I'm here because my betta has fin rot, despite my best efforts at maintaining good water parameters. This was really good info and a cute vid. I subscribed.
Hi Donya - Welcome aboard and thank you for the kind words! Glad the video was helpful. Don't get discouraged - my water parameters were just fine as well, when my Betta got his fin rot. They are curious little devils, and most of the time they contract fin rot when they rip their fins or run into something while exploring. Mine ran right into the filter outlet while chasing a pellet, scraped off half his scales, and that's what did it 😳 Fin rot is a symptom that can happen when a wound (inflicted by the Betta - their fault) give bacteria an opportunity. By the way - one other remedy that works very well - API's Erythromycin (just by itself). Let me know if I can help further 😀
Thank you so much for all the great info! One thing that changed recently in my betta's 3.5 gallon tank was the introduction of a new floating plant - Salvinia minimus. I've since removed it. It was soft, with fuzzy and fibrous roots that my betta liked building bubble nests in. But I learned that I should have pre-treated it in a bleach dip, so as to kill any unwanted stuff from the tank it was grown in. I'm now suspect of that plant, because the fin rot began about a week later. Do you think that plant could have been a contributing factor?
Donya - that very well could be, especially if you don't have any sharpish objects in the tank. That absolutely could be it. Good move removing it! 👍 I do like Salvinia, though, especially if low light plants are below it. But if there aren't any sharp objects, you might have had a nasty little hitchhiking bacteria on the Salvinia...😖
Katie - my pleasure. Yes, salt does absolutely nothing if an infection is this far advanced. Neither does Melafix, Bettafix, or Pimafix...that video is coming soon 😀
This video may be a few years old but it just saved my betta's life!! THANK YOU! After getting bad advice from the people at Petsmart & Petco and googling like crazy, I found this video and it had all the right answers. Plus, you giving voices to both the betta and the snail was super cute :)
I am in process of using your method on my betta (Grace) that got banged up bad. I went to take pic of white fuzz on her top fin and it feel off day two of meds. This is working great so far. Thanks a ton for posting this. Love the voice overs!
I'm grateful I came across your video. I've been dealing with fin rot on my Betta for a couple of months. First I used Aquarium Salt for 10 days and it seemed to help a little but it came back. Then I used Bettafix which I wasn't real comfortable with but I gave it a try without any luck. After watching your video I have a much better comprehension of the different bacterias - thank you! I know you used the two different medications but I just want to double check with you that it's best to use both of those together rather than one. I'm hoping I can find them both tomorrow local because I want to start treating him right away before he gets any worse. The commentary cracks me up by the way!
Second - I have a video coming out about this soon. Melafix and the diluted Bettafix can't do it. Those are for minor injuries. Use both together and trust me. I wish my vid on Melafix and Bettafix was already out. They come from trees...they are just oils...not antibiotics. What you need are antibiotics.. Use what I showed you in the vid.. If you have questions, email me: dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com
Thanks so much for your reply! I was able to get a hold of the Jungle Clear locally but I have to order the Konoplex online so that will take a few days and with the long weekend probably more. I do have an extra challenge because I'm in the process of cycling a 10 gallon tank for my Betta to go into but it's not quite ready. In the meantime I have him in a 3 1/2 gallon tank but since it's not cycled I have to do frequent water changes. I'm concerned I won't be able to go the 4 days with the Jungle clear without changing the water. I'm just so worried about him, his fins are looking terrible. The water perimeters are good for uncycled, 0 am, 0 nitrites, no nitrates, good ph. He has a heater so the water temp is at a steady 80 degrees. I feed him the highest quality pellets as well as blood worms and brine shrimp on alternating days. I need to get him in the new tank but it's still cycling. (he was a gift and came in bad condition in an 1 gallon bowl so that's why I wasn't prepared with a cycled tank.) . Thank you again for your help and for your awesome videos - I have subscribed!
Second Twirl - my pleasure, of course. With the 10 gallon - once you see some algae, it's cycled..Ok to add fish 👍With the Betta in the 3 1/2 gallon: I understand. If you can't go the 4 days with the JFC, that's ok. Dose, then two days later do a water change, then dose again. You are doing a fantastic job with everything else and the water parameters look great. With 3 1/2 gallons, you should be ok for 2 days. But once you try this JFC, you'll be amazed at how well it works! Keep up the great work...message me if I can be of further help! 😀
I was able to go three days before I did a water change and then I did another dose of the Jungle Clear. I think Mr. Bleu's fins are a little better, it's hard to tell at this point. The Konoplex is on it's way and I will be anxious to see if that helps too. Last night I was sure I heard him comment "hey food lady, have you noticed my water is all green? Could you do something about that!?" lol
Thank you sooooooo much dmichaels for this video. You are the reason my betta has new life. Your remedy definitely gave my betta a second chance of life. Thanks a mill
Aquatasy thank you for the kind words! This combination worked like a charm. I have another video coming on treating fungus on a German Blue Ram. I'm shocked at how well Jungle Fungus Clear works. I bought it on a whim on Amazon and was nervous as I knew nothing about the company. Now it has me convinced to take it the next time I have a cold/flu 🤒😜. Really good stuff. Would highly recommend keeping a stash in your "fish pantry"
My first betta got fin rot two months after I bought him from the pet shop. He's a blue-ish red veiltail. Since Ace is my first one and I'm still new to taking care of him, I thought I'd try melafix to help. It's probably not the best solution but its helping somewhat and his fins are looking better nearly every day. It's a slow process, but its helping. Looking at this video will give me a better solution if I don't see any changes for him. Thank you.
My pleasure! While the Melafix isn't always the best solution, you know what - if it is working for you, keep it up. What is equally important is to keep the water pristine, no ammonia or nitrites at all in it. Fin re-growth is always a slow process, but if the rot has stopped and you are noticing improvement, as the saying goes, "don't fix it if it ain't broke," so keep doing what you are doing! And certainly don't feel bad the fin rot happened after bringing him home from the shop - in the conditions bettas are kept in, its really common to have to deal with some fin rot after purchase. Keep up the great work! 👍
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you. It's a very slow process but there was a hole in his back fin before but using the melafix healed it up and I no longer see it. He made his first bubble nest a couple of days ago and even flared at me! Definitely a good sign he's doing better. :D
@@Spiritprime91 Great to hear!!! That is a GREAT sign he is doing better! Nice job! And it definitely is going to be a slow process - Just hang in there
Thank you for the informative video. I have a 2 year old betta in a 10 gallon. He has several plants, some driftwood, a large decorative hiding rock, and one of those betta leaves on the side of the tank. But he keeps getting fin rot. I've had to treat him several times in the last year, and am just at a loss of what is going on. Up until now I just thought it was something I was not doing correctly when cleaning. I have read so many articles, watched videos, cleaned the tank exactly like I'm supposed to be, and poof, out of nowhere he's losing his fins. I never thought it could be due to him ripping his fins on his driftwood and/or rock in the tank. He started growing his fins back and was looking so beautiful, and I did the scheduled water change, and yesterday noticed his fin had a hole in it and the surrounding fins were super raggedy. I'm going to assume it could be the driftwood. He likes to swim down and hangout on top of it. Hopefully removing the drift wood and possibly the rock will help. Thanks again for the video!
Hi Lauren - my pleasure! I'm sorry to hear your guy's fins keep getting torn up. You are on the right track, though. It's easy for us to automatically assume fin rot when it is just a case of fins being torn. Bettas are curious little creates and like to jam themselves into places they aren't supposed to jam themselves into. It definitely could be the driftwood or the rock. In the past, I've had Bettas tear fins on driftwood, rocks, and one guy who was insane and bit his own fins, like a dog chasing his tail. I also had a sparkling gourami who nipped one Bettas fins ragged. Here's that video: th-cam.com/video/HjrXPJhJ21A/w-d-xo.html So, I'm sure he is just getting them caught on something. One thing that might be helpful: I really like Kordon Fish Protector for promoting fin growth and health and I add it after every water change, once a week. It has Echinacea and vitamin B12 in it, and works wonders for fin healing - you might consider giving that a try. It's easy to find online :)
Just started this treatment on my betta, Cobalt. Hoping it works! Thanks for the info I had tried to treat it with salt and he was getting a bit better but once I moved him back to his normal tank from the quarantine tank all of the progress disappeared and he actually started getting worse. I found this video just in time (at least I’m hoping).
Hey Mike, it's Angie and Patriot, my Betta again. Patri got caught up between the large driftwood and the wall of his tank and ended up with a pretty bad tear to the base of his tail, right where the body and tail meet! He unfortunately ended up with a bad case of tail rot even though I treated him with Furan 2 as soon as I noticed the rot starting! I completed all 4 doses of F2 and thought he'd be ok, like the last time he had fin rot however, it didn't work this time and he ended up worse! I had Tetra Fungus Guard on hand and after watching your video I started the FG promptly while I waited for the Kanaplex to arrive from Amazon. I completed the first 4 days of FG, changed 25% of tank water (per instructions) and then proceeded to start the 2nd 4 days of FG & added the Kanaplex with it. In 2 days I will add the 2nd dose of KP but i'm not sure if I should hold off on partial water change after 4 days before adding the 3rd dose of KP... or if I should do the water change before adding the final dose of KP? Had to do the dosing of the 2 meds you recommend kind of in reverse as I didn't have KP on hand after the F2 treatment and I was afraid that if I waited the 3-4 days til the KP arrived that it would be too late to save Patriot! I hope I didn't screw this up! On the bright side, Patri seems to be doing ok so far but he's definitely not back to his old self yet. He's at lest swimming and eating again. After the Rot set in he was sitting on the bottom and was refusing to eat for the first 2 - 3 days of treatment. Got him to eat again by giving him his favorite food - frozen blood worms! Following your lead, I decided to just remove the driftwood from my tank entirely, even though it didn't have any jagged / sharp edges... I just don't want to risk any more incidents with him getting caught up between the wood and the glass again! My heart breaks for the little guy because his tail still seems to just droop and I can see the large wound at the base of his tail - although it's looking a tiny bit better every few days! It looks kind of painful even after healing for 8 days already. His breathing is back to normal, thank God! He seemed to be gasping for air for the first 5 - 6 days. He is my little trooper... I can't believe he is toughing it out like this! Thanks in advance for your response!
Hi Lou - so sorry for the late reply here. I've been healing from an injury to my left hand and have been out of commision on the keyboard until now. How is he doing now? After reading the above, I was going to say to change the water before the final dose of KP, then you can add a little of the F2 back in, proportional to the amount of water you took out. I know it has been 5 days, (again, apologize for the late reply), but let me know how he is doing now and the status and I'll try to help 👍
@@dmichaelsfishden Sorry to hear about your accident... I hope you're feeling better? Glad the accident wasn't worse! Patriot seems to be doing better and the treatment seems to have worked but he has suddenly developed an aversion to the pellet foods I normally give him. He'll eat the frozen foods just fine though! Concerned he will refuse to eat pellets going forward. The downside is he lost half of his beautiful tail and I don't mean length wise... Whats left of his tail is still long and flowing however, he lost the whole top half of his tail, from the base to tip & top to midway down! : ( I really hope the rest of his tail doesn't fall off and that it all grows back!, but if not, I'll love him all the same! You wouldn't believe how many so called "experts" got on my case for following the medication regime you suggest in your video. Something about Pnotassium Dichromate being harmful to the fish because it acts like an oxidizer? LOL... I guess everybody's an expert in their own mind! I removed the driftwood from my tank entirely because I don't want a repeat of this incident! I'm actually beginning to wonder if that driftwood was contaminated to begin with. It came with a used 29 gal tank I bought from a private seller. I sanitized the tank with bleach & then boiled that wood for more than 12 hours before placing it in the tank but since month 4 of my tank being up, it has collected / grown black beard algae... even after I soaked it in full strength 3% peroxide for an hour! and scrubbed the crap out of it! Strangely enough, I also got a tick bite from a dog tick that was hiding in the driftwood! The guy had been storing it in his garage for a period of time before I bought it. LOL... that's what I get for trying to save money! No worries, I didn't get limes disease! : D PS. forgot to mention that he's acting pretty skittish since the incident. He hides out in his fake rock cave and half the time I have to reach my hand all the way down into his tank to entice him out to feed him. Perhaps he's upset that I took out the driftwood and feels exposed?
@@dmichaelsfishden I'm seriously contemplating doing a deep clean of my tank tonight, including the gravel, but not the bio filter. I normally keep 3 nerite snails in my divided tank with my betta's and they produce a lot of poop / waste. My concern is that i'm not getting all the crap out of the gravel when I vacuum it and that it might be contributing to poor water quality. My other thought was to leave the snails out of the betta tank going forward. I have a 5 gal tank I can keep them in if necessary.... That's where the snails, along with my bio media and my other betta, Nova have been since I started treating Patriot. Would use a 10 gallon tank to house them, but the new one I bought leaks like a sieve! What a pain, hey?
Hey Mike, just when you thought you heard the last from me Hubert has to go and ruin everything! Lol I sent you an email of some photos of him, I’m not sure if I should medicate him again, but I won’t do anything until you message back, I feel like you’d know more than I would. Thanks so much Mike, you’ve honestly been a huge help. You’re Hubert’s doctor lol.
