is still actively eating but his water has changed colors in two weeks time. He is in a large tank, the same size as my female and she has no problems. When I changed his water almost two weeks ago, he was fine and just as beautiful as ever. Will his fins regrow? I saw to use Jungle's Fungus Eliminator and then once his water maintains a good balance, then treat with Melafix. Can someone give me details on his water up keep during this treatment time... what are his chances of survival? I really would hate to have false hope. Sounds funny because he's just a fish, but he's a life so please respect that.

Answer 1

i hate losing fish a whole tank full of guppies of mine died 2 days ago and then my cat was hit by a car in the same day. worst day of my life... but for your fish he probably has ick. go to a local petsmart or other pet store and ask for ick treatment. put a couple drops in the bowl or aquarium. (more or less depending on the size of the bowl/aquarium) i miss my fish and even more miss my cat... but theres still hope for your beta

Answer 2

Drop a new beta into the tank and let the fun commence!

Answer 3

aww hes probbaly stressed. just let him be, and whatever happens, happens. im sorry though but im sure he will be ok =]

Answer 4

Finrot. Caused by dirty water. There is medicine at the petstore you can buy to treat it. I have seen bettas recover from fin rot before.

Answer 5

There is no doubt, from your description, that he has FIN ROT - probably a rather advanced case.  It is a bacterial disease, not a fungus.  As Aqua Girl said, it comes from poor water quality.  Your fish does NOT have ick or velvet (unless he has little spots all over his body) and he is not just stressed.  

Fin rot can be cured, but if he has lost his tail and part of a fin already, you will need to treat it aggressively with antibiotics.  If this was an early case (e.g. just a bit of tail deterioration), you would have some room to try water changes & aquarium salt to see if they'd help, but at this point you your fish may die if you wait any longer.  I would break out the "big guns" right away and choose a strong antibiotic (ask your local fish store for a recommendation).  Maracyn is certainly one option.  I've been told it is a relatively mild antibiotic and may not be powerful enough to cure such an advanced case.  If you choose it, use both Maracyn I and Maracyn II as they target different types of bacteria.  I have used Furan-2 with success, but there are others out there as well (Triple Sulfa, Tetracycline, etc).  

When treating, follow the directions on the antibiotic as to how often to do water changes.  Furan-2, for example directs a full water change, followed by a 25% change after 24 hours, then another full change and 25% change on the subsequent 2 days.  If you don't see results in that amount of time, you may need to continue treatment longer (a week or more).  

Antibiotics usually come as either capsules or powder and the packaged dosages treat 5-10 gals of water.  If your betta is in a considerably smaller tank, getting the dose right will be a hassle, but if you want to keep him alive, it is a "must."  There are antibiotic gels, but few bettas eat enough of that for it to be effective, and again, you have no time to waste!  

Secondary, fungal infections are common when fish get fin rot.  If you see cottony stuff hanging off his fins or body, you can add antifungal medication.  Otherwise, don't bother.  Anti-fungals don't treat fin rot itself.  

Once the deterioration has stopped and you see a little regrowth, you can start using Melafix, as it is helpful in regrowing the fins.  But don't use Melafix at this point as it is not an antibiotic so doesn't help in the cure stage.  

I have a little fish who is on the mend from fin rot.  His fins started to regrow after a little over a week of diligent treatment, but as Aqua Girl said, they will probably never look quite as pretty as they did before.  That is why prevention is better than cure.  

Do a search on "fin rot" if you want more info on what causes this and how to treat it.  There is a lot of info out there on the internet about this as it is a fairly common problem for bettas.

Answer 6

If you have an unheated, unfiltered bowl this is causing the problem.  Poor water conditions will lead to fin rot and other diseases and eventually, death.  He needs at the very least a 5 gallon tank with a heater set at 78 F and a filtration system.  Treat with aqua salt (1 teaspoon per 5 gallons) and Melafix.  Fungus cure will do nothing as he does not have a fungus.  If you see no changes in a few days.  You can also try Mardel's Maracyn for fin rot.  This is a very good anti-biotic.  You will need to change the water 25% daily if you use the Maracyn as it degrades in the water within 24 hours of application.

Also, never remove a fish when cleaning the tank.  This stresses them out and causes them to get sick as well.  You can clean the inside of the tank and syphon gravel and change water with the fish in the tank.  I do it for all 4 of my tanks.  You also want to be sure to condition the new water (I like Seachem's Prime) and make sure the new water is of the same temp as the old water.  Never change more than 25% at a time unless you have an emergency.  You should really only be doing this once a month.

As long as you keep him stably heated and treated with the salt, Melafix and potentially and anti-biotic and keep the water pristine he should live.  His fins will grow back but they will never look like they originally did.

You also need to find out what caused this in the first place.  Is the tank too small?  Is it under-heated or under-filtered?  Are you overfeeding?  Re-evaluate your current set up to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Good luck : )

Answer 7

ugh go look it up i have a betta and you should get a water condisoner and check if you fish has velvet and change the water every onther day! at the end of the week do a full on cleaning. **** luck sorry about your fish he just may pass....

:-(

Answer 8

its probably down to stress. Leave him be and dont keep adding things to the water which will cause it to unbalance and you may lose both fish

Hope he gets better soon