Not sure if you will see this comment but thank you for the video. My betta seems really happy from his activity level but has developed fin rot as well, possibly from the silk plants in the tank because he zooms through them all the time. Aquarium salt doesn't seem to be working so I am going to give this a try. Thanks!
I just finished 3rd dose of Kanaplex.....I did not see this video til today so I did not treat with Jungle Fungus yet. His top fin has not recovered yet. I honestly don't know what caused his fin rot. For a couple weeks, he was sinking too quickly to the bottom and not swimming as much so I Tried starving for a couple of days. then fed him a pea..and another pea the next day. THEN, I learned bettas can not digest peas.....so now I am feeding him thawed/frozen daphnia or brine shrimp (tiny amounts so as not to overfeed). not using pellets at all this week. Did a epsom salt bath in a little cup for about 10-15min just before beginning kanaplex. my parameters have been good. zero ammonia and zero nitrites...nitrates are low now ; temperature is 80. Last week nitrates were up to may be 50-60ppm but I did a couple water changes within a week to correct the problem. then this Sunday I noticed his fin had definitely gotten skinnier. No tank mates except nirite snail (that does not talk). Had live plants. now he is in 2.5g hospital tank with fake plants so one goes to top for him to hang out up there. no air stone but a little filtration. I am thinking he has other underlying condition. so thinking jungle fungus is next - then wait a week.....and then on to erythromyacin (Maracyn).
My friend I have watched all of your fin rot videos. Sticked with this one and decided to try it. I got my first Betta fish but I was late recognising the symptoms. His tail is now shredded. I tried during the month of November to treat him with king British fin rot as I had to order the things you mentioned on video. I live in the uk so the medicine from united stated finally arrived at the end of December! I started your treatment, I had to swap the jungle clear for the furan as none were in sale on eBay at the time. I am now on the second week of treatment and I don’t think he has gotten any better. He did start the king British in his home tank but somewhere in the middle of December we decided to get a proper medical tank. He is in a quarantine tank with only an airpump. My betta is same colours as yours, different type fins tho. Anyway even tho some fins look pink ish it changes in the light as he moves and turns black. He has lots of black patches which I thought was the “bacteria” of the fungus rot from what I searched online so for signs of getting better I been seeing if the black goes away. But I keep getting the sensation he clears up in one spot but maintains on the other, or my eyes are fucked up lol that’s how I’m starting to feel. Lol King British did stop the fungus from progressing because before adding anything he was losing fin fast but it didn’t progress from that and be maintained the black areas. What should I do. Keep adding Kanaplex and furan? At this point I thought of doing the same as a different guy, where he dips the furan straight into the affected areas and let’s the fish in the medicated water for 30m then back into his tank. How do you see fin growth? It all looks similar and the same. Sometimes looks like it got better the next day looks bad again. Is the black coloration really a sign of the fin rot bacteria and should it disappear first? Could the black be coloration of the fins and not fin rot. Despairing 😩
Hey Food Man! We’re on the mend. I got some stress coat and that was the turning point. Nitrites are neg, but nitrates are between 0-5 ppm. pH is high 7.4 so I added some Easy Balance. But their fins are growing back in and the raggedy look is gone. So thanks for your help. I ordered some pimafix and melafix for “just in case”. I have 2 projects in the works. Rearranging my living room for a 20g, so I can split it with dividers for 4 male bettas, and a 55G for about 15-20 female bettas. I have the sand, lights, decor, I just need my brother to put the stands together so I can get going on it. Really excited about this. It’ll keep me busy while I’m isolating myself from this virus.
Love your videos! So informative but also entertaining at the same time! Just out of curiosity, with how knowledgeable you are with antibiotics and their spectrum coverage, are you a pharmacist by any chance?
I'm happy he's feeling all betta now :) Not entirely related to this but my male koi james had a tumorlike growth near his tail and i caught him in a towel and with a cutter knife made small insicions through it and put oxigenated water on it, put him in quarantine and it completely cured! What i'm really trying to say is that everybody can cure their fish if you just have a bit of information on the disease and the way to go about curing it. Anyway, great video! Fun and informative
Appreciate the kind words, George! Man, you've got a million tank puns...lol. Great job with your male koi - you are a braver man than I to perform a little surgery. But you are absolutely right. With a little understanding of diseases one can provide cures. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of misconceptions about aquarium diseases and many ailments can be cured with some simple husbandry. Medications are rampant as companies have to sell them for the profits....but I really only use them as a last resort - simple maintenance and tender loving care often do the trick....
That's wonderful to hear.. Glad he's better.. I have a pair spawning right now. My first.. I am so excited.. I hope they get the wrap thing down.. I'll keep you posted!! =D ♥♥
haha.. will Michael Buble do?? lol I'll do that.. I think they have bred now.. didn't get to see the actual wrap but saw many attempts.. she looks smaller and he's busy with all his bubbles.. I'll leave her in there till tomorrow just incase.. So excited!! =D ♥♥
Very handy video, and the commentary from the fish always cracks me up. I learned that same lesson about veil-tails and anything rough: if they can injure their fins on it, they will. :/
Anthony - thanks for the kind words! All my guys seem to be sassy chatters ;) And these Bettas certainly will injure themselves on a continual basis on anything sharp.....it's amazing how small of a space they can squeeze themselves into...funny how oblivious they can be to their own injuries and scratches...lol. Thanks for the support as always and for checking out the video! Hope you are doing great, my friend.
Glad to hear it's healing a bit - it may take a few dosing rounds to get it all and it doesn't hurt to do a full 3 rounds to make sure you get it all. My pleasure and great news!
Rod - appreciate the kind words and support as always! Absolutely more videos to follow on why I selected the meds I did, and why I didn't select others, which I hope will be a helpful series as I feel there is some confusion about meds out there...
This is really helpful, it saved my betta and worked the best of ask my trials. Just wondering if we could do a second treatment after a few weeks, or how long fun regrowth might take for a more serious fin rot case.
Hi Aiyana - good to hear!! I'm glad it was helpful. The only downside to the medication is that once it works, it may not work a second time, so you may have to try something else out. Here is a vid that explains that more:th-cam.com/video/qsGoAHQ4WlQ/w-d-xo.html Doesn't mean it can't work twice, just means the probability may go down. Fin regrowth depends a lot on the age of the Betta, water quality, etc...In a younger, healthy Betta, to get back to where he was before, it can take a month or two. Depending on how bad the fin rot was....But if you keep his water quality excellent, his temperature good, within a few months he should have some nice new growth. The fins will look like clear as they start re-growing, then will color up gradually as well. Hope that helps!
I am currently treating a Male double tail Betta. He was doing great but then we moved and although I tried to make is as smooth as possible I'm sure it stressed him. His tail is so flowing it's sometimes hard to tell if it's really fin rot. at any rate he also was moved into a larger tank from a 10 gal. to a 20 gallon tank. water parameters show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates. I added aquarium salt and Imagitariums Bacterial Infection Remedy and it seems to have helped slightly after the three courses he is a bit more energetic and he always eats though the last couple of days he doesn't seem as excited. I completed the three courses of the herbal Imagitarium bacterial remedy, did a 20% water change and used then just now used the Jungle Clear and I did not have Kanaplex but you mentioned broad spectrum and an antibiotic that would get inside so I used API Fin and Body Cure that has an active ingredient Doxycycline which I figured was broad and a good substitute for the Kanaplex. I'm not a doctor though so would you be so kind as to let me know if you think this is a proper substitute? Thank you!!
just thought I'd follow up. This Betta I called Beansie passed away in December a couple of weeks before Christmas. He never seemed to get back to 100% but he lived another 11 months before giving it up. I had him over two years and I have him buried in the back yard. I really loved little bean. RIP Beansie.
I'm dealing with fin rot that's really stubborn in my betta I've had for about a month now. I have a nice heated 5 gallon for him, but he's been glass surfing from day one. It's like he just can't settle down, even though I've played with the current and placement of decorations. He has a beta leaf and a floating log. anyway, I've done two rounds of the kanaplex, the second was combined with API general cure because I saw some white stringy droppings. Every time the fin rot seems to be getting better, when treatment stops, it will just get worse than ever. Maybe it's time to try the antifungal you mentioned in this video.
It’s not always gram negative.. kanaplex didn’t help but erythromycin did for my fish.. fish actually got popeye after doing kanaplex cuz I think it was hard on his system. So hard to know what works sometimes!
Very true Noel! Absolutely right. And unless any of us have the ability to gram stain, which we normal hobbyists really don’t, it is unfortunately sometimes a guessing game. It certainly can be gram positive and Emycin is fantastic at the gram positive stuff 😀. Glad your fish recovered well and thanks for watching!
So I went though with the medication cycle, it helped in getting rid of this white spot he had on his head, but his fins are getting worse by the day. I've already done two full treatments with alittle more then a week apart to help the tank rest. But I'm starting to think his condition is worse then I had anticipated. Since I've already done two full cycles I'm afraid a third may be top much for him
Reggae - I'm so sorry to hear that. It could perhaps be gram positive bacteria causing his fin rot. I would try Erythromycin. It's great with gram positive bacteria....if the Kanaplex and JFC didn't work (which usually works for gram negative bacteria), it may be gram positive.
Hello Dan. I notice my betta have fin rot at the top of his fins. I have Bettafix and was about to treat him with this medication. I am glad I saw your informative video. I will try these products to treat his fin rot. I have two Otocinclus catfish in the ten gallon tank with him. Do I need to remove them before I treat him?
Great video! I have two questions, Will using this medicine kill beneficial bacteria in the tank? And for the time you were medicating your betta, did you feed him any food?
Thank you, Discus Whisperer! 😉 Thought it might be helpful to folks as fin rot can be common in Bettas. 👍 Hope you and the fish are doing great, George! Appreciate the kind words and support, as always!
Hey! I’m a new subscriber and I absolutely love your videos! I currently have a beautiful betta who contracted fin rot after getting quite banged up himself. His ventral fins appear red but his other fins seem to be healing? I’m not quite sure what the signs of healing are, but they seem to have wide white edges. I’m going to use your treatment next and I wanted to know how long he should be quarantined for? What can we do after the treatment? When can we reintroduce him to his main tank? Thank you so much for your help!
Shre Shre - so sorry for the late reply here - Somehow I missed this comment....how is he doing now? How did the treatment work? Let me know how he is doing so I can see how I can help. Thank you for the kind words on the videos!
Good luck, Ellen! Yeah, sometimes E-Mycin won't get it. E-Mycin is the best with gram positive bacteria infections, but isn't as good with gram negative bacterial infections....and a lot of fin rot is caused by gram negative bacteria. Sending good thoughts your way!
My Betta seems to have severe fin rot and possibly clamped fins as well. I treated exactly like this video and he began to get better, but after over a week started getting worse again. So then I treated with erythromycin and same thing - started better, then worse. I check his water levels and they’re stable and clear, plus his tank is heated (to 80). He seems to have tiny bits of fin growth but there still parts that look withered. Any advice for what to do next?
Hi Emily - I'm in a similar situation right now with my Betta, Patriot - The JFC and Kanaplex didn't work, the E-mycin didn't work (this can sometimes happen....). Here is what might be helpful, and I'm going to do a video series on this soon because I learned a lot with as stubborn as Patriot's fin rot has been. Is your Betta by himself in a tank? Is it heavily planted? If it isn't heavily planted, you can try aquarium salt, BUT, the amount of salt you use makes a big, big difference. You would want to treat the tank with 1 tablespoon of salt / gallon. It's a high salt dosage, but at this level, aquarium salt can kill just about any bugs, parasites, etc....You will want to dissolve the salt in a cup of tank water prior to putting it in the tank. I would try this treatment for one week. The salt will essentially dehydrate all the bugs, killing them off. I would do a water change each day, then replace the salt coming out of the water change....so if you take out one gallon of water, replace the water and another tablespoon of salt. If you have a heavily planted tank and don't want to use salt, I would try Seachem Polyguard next. The bacteria has already built up an immunity to the JFC, Kanaplex, and the E-Mycin, so we have to attack this with a different med - Polyguard uses Sulfadiozonale, as well as other meds, different than the Kanamycin in Kanaplex and the E-Mycin. We do have to use a different antibiotic, and Polyguard is a good choice - it is Seachem's broadest, most potent medication. The salt may work for you - it didn't for me with Patriot, and I have been fighting his fin rot for 2 months. I'm about to begin treatment with Polyguard. Does that help a little? 😀
Thank you!! It’s a 6.2 gallon planted, which is part of the reason why I haven’t tried aquarium salt so far. And he lives alone in the tank. My local stores don’t have Polyguard so I’ll be ordering it online and hoping that finally helps, especially because he’s becoming lethargic now. Thank you for the advice!
So I’m back with another problem- my Betta was on Polyguard for the maximum amount of time (two weeks, if I remember right) and still, no improvement, but his fins aren’t getting worse either. The ends of them almost look withered or clamped, and just won’t heal. He hardly swims and is lethargic. I’ve been changing the water every other day now to make sure it stays pristine, but I don’t know what med to try next. Any advice?
NEW SUB!!! I had a female crowntail betta that recently died in Feb 2020 she lived 3 years. She got really sick and got bad fin rot then swim bladder disease. I gave her Fish Amoxcillin, that did not work. I did not want anymore fish but my friend gave me a male betta. He currently has fin rot too. I dont know what to do. I am not really familiar on how to treat bettas when they get sick, there is alot of different info. out there but your videos help me. I just ordered both meds on Amazon. Wish me luck!
Hi Mari - Thank you for the sub!!!! Proud to have you on board! Good luck! I have more videos coming out soon on fin rot, so I hope they will be helpful to you. That combination of medicine has worked for me on the past, so I'm hoping it will do the same for you. Really important though: Keep the water clean and make sure ammonia and nitrites are at 0. If you don't have a water test kit, API makes a great test kit (Master Test Kit). You can find that online. Also - when you dose, if there is any carbon in the filter remove that as it will soak up the medication. Finally, while dosing, the meds will get bad bacteria, but they will also get some of the good bacteria, so to keep your beneficial bacteria colony up, I would dose daily with beneficial bacteria once you start the meds. Fluval Biological Enhancer is a good one. It has a red cap and can be found in most stores. If you can't find that, any will work - API Quick Start, Seachem Stability, etc...Hope that helps a little more!
@@dmichaelsfishden Hello! quick question..I am going to order the Fluval Biological enhancer but is it a water conditioner? I see 2 types online a booster and a water conditioner? I usually shop for pet products at Petsmart, Chewy Petco and Amazon..Where can I purchase the exact one you have?
Candice - sorry to hear about your Betta! Glad you are going with the combo - Its worked for me 3 different times with 3 different Bettas and it is the best remedy I know of....sending you good thoughts 😀In the case the combo doesn't work....Remember most fin rot is caused by gram negative bacteria, but not absolutely all of it. This combo is really effective against gram negative bacteria, which is why it seems to work well. There is a small chance that your fin rot may be gram positive bacteria - if that is the case, Erythromycin works great against that (API Erythromycin). So if the combo doesn't work (hope it does for you!), then I would wait a week or two and try Erythromycin. Hope that helps! Let me know if I can help further! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden Hello. Just finished first 2 doses of kanaplex and one fungal cure. Noticed my guy acting little "off". Did 50%water change and then checked Ammonia= 1.0 ppm. I added 6 drops prime to his 1.5 gal QT. Going to check Ammonia in 6hours do another water change. I'm afraid to do the 2nd dose FC and KP. Dont see any new fin breakdown. Any recommendations ? Thanks for your time.
Candice - the fact that you don't see any new fin breakdown is a good thing. Yes, your guy will act a little off - kind of like when we get medicated....it's a little weird and stresses them out some. Definitely finish the treatment. Here is what I would do about the ammonia....remember, kanaplex knocks out the bad bacteria but also knocks out the good bacteria...The ammonia spike is likely because some of the beneficial bacteria got knocked out .I would add some beneficial bacteria to the tank...a little every other day until your ammonia reads 0..you'll need to rebuild your beneficial bacterial colony. API Quick Start, Fluval Biological Enhancer, etc....any of it is fine. Do the one last water change before the next dose, but make sure to keep the medication in there 48 hours before another water change. The prime will help as it will help to detoxify the ammonia. So......water change, then dose again but also add beneficial bacteria. After the 48 hours (Kanaplex is active for 48 hours), do another 25 - 30% water change, add more beneficial bacteria - and I would keep adding every other day until your ammonia reads 0. After that last 25 - 30% water change, I would add some activated carbon to the filter, which will help filter out any residual medication. It will also be helpful after that to do a 25 - 30% water change every other day until your beneficial bacteria colony rebuilds and your ammonia is 0 Though it sounds like you stopped additional fin breakdown, if it was me, I would dose one last time, both with the Kanaplex and Jungle Fungus Clear - just to make sure we got all the bad bacteria....feel free to email me as well at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com if I can help further :)
Ooh GREAT video!!!! A lot of videos share the same bs information that people read off the internet and didn't really experience on their own! I own kanaplex but always thought it was mainly used for major major infections like dropsy and stuff, but my betta's fins are getting pretty bad, he's a biter which I determined with complete certainty but that's leading to infection I think... it's so hard to tell because he's dark blue. But there are definitely grayish ends on his caudal fin and it immediately strikes my brain as fin rot so I follow my instincts (I've done hundreds of hours of research and examined hundreds of pictures I'm a science person) do you think it would be too harsh to use kanaplex? A portion of his caudal fin is getting pretty short about 1.33 cm from his body. Which I estimate is about 60 percent of the length gone!
Alexa - thank you for the kind words on the video! And thanks for watching! It sounds like your betta is developing a fairly serious case of fin rot, or, that it might progress toward that. Certainly not too harsh to use kanaplex for a round of dosing to try to get that gram negative bacteria that might be present on his fins. It sounds like it's certainly eating at your bettas caudal fin. For absolute best results, I would go broad with a spectrum of antibiotics, so I would use Kanaplex (for the kanamycin) in combination with either Jungle Fungus Clear OR API's Furan - 2 (this will provide the Nitrofurazone). Using both of these in combination will provide a broad spectrum, and certainly won't harm your betta if you do one round of dosing, per the instructions on the box. In the video, toward the end, you can see areas on my bettas tail that are clear - his fins re-growing after we nipped the bacteria. You are probably safe even after you do a round of dosing with both, you dose one final time. That will ensure everything is gone, then let your betta grow his fins back naturally...just keep great water parameters 😀At this point right now, however, in my opinion, you've reached a point where antibiotics are warranted. Do a broad spectrum with both meds, a full round of dosing, and if needed, one final dose to make sure you got everything. This should do the trick! 👍 Let me know how it goes and if I can help further!
Hello, d! I came across your video after searching for treatment for finrot. I noticed that my little halfmoon have some frayed fins on the dorsal fin. Yesterday, he didn’t have that. Would you recommend treating it immediately with meds? With the situation right now with coronavirus, I’m wondering if I should go out to get some meds. For now, I just changed 25% of his water and popped an indian almond leaf in there.
I"m so sorry for the late reply. Trying to catch up on a lot of comments. How is your guy doing now? I hope I'm not too late, but, it never hurts to medicate right away (if we really think it is fin rot) to nip things right away. If you don't want to go that far, you can always try a mild salt treatment - 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 3 gallons. In that situation, you want to dissolve the salt first in a cup of tank water before putting it in. When doing the salt treatments, it is helpful to do a daily water change...so if you take out a gallon one day, at a salt ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons, you would add back in 1/3 tablespoon of salt since the salt is being removed during the water change. You can do this salt treatment for 7 - 10 days and that should get any mild issues. Hope that helps a little and I'm not too late!
Thank you! Something I can work with! I have kanaplex and furan 2 - should I follow the dose on the box for furan 2 since it’s not the same drug you’re using, or just follow your suggested dosing with the furan? They’re both looking so raggedy 😢. I don’t think it’s the driftwood - they’ve been in that tank with the same decorations for just about a year. They’re in a 15G with a divider and 2 nerite snails each, lots of plants, some smooth, flat stones - although there are a couple of slightly jagged stones as well, but nothing really sharp - and I do a 30% WC once a week. This is the first time they’ve had this problem.
Hi Deborah - yep, just follow the dosing on the box for Furan 2 - it is a little different than the JFC, but the ingredients (meds) are about the same as JFC. And don't worry - you are doing everything just right. Fin rot is caused by opportunistic bacteria that is always present in our tanks....it can happen to anyone. Keep up the great work with the water changes! Nice job keeping smooth stones in the tank!
Thank you so much! I’ve used Melafix and salt, and he got a lot worse. I’ve ordered these products, hopefully they will come before he is in more pain. I have spider wood in my tank, the pet store people say that it shouldn’t damage fish fin, but some parts feel sharp, what should I do?
Totally get you on the spider wood - I can just give you my experience - for Betta fins, in my opinion, it is too sharp if it is newer wood. After a lot of time, when some of the wood has worn down, it works pretty well, but newer spider wood does tend to have sharp parts to it, so I wouldn't recommend it for Betta tanks unless it is pretty old wood. I'd go more with malaysian drift wood....it doesn't tend to have sharp edges, especially when it wears down just a little. I can just tell you I've had spider wood not only tear Betta fins, but it tore up a Paradise fish I had as well. If you can, I would take the spider wood back and try to get some malaysian drift wood. And glad you have the products coming! Be patient with them and let them do their thing. Let me know if I can help further...
I had to say goodbye to mine today :-( dropsy sucks...had the little guy for 2 years.. will check out the seachem stuff it I decided to keep going with the bettas
Tim - really sorry to hear that. Dropsy really does suck. I've lost a few fish to dropsy myself in the past. I think we all have. I haven't had personal experience with this, but a good friend of mine (complete fish jedi...very advanced aquarist) has told me that he has had success treating dropsy with a combination of Seachem Kanaplex and Seachem Metroplex as a broad spectrum solution. Good meds to have on hand - Hope you don't give up on the Bettas just yet!
Hi there! I just watched your video, it was very informative, helpful, and the cute voices was a nice touch! I have a divided 10 gallon tank with 2 bettas. It seems one of them has fin rot, I'm not sure if he brushed up against something sharp. Should I medicate them both since they're in it together? I'm worried about stressing him out more if I remove him. Although, I do have a spare 5.5 gallon.
Brenna - thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it! This is a good question. I always recommend first looking to see whether he may have brushed up against something. Bettas fins are like tissue paper, so fin rot can sometimes be confused with simple frayed fins (as a result of brushing up against something). Is there anything sharp in the tank? Anything that could have ripped his fins? Also - do his fins look like they are receding back or do they look ripped? If ripped, he may have brushed against something. If they are receding back, that could be fin rot. If this was me, I would first remove anything sharp, then monitor the fins for several days. If you see more receding or if you notice things start to look worse, then I would medicate the whole tank. Since both Bettas are exposed to the same water, I would want to make sure I tried to get any bad bacteria that might be in there - the other Betta may be susceptible to catching it as well if it is fin rot....😀
@@dmichaelsfishden There was a decoration in my tank that could have been a suspect but I'm not sure. I took it out anyways just in case. It doesn't appear to be rips, it looks as if tiny pieces have been taken off the end of his tail. It's hard to tell if it's receding, I'd need pictures to tell. I will wait until Sunday and decide to treat fin rot or not. If he needs treated I will definitely treat both as you've suggested. Thank you for getting back to me. :)
Here is my situation, I have a 36 gal with 2 dwarf frogs, 6 neons, two albino bushy nose plecos and an algae eater, I simply don’t have the money to buy a hospital tank but I can get meds so can put meds in with the others? Or do I just put the Betta in a glass, put some med powder in and meanwhile do a water change on the 36 gal to remove bad bacteria. I’m relatively new to aquarium keeping and I can’t find good solid answers but this vid helps a lot.
Colton - glad the video was helpful! And I certainly understand! A lot of people don't have the money or space to set up a separate quarantine tank. Definitely don't put the Betta in a glass. Depending on the medication you use, you are ok simply dosing the tank. The medication won't affect your other fish, though you don't want to overdo it with the medication. We want to do one round (per instructions on the medication), and I tend to do one final dose to make sure everything is killed off. Are you fighting fin rot with your Betta? Medication is a last resort for me, but with fin rot, especially if it is advanced, medication is often needed. Unfortunately, simply doing a water change won't remove the bad bacteria. We will need to kill these guys. You can use the combination in the video, which has worked very well for me in the past - Kanaplex and Jungle Fungus Clear. Your can also use just Erythromycin. If you use Erythromycin it will kill off your good beneficial bacteria, so you will need to add some beneficial bacteria during and after medicating. I have a few videos on the channel that might be helpful to you. I have two out so far on the beginning guide to fish disease and medication, and I have another video on beneficial bacteria 101. Hope they help! Keep in touch, and let me know how I can help further! WELCOME TO THE HOBBY! Glad you are in it!!!
First off, thank you for the excellent video! I purchased a couple of Tiger Nerite snails after I saw this video for my 5 gallon tank which is home to my Betta (who is currently being treated for fin rot). There is currently not much algae in the tank for the snails to eat at the moment. I read that carrots and zucchini are good substitutes for their food. Is it safe to put that in the tank with my betta?
Diego - thank you for the kind words! And glad to hear you picked up a few Tiger Nerites! A great call. Yes, they love zucchini, peas, cucumber, spinach, etc....I've actually never tried carrots, but I'm sure they would eat those as well - you may want to blanch the carrots, though, boiling them on the stove for about 3 minutes to soften them up a little. And you are doing the exact right thing going with the veggies. Rather than veggies, if you were going to try to feed the Nerites algae wafers, I'd be worried your betta would eat the majority of the aglae wafer and that could lead to constipation and other issues. So definitely go for it with the veggies - perfectly safe and your Nerites will love them - mine seem to enjoy zucchini the most - to the Nerites, it's like I'm feeding them donuts. :)
Rayyan - Thank you for the kind words! I've had success getting Kanaplex online on Amazon or at local fish stores. It seems the big box stores don't tend to carry it, but it can usually be found in many local stores, as well as the Jungle Fungus Clear. I've been able to find the Jungle Fungus Clear on Amazon as well - any luck looking for it online?
Hi -- I have pond goldfish that have suddenly gotten what appears to be a horrendous cotton wool disease problem and also small gray patches. The one we noticed first has a huge lesion that just seems to have appeared one day. We drained and cleaned the pond and moved the worst one to a hospital tank, not thinking the others were also ill, but then one by one we've noticed small patches on the others. The two now that we have in the hospital tank have been through API fungus cure course, and I don't see improvement. The bottom line is that I think they need antibiotics and I wonder what you think of the API erythromycin? The one with much less serious disease has gray patches (fungus?) and also small bleeding patches which seems like something bacterial. I'm really interested in saving these guys...
Karen - I'm so sorry for the late reply. Catching up on a lot of comments. It is a good guess to start with API fungus cure, especially if you are seeing that cottony growths. But I agree, antibiotics may be the best treatment here. The small bleeding patches sounds like hemorrhagic septicemia. Erythromycin is a great antibiotic and treats a lot of gram positive bacterial infections. I apologize if I'm too late here, but if not, I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic mix of Maracyn (erythromycin) and Maracyn 2 (this gets the septicemia, etc...). Maracyn and Maracyn 2 work great together in combination and can be found online on Amazon and many fish stores. As another solution you could try Seachem Polyguard by itself. API Erythromycin is fantastic, but because it primarily gets gram positive bacteria, it is nice to pair it with something that gets gram negative bacteria (Maracyn 2). That's why I like the combination of the 2 Maracyns. I hope that helps a little and hope I'm not too late in replying. Again, apologies for the late reply 🙏
best video!! i got Furan2 but didnt know about Jungle fungus. My betta had some holes in its fins and its tail fin split in two and there were 2 tiny white spots that are now gone, from its body.. so ....i dont know what it had...I had aquarium salt in there... I have a 5G MiniBow.. OH!! What kind of vaccum/pipe do you have to drain the water for water changes?
I heard about that. Frustrating, for sure. You can try aquarium salt, which, at the right doses, can get just about anything. If you have snails in the tank, you'll want to remove them first if you try the salt and plants don't love it but they can tolerate the salt for awhile. To get mild fin rot, I would dose the salt at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. You'll want to dissolve the salt first in a cup of tank water. You can pour that right into the tank. To keep the water clean, I would do daily water changes, but you will have to replace the salt, since some will be taken out when you do the water change. So at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons, if you take out a gallon of water, you'll want to put 1/3 a tablespoon of salt back in. To get more severe cases of fin rot, the ratio that works best is 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water. If you go that route, I would start at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons for the first few days, then on day 3 or 4 increase to 1 tablespoon per gallon. Each day, though, I would do a water change, then replace the salt. You can do this treatment for 7 - 10 days. In the absence of being able to get medications, salt, in the right dosage amounts, can be very effective. It also stimulates your betta's slime coat. Hope all that helps a little 😀
I have my betta in a 10 gallon tank with the salt and a product called Supratect which was recommended by the owner of the fish store near me. I'm in Canada so antibiotics like Kanaplex are not available. I have had him in the tank for 5 days and have done 75% water change 2 days ago and re-added the appropriate amount of salt. The Supratect is added once every 7 days. My concern is that at this point he is eating and making nest bubbles but keeping to the floating log and other floaty rest places. His tail still has a white bump on it but I can tell his behaviour has improved. I am wondering how long should I keep him in the high dose aquarium salt and when should I reduce it? When can I put him back in his tank (which has also been cleaned and all tank mates moved). Should I continue to add salt to his tank when I return him? Thanks for any help. This video has been really helpful and I have hope for the little guy but want to make sure I am doing everything possible as long as needed. Cheers! Yvonne
Love your videos! I only have Kanaplex on hand and am waiting for Furan (can't find Jungle anywhere). Does it matter if I start w Kanaplex? Also, I have another half moon betta who does not have fin rot or ulcers but has been very lethargic staying mainly at bottom and struggles to come to top for food. I transferred from 5 gal to 2.5 bc I thought that tail was too heavy and why he struggles. Treated w Kanaplex but no change. I stated bath dip last night (1tbl to 1 gal, for 8 min then 1/4 salt solution in separate container for 3 min). and will do for recommended 3 days. But do you have any other suggestions if this does not work?
What's the exact equipment name you used for the water changes? Random question. Also, I tried your treatment and I believe Midnight's looking better! Thank you.
Hi Pearl - glad to hear midnight (love the name 👍😀) is looking better! For that small tank on water changes - I use (still use it today for my 10 gallon and small tanks) a DIY gravel vac I made - Here is a video on itth-cam.com/video/U5n1GiduP8s/w-d-xo.html Otherwise, I've been using the same equipment for 5 years....I use Seachem's algae scrubber - have another video on thatth-cam.com/video/03ObpPfLDjM/w-d-xo.html sometimes I'll use a small magnet scrubber if I need to. I use Seachem Prime as my water conditioner, aquarium scissors and long tweezers to trim plants, and once I finish I add some API Stress Zyme (sludge eating bacteria for maintenance) and some Kordon Fish Protector (has echinacea and vitamin B12 - helps fish keep their slime coat healthy) after each water change. For larger tanks I use a larger Aqueon gravel vac, but it is just to syphon out water. Because all my tanks are planted I don't gravel vac. That's about it. All add some NilocG THRIVE root tabs if my plants need them. Hope all that helps! 😀
Hello! Thanks for the helpful video. I have ordered both Jungle Fungus Care and Kanaplex. My betta's case looks to be pretty bad. Jungle Fungus will arrive tomorrow, but Kanaplex won't arrive for a few more days. Should I begin the Jungle Fungus treatment without the Kanaplex or wait a few extra days and begin both dosages at the same time?
Hi Madeline - glad you picked them up! They should be helpful to you - yes, you can start with the Jungle Fungus Clear (one dose is good for 4 days). If Kanaplex arrives 2 days after, I would dose the Kanaplex (good in the water for 48 hours) while the Jungle Fungus Clear is still in the water. After that, I would do a 30% water change, then dose them both again together. Make sure to remove any carbon in your filter. One other suggestion - I would add some beneficial bacteria to the water every other day after you start dosing the Kanaplex. Kanaplex will get the bad bacteria, but it can knock out some of your good bacteria as well, so it's helpful to add some beneficial bacteria every other day to keep your colony up while dosing the meds. Hope that helps! 😀
Hi I was hoping to see if I could get some advice for my betta who is in a 5 gallon heated tank. He has been battling finrot for some time now and I followed this video and thankfully it seemed to heal up and his fins were growing back! I recently noticed that the top of his fins were beginning to look a little frayed again so I proceeded to follow the same treatment plan as it worked great the first time. Unfortunately when I took a look at him the next morning it looked like it was getting worse rather quickly and this time it appears that he has red streaks throughout his new fin growth in multiple locations. I panicked and did a 50% water change and today I re-dosed the JFC and kanaplex. I am still on the same JFC and kanaplex regimen but feel that it is not working. I should note that the first time I treated with this duo, his finrot did not show signs or red streaking so this is a first for us. I am not sure if I should stop this treatment or if I should continue. Sorry for the lengthy post, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Kimberly - thanks for the message! How long was it after you used the kanaplex/jfc from when you noticed the red streaks? Very glad it worked, by the way! It has always been my go to for fin rot. The red streaks sound very much like hemorrhagic septicemia, where you see red streaks in the fins and sometimes the body. It can be caused by stress, overcrowding (which isn't the issue here) or less than ideal water conditions. How are your water parameters? Everything ok? That being said, the streaks could also be a change of coloration in the fins growing back (is it near the new growth?) When Bettas fins grow back after fin rot, they sometimes grow back differently, or may be different colors. It could be the new growth, but, if it also still looks frayed, it likely might not be. If it's septicemia, that can also be caused by a virus. I was wondering how long it had been since you dosed the first round of kanaplex/jfc because fin rot is caused by a bacteria...that bacteria strain can build up an immunity to the medication and the meds may not work the second time (much like why we get new flu shots every year - bugs get immune to the flu shot last year). That being said, you likely got the bacteria that caused the fin rot. Kanaplex can also be effective against septicemia, though. The septicemia could also be caused by stress from the previous medication dose (meds can stress your fish a little). If it was me, I would finish this last round of the kanaplex you dosed today (good for 48 hours in the water), so Saturday, I would do a 25% water change, then put a little carbon in your filter to soak up the meds. I'd watch your Betta after that for 3 to 4 days to see how he is doing. If the streaks are getting worse, or aren't going away, we may need to go to a different medication. I can keep in touch with you on it, if you want to email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com. Can you email some pictures? With this, we kind of want to go day by day....
btw - I have a video on why the same meds might not work twice...I think it's The Beginning Guide To Fish Disease and Medication, Part 2 - I also have a Part 1 that talks about some common fish diseases...hope those help!
Thanks for the video! I’ve been medicating Leroy as per your instructions and he seems to be doing much better! So yesterday was my last treatment and I plan on doing the 50% water change on Thursday. Can I return my snail then or do I have to cycle out more medicated water before he’s returned?
Phillip Paster great to hear! So glad the video was helpful. Absolutely do the 50% water change - your snail should be fine afterwards but if you want to play it super safe, I might run some carbon in your filter for one day after the water change. That will help soak up any residual medication and will ensure the tank is safe for your snail again. 😀👍. Hope that helps!
@@dmichaelsfishden currently battling some finrot in the tank. Ive seen kanaplex works well by itself? Or does it only work with internal bacterial infection?
Great question - I've tried Kanaplex both by itself and with a supplemental med...Yep, Kanaplex does work well by itself. In my experience the only time it doesn't is when the fin rot is caused by some particularly resilient, tough bacteria. In those cases, I've found it works much better when paired with either Furan-2 from API or Jungle Fungus Clear - those both have the Nitrofurazone. I don't have any idea why those two meds work so much better as a pair, but that seems to be the case, at least in my experience, providing a broader spectrum antibiotic. Where the Kanaplex is particularly good is the internal infections, especially if the fish isn't eating and you can't get Metronidazole in their stomach through food. Kanaplex is the only medication I know of that gets absorbed internally by the fish - so if its something internal, Kanaplex is a great call 👍
i have 2 red belly piranhas and one of them has a rock house and spends lots of time in there. A couple days ago i noticed its fin started to look like it was shriveling away so i started to use melafix. The Melafix isn't really doing anything so today i am going to try The Jungle Fungus Cure and the Kanaplex. Anything else i should use for my piranha?
Hi BlueRomance - Do the piranhas ever nip at each other? Does the fin look torn or nipped at, or is it receding away? If it's receding and it continues to get worse, it could very well be fin rot - Fin rot is really just a bacteria on the fins - opportunistic bacteria that take advantage of situations...like when a fin is torn, etc...it can infect the fin. And yes, unfortunately, if it is fin rot Melafix won't do much for it - Melafix is intended as a kind of Neosporin for fish...it can be effective in helping to heal small scratches, etc...but it isn't an antibiotic, so it can't battle fin rot. But Yes! I do have a tip for you - if the fins really are receding and you think it's fin rot, def go with the JFC/Kanaplex combination BUT remember to add beneficial bacteria into your tank every other day. The JFC and Kanaplex will get rid of any bad bacteria, but it will also kill off your beneficial bacteria in the tank. So as you medicate, add some beneficial bacteria every other day (like Fluval biological enhancer, etc...a lot of different kinds out there). By doing this you'll make sure you won't have an ammonia spike. 👍I hope your piranha gets better! Let me know if you have any other questions 😀
Any idea how long it will take for the betta’s fins to grow back? Our betta is in a 2.5 gallon tank.... I followed your treatment-crossing fingers it works on Leonard 😀
Hey Jess - All bettas are different. I can only tell you what happened with mine. After about 2 weeks, I noticed fins starting to grow back on mine.. They were both fairly young bettas, though. If your betta is older, it could take a little longer. What I can tell you is that it isn't instant. Remember, with the meds we are trying to get the receding to stop. Once it stops, we did our job. Your betta will handle the growing back portion after that 👍
dmichaels fish den-- thanks it seems they are growing some with the “clear fin” so far-his case was pretty bad! I hope it continues to get better. We have switched to distilled water for his tank-as we have reverse osmosis water & regular tap water-I thought I had figured the right thing but apparently not. I have used the water test strips as well-they are picky little fish. In the 2.5 tank we have a heater-but idk doesn’t seem to warm water all that much.
Hi, So for 2 months Leonard seemed to be doing good fins were regrowing and now he is losing them again 😞 Do I do another round of treatment as in this video? I have all the stuff. He is in 2.5 gallon tank... we do distilled water when we change his water-maybe that is the issue? I have test strips but could never seem to find the happy medium with tap water and all. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated- it is my sons fish. Thank you!
I am going to try this but I have a couple of questions. Do these medications kill beneficial bacteria or harm plants? Also to clarify are you adding both medicines at the same time? I have had my betta for almost 3 months in a 10 gallon, filter and temp @ 81F He started going missing, odd in a 10 gallon I know. I finally figured out he was squeezing through tiny holes in the bottom of a plastic rock looking decoration and tearing his fins. They have never recovered and now they are getting worse. I removed anything that could harm him. I also do 30-50% water changes every other day. Ammonia & nitrite are 0 and nitrates are around 5ppm. Thank you - best video I have seen on this topic.
Coralocean - sorry for the late reply hear. Erythromycin does kill beneficial bacteria so if you go with that medication, you'll need to supplement beneficial bacteria. Kanaplex, according to Seachem, does not harm beneficial bacteria, however I am not as sure about Jungle Fungus Clear and its ingredient Nitrofurazone. As a practice, whenever I medicate, I do add a little beneficial bacteria to supplement, and really monitor my water parameters after medicating. You may need to do extra water changes until the bacterial colony catches up. And yes, I used both of these medications at the same time. Your Betta did the same thing mine did! This is what they do...the are a square peg and try to fit in round holes...squeezing themselves where they can, always ripping and tearing their fins. Use this combination to cure him. If he has wounds or torn fins, this is a broad way to medicate gram negative bacteria that could infect those wounds. Just do one full cycle and he should be good as new. And thank you for the very kind words on the video! 👍 😀 Let me know if I can be of further help!
Thank you very much for the response, I know this is an old video. I will be going to a fish store that sells Kanaplex. Jungle Fungus cure might have to be ordered online. I have been doing water changes daily and fins are still getting worse. P.s. Erythromycin from what I understand treats gram positive bacteria. Thanks again.
Coralocean - My pleasure, you are absolutely right, Erythromycin is a gram positive bacteria medication. Most of the bacteria that cause fin rot are gram negative, which is why the Kanaplex / JFC combination works so well....the focus there is more on gram negative bacteria. Sounds like you definitely need to medicate here, and that this is an advanced case of fin rot. Keep the water changes rolling, for sure, but once you do a round of medication, that should do the trick! 👍My guys case was pretty advanced as well and I saw HUGE changes after a week....
I really appreciate this video! Thank you! I followed your instructions and tomorrow I will be on the final step (the last 50% water change). Do you have any advice on another approach if that does not help? Sadly my little dude is still really banged up. His fin rot progressed in a very weird way, starting with me noticing his fins "thinning" in the center. They almost became like tissue paper. I tried increased water changes, Indian Almond Leaves, aquarium salt, and finally your treatment (it's been a looooong journey). They look very frayed now and in some areas the rot is close to his body. My 5 gallon tank has driftwood and a few plants, but nothing sharp. Frequent water tests tell him his tanks is cycled and healthy.... Any next step advice? Thanks!
Hi Alexa - My pleasure! I'm sorry to hear about your guy. Happens to all of us sometimes. You are doing all the right things, though, using medication as the last resort - sometimes the Almond leaves and salt does the trick. Seems like parameters and everything looks good, so it certainly could be fin rot. A few suggestions that might help: fin rot is mostly caused by gram negative bacteria, which is what the Kanaplex gets. 75% of the time its gram negative bacteria. BUT, a smaller percentage of the time it could be caused by gram positive bacteria - for that erythromycin is the way to go. So, if this treatment doesn't work the first time around, I would wait a week to let your guy rest, then try API erythromycin. Also - when you start treatment, I would highly recommend adding some good beneficial bacteria the day you begin treatment, and every other day after that. Kanaplex will get bad bacteria, but it will get some of the good bacteria as well, so to keep your colony up, I would add it everyother day - Fluval biological enhancer, Seachem stability, API quickstart - they are all good. Let me know if I can help further - Also - make sure you take the activated carbon out of your filter before medicating if it is still in the filter...it will soak up the medication. Once done medicating, you can put carbon back in - it will help soak up residual medication at that point 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am so grateful for this info AND your quick reply! I have been on Betta forums and feel like everyone "knows everything" but can't help me... I feel so relieved that you mentioned erythromycin because I was considering that myself, but worried it may not be a good idea. I actually have another full bottle of Quickstart because I bought it in bulk and would add small amounts with water changes while my tank cycled. While playing detective for my little guy's fin rot (his name is Leroy) I was wondering if maybe I have something gross in my substrate... I use Fluvial Stratum and started with a lot of plants. Not sure if it was just that I'm a beginner or if my first light was crap, but I had a LOT of die off. I had read that many plants will wilt and grow back when adjusting to a new tank, so I left them in. After a while I removed them to find that they were completely dead and just mush. I can see lots of what I'm assuming is detrius under the top layer of substrate (through the glass) that I haven't been able to clear. I gravel vac when I water change, but I think I need to remove the drift wood to get all the gunk out. I assumed that maybe this could have negatively affected my water quality and possibly caused the fin rot, but my water tests have consistently read 0ppm ammonia. (I use the API master test kit.). Beyond treating I would love to be able to nail down what I was doing wrong that caused the fin rot in the first place, so I don't do it again. Do you think I could be on to something with the substrate theory? My tank is only 3 months old.
Hi Alexa - sorry I'm so late on this one - I didn't see it until now 😌Betta forums can be a little confusing sometimes - a lot of people are in different places. As always, the best teacher is experience 😀Yep, E-mycin is great and safe for the fish - just add that beneficial bacteria when medicating to keep the colony up. Quickstart will work great. I love the name, Leroy, btw. One way to keep the substrate cleaner is to use a sludge eating bacteria to do that. I have a video on that - I use API stress zyme after each water change, and I"ve been doing that for years....these bacteria help clean up a lot of the detrius, plants that have melted, etc...(snails also love eating plant matter): Here is the vid:th-cam.com/video/fiyCpfqcZQA/w-d-xo.html With the plants - yes, as they adjust to new water parameters a lot of them will melt back a little - I"m sorry they didn't make it. One thing that is helpful is that I add some root tabs when planting new plants to give them some extra nutrients - do you remember what kind of plants you had? You could be on to something with the substrate theory, but after 3 months it isn't likely much would have accumulated. Feel free to email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com - Happy to keep helping you along the way. I LOVE when people get into the hobby and I especially love helping newer hobbyists get started. Hope all that helps a little more!
Paola - yes, take out the carbon and just leave the filter running. You want to take the carbon out because it will soak up all the medication. That being said, AFTER treatment, it's helpful to put the carbon back in the filter as it will help soak up any residual medication left. Hope that helps!
this video helped a lot! I was wondering if I am supposed to keep the filter on but take out the filter cartridge? Bc it says on the box to take out any carbon.. (if carbon is even in a filter cartridge I honestly don’t know lol)
Sambam - yes, you want to remove any carbon if medicating. The carbon will soak up the medication. The "filter cartridge" is a widely used term made popular by the old Tetra filters. Don't worry about the terminology. In the old "filter cartridges" you had carbon on one side and a sponge on the other. Are you using a Tetra filter? It would be a black filter with a green cartridge inside....if so, remove the black carbon when medicating 👍
Thank so much for the video, I tried using salt for my betta and the fin rot kept getting worse, It finally looks like the fin rot has stopped/not progressed except I'm using a combination of NEOplex instead of Kanaplex, with the jungle fungus clear, because that was what I could get in time. I'm following the directions for the neoplex as stated on the box which is different from kanaplex, but My REAL question is in regards to the JFC. In this video you recommended 2 doses of JFC. Can I continue to use JFC for a third or fourth time? Or would that be harmful to my betta? Thank you!
My pleasure! And neoplex can work just as well - that is a broad spectrum antibiotic that targets gram-negative bacteria. With the JFC, if you feel you need to do a third dose, you certainly could. By that time you will have been dosing it for 12 days. The reason, in my opinion, you wouldn't need to dose a fourth is that you should see some improvement (should see the fin rot stop receding) after 8-12 days. It isn't that the JFC will harm your guy, but it will stress him, so you want to find a balance between his stress level and treatment. A third dose won't hurt if you think you need it. After that though, you should see improvement. If not, you may have to try a different med, but - it sounds like it is working! Keep it up!!! 😀 One other tip, though, I would dose beneficial bacteria (Seachem Stability, Fluval Biological Enhancer, etc...) while medicating, so you can keep your beneficial bacteria colony up. Remember, the meds will get the bad bugs, but they can get some of your good bacteria, too, so it's helpful to dose the beneficial bacteria every other day to keep that colony up. Keep up the good work!
Hello again!@@dmichaelsfishden The combination of JFC and Neoplex worked like a charm, and I saw ALOT of fin regrowth on my little guy. I was trying to do weekly water changes ever since the last dosage, and suddenly I noticed the fin rot was back, & I couldn't tell why, until I noticed that my thermometer was reading alot colder than usual, It looks like my heater broke and the fin rot came back (which I read that low temps can indeed contribute to fin rot) I bought a new heater of course, but my problem is that like you warned me, I don't thing the JFC and the neoplex are working this time around, because of resistance/tolerance... I'm currently giving Ick-X, Erythromycin, and almond leaves a shot because my guy's fins are back to what they looked like before all the regrowth :( do you have any tips and tricks on how to prevent "reoccuring" fin rot? Do I need to up my water changes to 2X a week instead? I have a 5G and his alone, no snails, not nothing. Thankfully My guy is very active and eats like a pig, but I really don't want to see his beautiful fins all torn up all the time.
I think my betta might have fin rot.. I've had my betta Neptune for almost a year now and when I got him I thought he may have been an older betta from the look of him. But now his fins are getting shorter and he has small black dots on the end of his fins. They don't look torn, they just look shorter than when I got him. I'm going to get a new filter as soon as possible because the one I have is old. Do you think the aquarium salt method would work for him? I have a 20 gal. I just feel very sad for letting him get sick and I'm worried his fins won't grow longer like they're supposed to
Hi Elena - I'm sorry to hear about your Betta. Yeah, it does sound like fin rot if the fins are receding back...getting shorter and shorter. That is a really common symptom. It is also common to get in Bettas so don't feel like you did anything wrong. Sometimes it just happens, for one reason or another. One tip - when you get a new filter, try to save all the media in it since it's good stuff and has good bacteria on all of it. You should be able to transfer it to the new filter. 😀 Yes, you can try the salt method....that can definitely work, especially if you don't have medication on hand. If you can get them, you can also add some Indian Almond leaves in the tank....they have medicinal properties. If the salt doesn't work....your goal is to stop the fins receding, which means you've killed the bad bacteria causing fin rot....(they should grow back afterward)...if the salt doesn't work you may need to go to stronger medications to get the bad bacteria causing the fin rot. But if all you have is aquarium salt right now, definitely good to give it a try - it definitely could work. Does that help a little?
Hi I'm an American living in Taiwan I'm just curious if we don't have these kinds of products would methane blue work? It's possible we have this but it might be from Germany. We do have bettafix medifix and prima fix. I wish we just had one product that kills all bad bacteria that would make it really helpful
Hi Meg - Meth Blue is typically used as a fungal remedy, unfortunately, I"m not sure how well it will work on bacteria. I think aquarium salt may be the way to go. Aquarium salt, at the right doses, can be very effective in getting bacterial, fungal, and even parasitic diseases...
Hello, I've completed one full cycle of treatment in my 5g betta tank using Kanaplex and Fungus Clear as suggested. I haven't seen any noticable changes even after removing the driftwood that likely caused the issues in the first place. Today I began a second round of treatment after waiting the week. Hoping to see positive changes this second time around! Thank you for the video. Here's a question though: I have a couple platys in a 10g and I just changed out and moved around the decor to alleviate some tension and territorial bullying between them. However one fish suffered some fin damage, could I use the Kanaplex and Fungus Clear in that tank also to heal that one? Again, thanks so much for this helpful and through video.
Hi Serena - my pleasure! With one full treatment that means 1 dose of the JFC and 2 doses of the Kanaplex, yes? If so, you can do one more JFC dose (that will last another 4 days) with one more dose of Kanaplex (that will last 24 hours). After that, let the JFC run for another 2 days. Now you've done 2 doses of JFC and 3 doses of Kanaplex - after that, I could put in some activated carbon in the filter and do a 30 - 40% water change to get rid of residual medication - you can also put Polyfilter in the filter as well. I would let your guy rest about a week after that. Our goal is to get the rot to stop. The fin re-growth will take some time, so we are really just looking for the rot to have stopped. If you don't notice any more rot, the medication did its job. In a few months, with great water conditions, your guy should grow his fins back. If that doesn't work, let me know as there are a few different options: the fin rot could be caused by gram positive bacteria...in that case Erythromycin should get it, and that is a treatment you can start after your guy rests for about a week (the combo of Kanaplex and JFC gets gram negative bacteria). You could also use salt baths as a treatment, or if you don't have anything else in the 5g tank (no snails, shrimp) or if it isn't heavily planted, you can try aquarium salt dosed in the tank at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per gallon, for a week. You'll want to do daily water changes with the salt (example - if you remove one gallon of water, replace 1 tablespoon of salt, etc...). If the tank is heavily planted and you are worried about losing a lot of plants, or if you have snails or shrimp you can't relocate, you may want to try Emycin. Hope that helps a little more!
Thank you! The reason I haven't used salt is because I do have plants and my snail is currently being watched by my friend in another tank while I medicate. I did wait a week and completed the water change a couple days ago before the beginning the second round of treatment today. I did do the 3 doses of Kanaplex and 2 doses of JFC as recommended in that first full round. Thanks for the advice. I'm keeping a close eye on him and I'll be more patient to see if his fins are healing after the rot is gone. Thanks again for all the info! I'm so glad you engage in all these comments.
Thank you for the great video!! I do have some questions if you have the time, I believe my opal male betta has mild fin rot. I think this because his fins are now receding and look stringy, but I see no signs of discoloration on his fins. His face has developed red splotches though and Idk if that has to do with fin rot or a fungal infection? Also I have my betta in a community 10 gallon tank with corey fish, snails, and live plants and I am afraid of hurting the others trying to treat the betta, should I separate my betta into an isolated tank?
Paiden - My pleasure! you asked some very good questions. First, yes, I would isolate the Betta, mostly due to the snails. While the plants and other fish would be just fine, medication is not kind to snails and it always seems to be 50/50 whether they will make it through. To be as safe as possible, I would but the Betta in a quarantine tank. If your Betta's fins are receding and look stringy, it very well might be fin rot, especially if they have been receding gradually. The splotches are interesting to mention. This could be two things - one, it could be a harmless coloration change (hopefully). Bettas do that. The other is that when I hear about red splotches it could be Hemorragic Septicemia - this is an infection that can be caused stress and less than ideal water conditions. It wouldn't be fungus unless it looks like white cottony growths. The good news is that Kanaplex can combat both fin rot and Hemorragic Septicemia. Are they just red splotches? Do you see any damaged tissue there? The Kanaplex is pretty broad spectrum and should take care of everything , especially when used with Jungle Fungus Clear - another newer, great med from Seachem is Polyguard, but it is super strong, so I would try the Kanaplex first.....hope that helps!
@@dmichaelsfishden thank you so much that helps a lot! I don't think that it is color change because there is some tissue damage but its not to serve so hopefully he will heal up quick!
@@dmichaelsfishden hello again!! So my betta fish still has fin rot!!! Idk what I did wrong I tried to do exactly what you did and for some reason he has gradually been getting worse!! He still acts and eats fine but his poor fins are terrible. Do you have and suggestions for me anything will help! Thank you again
@@paidenproctor8395 you certainly didn't do anything wrong. This happens sometimes - this is one of the best medication combinations I know of for fin rot and that is because MOST fin rot bacteria is gram negative. This strain in your tank might be a gram positive strain. While it is not as common, gram positive bacteria that cause fin rot are out there. So we want to give your guy a few days to rest - try to put a little carbon in your filter and do a few 25% water changes to make sure all old medication has been removed. Then we need to switch our medication. I've had this happen before where this first treatment didn't work, so I switched meds. The best medication I know of to handle gram positive bacteria is Erythromycin - API makes it and it is easy to find. I would try medicating with the Erythromycin as a next step. Sometimes it is a little trial and error with the medication...the important thing is we never want to use the same medication twice as the bacteria will have built up an immunity to it. Are you able to get API Erythromycin?
I got a betta about 3 weeks ago :) He was doing pretty good until I noticed his fins started to look a bit more jagged compared to pictures when I first got him. He then developed what looks like a small pinhole in his fin. His tank is a 5 gallon with a heater and gentle flow filter. The only decorations in there is 3 live plants and a smooth rock cave. I got a tip that it might be fungal fin rot?? I purchased the jungle fungus clear, but I’m not sure on how to proceed. Please help! :(
My betta fins are just shredded. He had a few spots that look like he lost scales. I put him in quarantine gave him meds. Pulled out decor that I think is the culprit. His fins are still split. How long to see new growth? Also did you not feed during the treatment?
Teal - so sorry for the late reply here. You are probably fine now to put him back into his 20 gallon tank. I usually wait about a week once the fins start growing back just to make sure all is well. Glad to hear your betta is on the mend!
If the first treatment doesn't work you have suggested erythromycin as a second treatment. Just for clarification is that erythromycin along with JFC or just erythromycin?
Hope - I would just use the Erythromycin as a second treatment. The first treatment with the JFC will get rid of anything fungal, but if the fin rot is still there and the Kanaplex doesn’t get it, the bacteria may be a gram positive strain, which Erythromycin targets. Hope that helps!
Glad it was helpful, Haus! I used to think the same about Melafix, Bettafix, Pimafix....but not so in this case. They do have their place though.....Going to share my experience with that soon. :) My betta's fin rot was just too aggressive and too far advanced to treat without good meds....
I need help with my betta fin rot but idk how advanced it is, I got it two days ago not knowing it already had fin rot, I didn’t know what fin rot was until watching a few videos
Hello, you might, might not remember me. So after trying the method shown in the video, i was advised to use seachem polyguard Ive done four treatments and I don’t see a change, he got slightly worse I did 40% water change before adding new dosage, filter was on but the filterage was taken out, just running empty I missed the third day so i did the treatment in fourth day instead of third for two times, does this mess the effect of the medication off? It says the med can be used up to two weeks or until it gets better. My next treatment will be two week mark. I heard for some bettas, simply meds don’t work and I’ve seen this scary video of cutting betta’s affected fin area Ive also seen one time 35% hydrogen peroxide treatment When i watch videos, other bettas get better but mine never ever showed any signs of healing but just got worse Let me know what i can do for this little poor friend Thank you
Hi M - Sometimes, unfortunately, medications don't always work. Some of that depends on the Bettas age, the type of bacteria causing the issues, etc...So don't feel bad. Medications certainly work, but they just don't all the time. If the polyguard doesn't work, I would first try an aquarium salt treatment. For the first few days, add one tablespoon of salt per 3 gallons of water. Change the water daily and add salt back in for the amount of water you are taking out. So if you are taking out a gallon of water in a water change, add back in 1/3 tablespoon of salt. After about 3 days, you can up the salt concentration to 1 tablespoon per gallon. Again, water changes daily. If you remove a gallon of water, put back in 1 tablespoon of salt. I would keep up this salt treatment for 7 - 10 days. See if that helps. Salt will dehydrate the bacteria, fungus, etc...essentially, dehydrating it all and killing it off. If the salt doesn't work, then I would try the hydrogen peroxide treatment, but you want to use 3% hydrogen peroxide. I'm doing a hydrogen peroxide treatment on my Bettas fin rot right now, using 1/4 teaspoon in a 2.6 gallon quarantine tank. Let me know if I can help further!
dmichaels fish den thank you so so much, one thing though. He is swimming around and eating fine! I added more wood for him and he loves it, so at least I don’t see him suffer too much. Thank you i will try the salt method and get back to you. You’re giving such an amazing help. God bless you, im sure other people are so thankful for your help as well. Thank you so much
Great question. Yes, they can. One popular treatment for that is Maracyn (E-Mycin) and Maracyn-2 together. (Both now made by Fritz). That has been proven very safe. Aquarium Co-Op has a quarantine medication trio of API general cure, API E-Mycin, and Ich-X, all administered at the same time, however 2 of those meds are parasitic meds. The thing to consider is how much will 2 strong antibiotics (Kanaplex and Emycin) plus another med including JFC in the mix might stress the fish. JFC is more of a fungal remedy so the Kanaplex/JFC combo is one antibiotic, one fungal. I’m just not sure how much stress 3 meds might cause at once. I’ve never personally tried it. So an idea - you could try the Maracyn/Maracyn-2 combo. I’ve done that safely and those two meds are designed to compliment each other. That way, you are getting one gram negative fighter and one gram positive fighter together. Does that help a little. You could certainly try Kanaplex/E-Mycin/JFC together, but that is a strong cocktail of meds all at once so I’m not sure how much stress it might cause
dmichaels fish den thanks for the advice! Grabbed some api erythromycin and Maracyn 2. Going to run those two simultaneously, cross my fingers and see what happens
Will this work without Kanaplex? I have a female betta with advanced fin rot in a five-gallon tank and she's losing a little color, but I know that antibiotics are pretty aggressive. I've only used Kanaplex once, when my goldfish got septicemia because one of them was a carrier. So, I have it, but I would prefer not to use it. I did put Fungus Clear in the tank, though, and she's actually perking up. She's been living on the gravel or in her hidey hole lately, not wanting to swim much. I really hope this helps. I thought I got rid of her fin rot with Melafix and aquarium salt in the early stages, but it just keeps coming back.
Jamie - I hear ya - and...been there. unfortunately, Melafix and aquarium salt are ineffective against fin rot, especially advanced fin rot. API really needs to change their marketing tactics and stop the rumors that it does anything for fin rot. Years ago, I used to try the Melafix/salt treatment as well, all unsuccessful. Fin rot is a bacterial infection and can only be treated with antibiotics that can kill off that bacteria - Fungus Clear does get some bad bacteria, so one thing you can do is try 2 JFC treatments to see if that is getting the fin rot - see if the fins stop receding. When they grow back, they will have clear tips - you'll see the new fin growth. If the JFC seems to be getting it, definitely stay there. If after the second JFC treatment you aren't seeing an improvement with the fin rot, I would combine the JFC and Kanaplex on the third treatment. Kanaplex is more aggressive as an antibiotic, but the fin rot can be aggressive in its own right, causing even more stress with your betta, so sometimes it takes an aggressive antibiotic to get it. Totally get using it as a last resort as I believe thats what a lot of us try to do, but sometimes it is the only choice. I've used this combination 3 different times on 3 different Bettas and though they may have been a little stressed, the Kanaplex didn't have any long term effects - that being said, I would only dose a maximum of 3 doses...anymore than that and it can stress internal organs - you'd have to wait a few weeks before dosing the Kanaplex again after 3 doses, but by that time the bacteria builds up an immunity to Kanaplex.... Sorry this response is getting long but one other thing that might be helpful - if you do decide to dose the Kanaplex remember, it gets the bad bacteria but it gets the good bacteria as well, so it is helpful to add some beneficial bacteria (ie..Fluval Biological enhancer, etc...) every other day to keep your good bacteria colony up...this way your tank won't crash and you won't have any ammonia spikes. And as you probably already know, don't forget to remove any carbon in your filter while medicating.....once you are done medicating, it's great to add carbon to soak up any residual medication - hope all that helps! 👍
I know your suppose to remove carbon filter, but when do you place it back in the tank? As in do you keep carbon filter off for the full 4 days or do you place it back in every now and then?
So sorry for the late reply. Once the med dosing is done feel free to put it back in. It helps to pick up residual medication to remove it. Take the carbon out for the 4 days, or longer if you are doing a second dose of JFC and Kanaplex. But don't put it back until you are done dosing. It will soak up the medication.
I tried just kanaplex on my betta with severe fin rot and it didn’t seem to help, I’m going to try this method and see what happens. My poor boy has been struggling for so long and nothing seems to be working :(
This video is very helpful! I treated my betta with FURAN-2 almost 2 weeks ago and saw no improvement. Would you recommend I try this treatment as well or would it be too much on the little guy? I also have Betta Revive but have not used it since I can't find too much info on it. Do you know anything about it? Thanks for any advice!
Vanessa - glad to hear the video was helpful! What's going on with your Betta? Is it fin rot? Can you tell me a little more? FURAN-2 is a good Nitrofurazone medication, though I've switched to Jungle Fungus Clear because it has both the Nitrofurazone and Potassium Dichromate (this treats fungal issues). To successfully clear up a bad case of fin rot, as a first resort, I've always used the combination of Jungle Fungus Clear and Kanaplex (kanamycin). I'm not sure which medication was the cure, but the two meds together seem to work better as a broad spectrum antibiotic for gram negative bacteria, which is what most fin rot is. Betta Revive is Hikari's broad spectrum antibiotic, and they are a good company, so it's worth a try. 👍 I've never personally used it, but it's main ingredient, neomycin sulfate, is very effective as a broad spectrum antibiotic. Since it's been 2 weeks since you medicated (and done water changes, right? 😉), that should be enough rest to try another round of medication. If it's fin rot, how bad is it?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! In a large nutshell, we got the fish 2 months ago and he lived happily in a 2.5gal heated bowl for about a month. I read he should have more space, so we got a 4gal filtered tank, set it up and moved him in. I knew about cycling but maybe didn't fully understand how to do it. I did 25% water changes 2-3 times a week and added a very small amount of Prime each time. My ammonia was always 0 and my nitrites stayed between .25-.50. During this time our friend's fins got very tattered/stringy and developed a small hole. I again read up and decided to try the FURAN-2. When he didn't get better after treatment I went to my local fish store (not a box store) and was told to stop doing water changes + Prime and let the tank cycle. I was also told he didn't have fin rot, he had burns from the Prime and I would probably lose him in the cycle process. Well, I decided that was a terrible plan and I moved him back to his bowl with fresh water. I'm now doing a fishless cycle in his filtered tank - I have a better understanding of the process this time. So that's where we are now. I think he looks a little better in the clean water but I'm worried about a couple white spots, not fluffy, and scaly debris I see when I do water changes. I know I've made mistakes but I hope I can make it right. HIs been through a lot but acts healthy, always hungry and feisty. Sorry for the short novel and thank you again for your help. So much conflicting information out there it's overwhelming!
Vanessa - my pleasure and welcome to the hobby 😀😉 There is a lot of conflicting information out there, so I try to help by sharing my experience. So the local fish store is partly right - when you are cycling a tank, you don't want to do very many water changes - an easy way to cycle without putting fish in...put a little fish food in the tank and leave it in for about a week (it will start to break down and create ammonia). You can buy beneficial bacteria in a bottle to help with the cycling process (I have a video on that - Beneficial Bacteria 101, I think I called it). The beneficial bacteria will feed off the ammonia created by the decomposing fish food. You still want to do a 10% water change each week (Tank should cycle in about a week or two). Make sure there is still food in there decomposing - add some beneficial bacteria week one and a little more week 2. Then test your water (look up API master test kit for freshwater). Once you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, you are good to go 👍 Once you get a little brown algae in the tank in particular, then you really know it's cycled. 😀This is definitely not fin rot, which is why the Furan-2 didn't work...it wasn't a bacterial disease, and still really isn't so I wouldn't even use the Revive at this point as it's not necessary. Where I don't agree with the local fish store is that Prime is causing a "burn." I've used Prime for years without any ill effect. You do need Prime to get rid of chlorine and chloramine in the water (unless you have well water). Another option with Aloe Vera is Hikari Ultimate. It is water conditioner with some aloe in it. What I think we have here is some possible ammonia burn and nitrite poisoning - we want nitrites at 0. To heal his fins (assuming they aren't infected, but the clean water should help with that 😀), what I would use is Kordon's Fish Protector. Helps heal damaged fins, has echinacea in it, B12, and adds electrolytes....heals scales, etc...I use it after each water change and have a video coming out on that soon 😀And don't worry about any mistakes....I've made TONS over 8 years, but that is how we learn 😀
Lol - nope, you probably wouldn't. This is a DIY siphon I made because I needed something smaller to siphon smaller tanks...I have an older video on it on my channel - I think it's called DIY siphon? Something like that. Let me know if I can help further 😀
I got a Betta that was a pearl-ish color, 3 weeks ago, he began to turn-what I thought was black at first- around a week ago. I thought it was fin rot but now I am not so sure. It’s only his body and his tail fin that is turning this black/bluish color. *None* of the fins are torn or are falling apart. Is this just him changing colors? Also on his head it’s turning orange. If anyone knows it something is wrong please help me out
Mixonisse - very well simply could be a color change. Especially if your betta has what is called a "marbled gene." Or you'll find this in koi bettas ("koi betta" is the fancy term for marbled betta). My koi (marbled) betta has gone through a complete color change. Unless the fins are receding back and/or are starting to look torn, this is not fin rot. Without seeing your betta, I would suggest it is just a color change...which is very common in some bettas. Maybe he/she is trying to impress you 😉
Pan - a great Betta, right? I'm actually not sure of the name and/or color. My guy is just a common veil tail I rescued from his little cup at the local fish store. 😀But tons of personality, as you know from yours. You've got me on this one - I'd have to do some more research into the name/color 😊
@@dmichaelsfishden please let me know when you do. I have seen many pictures but never found the name. :) and yeah lots of personality but stubborn as all hell and quite the little piggy when eating and then learns his lesson the hard way lol. Mine was rescued when I won him at the carnival at my school. :)
Did you keep the filter running? I have several bettas I saved from Walmart and they all have fin rot. I started your treatment plan today for 2 of the bettas that are not in filtered tanks (they're in 2 gallon bowls while I save for bigger tanks), but I have 2 other bettas in 5 gallon filtered tanks that also need the treatment. Thank you
Reyna - God bless you for saving them from Walmart in those little prisons they are in. Yes, when I treated I did keep the filter running but I didn't have any activated carbon in the filter - (I don't use it anymore anyway except to remove medication), so my filter simply had sponges and my biological media in it. I'm not surprised all of the bettas had fin rot - really common if they are sitting in those little dishes too long. Glad you started the treatment! It worked well for me on 3 separate occasions, with 3 separate Bettas. In the 5 gallon, it's ok to leave the filter going, just make sure to remove any activated carbon while you are medicating. Give the treatment a little time - I started to see differences after the second dose. If you get the fin rot, their fins will begin to grow back - they will look clear at the tips. Good luck and let me know if I can help further! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden thank you, and God bless you for this video! I had no idea what I was doing but I knew it was wrong for them to be in those tiny cups. I learned, through TH-cam, that they're tropical fish and just how bad those tiny cold cups really are! I have 6 bettas now and have decided I can't go in the fish isle anymore. It's costing too much to rescue these beautiful fish. One of the boys, "Noble", was so near death they gave me a discount on him. His fins are bent and a lot of them fell off (as I was transferring from the cup to the bowl). Nerve-racking. He's in great spirits now tho, and I think he'll survive if this treatment works. I'd love extra help/guidance from you, thank you. -Reyna
Those are 6 more bettas that will have a much better life than in the petri dish prisons they were in 😀Always here to help! If I miss a comment on TH-cam (I do try to read all of them and respond to all of them - sometimes one or two slip by) you can always email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com
I'm dealing with this and decided to try starting with just the jungle fungus clear after trying just clean water and vitachem and stressgaurd for weeks. I just did the second dose yesterday, but am not sure if I should go head and do the kanamycin as well... some parts of his fins might look like they have some regrowth but it's hard to tell. One area looks slightly worse. Do you recommend letting the tank rest before dose a new med, or starting the kanamycin during this first round of treatment? Will regrowth be pretty obvious?
I love how u gave ur betta n snail a voice. It's so cute n funny. Love it!!
Thanks, Amy! Glad you enjoyed it! ;)
I'm here because my betta has fin rot, despite my best efforts at maintaining good water parameters. This was really good info and a cute vid. I subscribed.
Hi Donya - Welcome aboard and thank you for the kind words! Glad the video was helpful. Don't get discouraged - my water parameters were just fine as well, when my Betta got his fin rot. They are curious little devils, and most of the time they contract fin rot when they rip their fins or run into something while exploring. Mine ran right into the filter outlet while chasing a pellet, scraped off half his scales, and that's what did it 😳 Fin rot is a symptom that can happen when a wound (inflicted by the Betta - their fault) give bacteria an opportunity. By the way - one other remedy that works very well - API's Erythromycin (just by itself). Let me know if I can help further 😀
Thank you so much for all the great info! One thing that changed recently in my betta's 3.5 gallon tank was the introduction of a new floating plant - Salvinia minimus. I've since removed it. It was soft, with fuzzy and fibrous roots that my betta liked building bubble nests in. But I learned that I should have pre-treated it in a bleach dip, so as to kill any unwanted stuff from the tank it was grown in. I'm now suspect of that plant, because the fin rot began about a week later. Do you think that plant could have been a contributing factor?
Donya - that very well could be, especially if you don't have any sharpish objects in the tank. That absolutely could be it. Good move removing it! 👍 I do like Salvinia, though, especially if low light plants are below it. But if there aren't any sharp objects, you might have had a nasty little hitchhiking bacteria on the Salvinia...😖
FINALLY!! A video that doesn’t Involve salt or hydrogen peroxide. Thank you.
Katie - my pleasure. Yes, salt does absolutely nothing if an infection is this far advanced. Neither does Melafix, Bettafix, or Pimafix...that video is coming soon 😀
This video may be a few years old but it just saved my betta's life!! THANK YOU! After getting bad advice from the people at Petsmart & Petco and googling like crazy, I found this video and it had all the right answers. Plus, you giving voices to both the betta and the snail was super cute :)
Alexandria Howard glad it was helpful!! And thank you for the kind words 😀
I am in process of using your method on my betta (Grace) that got banged up bad. I went to take pic of white fuzz on her top fin and it feel off day two of meds. This is working great so far. Thanks a ton for posting this. Love the voice overs!
I'm grateful I came across your video. I've been dealing with fin rot on my Betta for a couple of months. First I used Aquarium Salt for 10 days and it seemed to help a little but it came back. Then I used Bettafix which I wasn't real comfortable with but I gave it a try without any luck. After watching your video I have a much better comprehension of the different bacterias - thank you! I know you used the two different medications but I just want to double check with you that it's best to use both of those together rather than one. I'm hoping I can find them both tomorrow local because I want to start treating him right away before he gets any worse. The commentary cracks me up by the way!
Second - I have a video coming out about this soon. Melafix and the diluted Bettafix can't do it. Those are for minor injuries. Use both together and trust me. I wish my vid on Melafix and Bettafix was already out. They come from trees...they are just oils...not antibiotics. What you need are antibiotics.. Use what I showed you in the vid.. If you have questions, email me: dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com
Thanks so much for your reply! I was able to get a hold of the Jungle Clear locally but I have to order the Konoplex online so that will take a few days and with the long weekend probably more. I do have an extra challenge because I'm in the process of cycling a 10 gallon tank for my Betta to go into but it's not quite ready. In the meantime I have him in a 3 1/2 gallon tank but since it's not cycled I have to do frequent water changes. I'm concerned I won't be able to go the 4 days with the Jungle clear without changing the water. I'm just so worried about him, his fins are looking terrible. The water perimeters are good for uncycled, 0 am, 0 nitrites, no nitrates, good ph. He has a heater so the water temp is at a steady 80 degrees. I feed him the highest quality pellets as well as blood worms and brine shrimp on alternating days. I need to get him in the new tank but it's still cycling. (he was a gift and came in bad condition in an 1 gallon bowl so that's why I wasn't prepared with a cycled tank.) . Thank you again for your help and for your awesome videos - I have subscribed!
Second Twirl - my pleasure, of course. With the 10 gallon - once you see some algae, it's cycled..Ok to add fish 👍With the Betta in the 3 1/2 gallon: I understand. If you can't go the 4 days with the JFC, that's ok. Dose, then two days later do a water change, then dose again. You are doing a fantastic job with everything else and the water parameters look great. With 3 1/2 gallons, you should be ok for 2 days. But once you try this JFC, you'll be amazed at how well it works! Keep up the great work...message me if I can be of further help! 😀
I was able to go three days before I did a water change and then I did another dose of the Jungle Clear. I think Mr. Bleu's fins are a little better, it's hard to tell at this point. The Konoplex is on it's way and I will be anxious to see if that helps too. Last night I was sure I heard him comment "hey food lady, have you noticed my water is all green? Could you do something about that!?" lol
Impressive how educational your updates are. Great resource for newbies and more seasoned fishkeepers too.
Mohd Razee Salleh again, way too kind. Glad you enjoyed the vid! Just hope it’s helpful! Thank you much for the support.
I love the voices that you give your betta and snail. It was fun to watch.
Thanks Amanda! Glad you enjoyed it. Something in the water here that makes them little chatty kathy’s 😉
Thank you sooooooo much dmichaels for this video. You are the reason my betta has new life. Your remedy definitely gave my betta a second chance of life. Thanks a mill
My pleasure and very good to hear! Glad everything worked out! 👍
Thanks for the sub. Love the banter between you and the beta
My pleasure! My fish are talkers...something in the water...besides a lot of helium....😏
lol
Another excellent video. Glad your betta has responded so well to the treatments.
Aquatasy thank you for the kind words! This combination worked like a charm. I have another video coming on treating fungus on a German Blue Ram. I'm shocked at how well Jungle Fungus Clear works. I bought it on a whim on Amazon and was nervous as I knew nothing about the company. Now it has me convinced to take it the next time I have a cold/flu 🤒😜. Really good stuff. Would highly recommend keeping a stash in your "fish pantry"
My first betta got fin rot two months after I bought him from the pet shop. He's a blue-ish red veiltail. Since Ace is my first one and I'm still new to taking care of him, I thought I'd try melafix to help. It's probably not the best solution but its helping somewhat and his fins are looking better nearly every day. It's a slow process, but its helping. Looking at this video will give me a better solution if I don't see any changes for him. Thank you.
My pleasure! While the Melafix isn't always the best solution, you know what - if it is working for you, keep it up. What is equally important is to keep the water pristine, no ammonia or nitrites at all in it. Fin re-growth is always a slow process, but if the rot has stopped and you are noticing improvement, as the saying goes, "don't fix it if it ain't broke," so keep doing what you are doing! And certainly don't feel bad the fin rot happened after bringing him home from the shop - in the conditions bettas are kept in, its really common to have to deal with some fin rot after purchase. Keep up the great work! 👍
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you. It's a very slow process but there was a hole in his back fin before but using the melafix healed it up and I no longer see it. He made his first bubble nest a couple of days ago and even flared at me! Definitely a good sign he's doing better. :D
@@Spiritprime91 Great to hear!!! That is a GREAT sign he is doing better! Nice job! And it definitely is going to be a slow process - Just hang in there
Thank you for the informative video. I have a 2 year old betta in a 10 gallon. He has several plants, some driftwood, a large decorative hiding rock, and one of those betta leaves on the side of the tank. But he keeps getting fin rot. I've had to treat him several times in the last year, and am just at a loss of what is going on. Up until now I just thought it was something I was not doing correctly when cleaning. I have read so many articles, watched videos, cleaned the tank exactly like I'm supposed to be, and poof, out of nowhere he's losing his fins. I never thought it could be due to him ripping his fins on his driftwood and/or rock in the tank. He started growing his fins back and was looking so beautiful, and I did the scheduled water change, and yesterday noticed his fin had a hole in it and the surrounding fins were super raggedy. I'm going to assume it could be the driftwood. He likes to swim down and hangout on top of it. Hopefully removing the drift wood and possibly the rock will help.
Thanks again for the video!
Hi Lauren - my pleasure! I'm sorry to hear your guy's fins keep getting torn up. You are on the right track, though. It's easy for us to automatically assume fin rot when it is just a case of fins being torn. Bettas are curious little creates and like to jam themselves into places they aren't supposed to jam themselves into. It definitely could be the driftwood or the rock. In the past, I've had Bettas tear fins on driftwood, rocks, and one guy who was insane and bit his own fins, like a dog chasing his tail. I also had a sparkling gourami who nipped one Bettas fins ragged. Here's that video: th-cam.com/video/HjrXPJhJ21A/w-d-xo.html So, I'm sure he is just getting them caught on something. One thing that might be helpful: I really like Kordon Fish Protector for promoting fin growth and health and I add it after every water change, once a week. It has Echinacea and vitamin B12 in it, and works wonders for fin healing - you might consider giving that a try. It's easy to find online :)
@@dmichaelsfishden Awesome! I will definitely order the Kordon. Thanks!
My pleasure, Lauren!!
This has helped A WHOLE LOT!!! I can already tell my fish’s fin is growing back 😭😭😭
So glad it was helpful!
Just started this treatment on my betta, Cobalt. Hoping it works! Thanks for the info I had tried to treat it with salt and he was getting a bit better but once I moved him back to his normal tank from the quarantine tank all of the progress disappeared and he actually started getting worse. I found this video just in time (at least I’m hoping).
Hi Emma - so sorry for the late reply here. I hope it did help! Hope Cobalt is doing better and on the mend 🙏
Hey Mike, it's Angie and Patriot, my Betta again.
Patri got caught up between the large driftwood and the wall of his tank and ended up with a pretty bad tear to the base of his tail, right where the body and tail meet! He unfortunately ended up with a bad case of tail rot even though I treated him with Furan 2 as soon as I noticed the rot starting!
I completed all 4 doses of F2 and thought he'd be ok, like the last time he had fin rot however, it didn't work this time and he ended up worse! I had Tetra Fungus Guard on hand and after watching your video I started the FG promptly while I waited for the Kanaplex to arrive from Amazon. I completed the first 4 days of FG, changed 25% of tank water (per instructions) and then proceeded to start the 2nd 4 days of FG & added the Kanaplex with it. In 2 days I will add the 2nd dose of KP but i'm not sure if I should hold off on partial water change after 4 days before adding the 3rd dose of KP... or if I should do the water change before adding the final dose of KP?
Had to do the dosing of the 2 meds you recommend kind of in reverse as I didn't have KP on hand after the F2 treatment and I was afraid that if I waited the 3-4 days til the KP arrived that it would be too late to save Patriot! I hope I didn't screw this up!
On the bright side, Patri seems to be doing ok so far but he's definitely not back to his old self yet. He's at lest swimming and eating again. After the Rot set in he was sitting on the bottom and was refusing to eat for the first 2 - 3 days of treatment. Got him to eat again by giving him his favorite food - frozen blood worms!
Following your lead, I decided to just remove the driftwood from my tank entirely, even though it didn't have any jagged / sharp edges... I just don't want to risk any more incidents with him getting caught up between the wood and the glass again!
My heart breaks for the little guy because his tail still seems to just droop and I can see the large wound at the base of his tail - although it's looking a tiny bit better every few days!
It looks kind of painful even after healing for 8 days already. His breathing is back to normal, thank God! He seemed to be gasping for air for the first 5 - 6 days.
He is my little trooper... I can't believe he is toughing it out like this!
Thanks in advance for your response!
Hi Lou - so sorry for the late reply here. I've been healing from an injury to my left hand and have been out of commision on the keyboard until now. How is he doing now? After reading the above, I was going to say to change the water before the final dose of KP, then you can add a little of the F2 back in, proportional to the amount of water you took out. I know it has been 5 days, (again, apologize for the late reply), but let me know how he is doing now and the status and I'll try to help 👍
@@dmichaelsfishden
Sorry to hear about your accident... I hope you're feeling better? Glad the accident wasn't worse!
Patriot seems to be doing better and the treatment seems to have worked but he has suddenly developed an aversion to the pellet foods I normally give him. He'll eat the frozen foods just fine though! Concerned he will refuse to eat pellets going forward.
The downside is he lost half of his beautiful tail and I don't mean length wise... Whats left of his tail is still long and flowing however, he lost the whole top half of his tail, from the base to tip & top to midway down! : (
I really hope the rest of his tail doesn't fall off and that it all grows back!, but if not, I'll love him all the same!
You wouldn't believe how many so called "experts" got on my case for following the medication regime you suggest in your video. Something about Pnotassium Dichromate being harmful to the fish because it acts like an oxidizer?
LOL... I guess everybody's an expert in their own mind!
I removed the driftwood from my tank entirely because I don't want a repeat of this incident! I'm actually beginning to wonder if that driftwood was contaminated to begin with. It came with a used 29 gal tank I bought from a private seller. I sanitized the tank with bleach & then boiled that wood for more than 12 hours before placing it in the tank but since month 4 of my tank being up, it has collected / grown black beard algae... even after I soaked it in full strength 3% peroxide for an hour! and scrubbed the crap out of it!
Strangely enough, I also got a tick bite from a dog tick that was hiding in the driftwood! The guy had been storing it in his garage for a period of time before I bought it. LOL... that's what I get for trying to save money! No worries, I didn't get limes disease! : D
PS. forgot to mention that he's acting pretty skittish since the incident. He hides out in his fake rock cave and half the time I have to reach my hand all the way down into his tank to entice him out to feed him. Perhaps he's upset that I took out the driftwood and feels exposed?
@@dmichaelsfishden I'm seriously contemplating doing a deep clean of my tank tonight, including the gravel, but not the bio filter.
I normally keep 3 nerite snails in my divided tank with my betta's and they produce a lot of poop / waste. My concern is that i'm not getting all the crap out of the gravel when I vacuum it and that it might be contributing to poor water quality. My other thought was to leave the snails out of the betta tank going forward. I have a 5 gal tank I can keep them in if necessary.... That's where the snails, along with my bio media and my other betta, Nova have been since I started treating Patriot. Would use a 10 gallon tank to house them, but the new one I bought leaks like a sieve! What a pain, hey?
Hey Mike, just when you thought you heard the last from me Hubert has to go and ruin everything! Lol I sent you an email of some photos of him, I’m not sure if I should medicate him again, but I won’t do anything until you message back, I feel like you’d know more than I would. Thanks so much Mike, you’ve honestly been a huge help. You’re Hubert’s doctor lol.
Lol - Jessica - no worries! I'll check the email out tonight and will do what I can to help!
Jessica McCarron and btw - I never want to hear the last from Hubert! Hope I can help!
Not sure if you will see this comment but thank you for the video. My betta seems really happy from his activity level but has developed fin rot as well, possibly from the silk plants in the tank because he zooms through them all the time. Aquarium salt doesn't seem to be working so I am going to give this a try. Thanks!
I just finished 3rd dose of Kanaplex.....I did not see this video til today so I did not treat with Jungle Fungus yet. His top fin has not recovered yet. I honestly don't know what caused his fin rot. For a couple weeks, he was sinking too quickly to the bottom and not swimming as much so I Tried starving for a couple of days. then fed him a pea..and another pea the next day. THEN, I learned bettas can not digest peas.....so now I am feeding him thawed/frozen daphnia or brine shrimp (tiny amounts so as not to overfeed). not using pellets at all this week. Did a epsom salt bath in a little cup for about 10-15min just before beginning kanaplex. my parameters have been good. zero ammonia and zero nitrites...nitrates are low now ; temperature is 80. Last week nitrates were up to may be 50-60ppm but I did a couple water changes within a week to correct the problem. then this Sunday I noticed his fin had definitely gotten skinnier. No tank mates except nirite snail (that does not talk). Had live plants. now he is in 2.5g hospital tank with fake plants so one goes to top for him to hang out up there. no air stone but a little filtration. I am thinking he has other underlying condition. so thinking jungle fungus is next - then wait a week.....and then on to erythromyacin (Maracyn).
My friend I have watched all of your fin rot videos. Sticked with this one and decided to try it. I got my first Betta fish but I was late recognising the symptoms. His tail is now shredded. I tried during the month of November to treat him with king British fin rot as I had to order the things you mentioned on video. I live in the uk so the medicine from united stated finally arrived at the end of December! I started your treatment, I had to swap the jungle clear for the furan as none were in sale on eBay at the time.
I am now on the second week of treatment and I don’t think he has gotten any better.
He did start the king British in his home tank but somewhere in the middle of December we decided to get a proper medical tank.
He is in a quarantine tank with only an airpump.
My betta is same colours as yours, different type fins tho.
Anyway even tho some fins look pink ish it changes in the light as he moves and turns black.
He has lots of black patches which I thought was the “bacteria” of the fungus rot from what I searched online so for signs of getting better I been seeing if the black goes away. But I keep getting the sensation he clears up in one spot but maintains on the other, or my eyes are fucked up lol that’s how I’m starting to feel. Lol
King British did stop the fungus from progressing because before adding anything he was losing fin fast but it didn’t progress from that and be maintained the black areas.
What should I do.
Keep adding Kanaplex and furan?
At this point I thought of doing the same as a different guy, where he dips the furan straight into the affected areas and let’s the fish in the medicated water for 30m then back into his tank.
How do you see fin growth? It all looks similar and the same. Sometimes looks like it got better the next day looks bad again. Is the black coloration really a sign of the fin rot bacteria and should it disappear first? Could the black be coloration of the fins and not fin rot.
Despairing 😩
Hey Food Man! We’re on the mend. I got some stress coat and that was the turning point. Nitrites are neg, but nitrates are between 0-5 ppm. pH is high 7.4 so I added some Easy Balance. But their fins are growing back in and the raggedy look is gone. So thanks for your help. I ordered some pimafix and melafix for “just in case”. I have 2 projects in the works. Rearranging my living room for a 20g, so I can split it with dividers for 4 male bettas, and a 55G for about 15-20 female bettas. I have the sand, lights, decor, I just need my brother to put the stands together so I can get going on it. Really excited about this. It’ll keep me busy while I’m isolating myself from this virus.
Hi Deborah - Very glad to hear you are on the mend! Wonderful news!
Great video- to the point, simple to understand, and presented in an entertaining way. Thank you!
kimberly dalton thank you for the kind words! I’m so thankful it was helpful!!
Love your videos! So informative but also entertaining at the same time! Just out of curiosity, with how knowledgeable you are with antibiotics and their spectrum coverage, are you a pharmacist by any chance?
I'm happy he's feeling all betta now :) Not entirely related to this but my male koi james had a tumorlike growth near his tail and i caught him in a towel and with a cutter knife made small insicions through it and put oxigenated water on it, put him in quarantine and it completely cured! What i'm really trying to say is that everybody can cure their fish if you just have a bit of information on the disease and the way to go about curing it. Anyway, great video! Fun and informative
Appreciate the kind words, George! Man, you've got a million tank puns...lol. Great job with your male koi - you are a braver man than I to perform a little surgery. But you are absolutely right. With a little understanding of diseases one can provide cures. Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of misconceptions about aquarium diseases and many ailments can be cured with some simple husbandry. Medications are rampant as companies have to sell them for the profits....but I really only use them as a last resort - simple maintenance and tender loving care often do the trick....
HI D.. I'm happy to see he's come around really well! =D ♥♥
DebTim A CANADIAN Girl thanks Deb! 😀. He's strong and healthy and ready to keep me on my toes with more mischief. 🙄😉
That's wonderful to hear.. Glad he's better.. I have a pair spawning right now. My first.. I am so excited.. I hope they get the wrap thing down.. I'll keep you posted!! =D ♥♥
Yes!! Congratulations! You are going to be a new mother yet again :)Please do keep all of us posted!
Play lots of Marvin Gaye in the house....or Sade to keep them in the mood :)
haha.. will Michael Buble do?? lol I'll do that.. I think they have bred now.. didn't get to see the actual wrap but saw many attempts.. she looks smaller and he's busy with all his bubbles.. I'll leave her in there till tomorrow just incase.. So excited!! =D ♥♥
Very handy video, and the commentary from the fish always cracks me up. I learned that same lesson about veil-tails and anything rough: if they can injure their fins on it, they will. :/
Anthony - thanks for the kind words! All my guys seem to be sassy chatters ;) And these Bettas certainly will injure themselves on a continual basis on anything sharp.....it's amazing how small of a space they can squeeze themselves into...funny how oblivious they can be to their own injuries and scratches...lol. Thanks for the support as always and for checking out the video! Hope you are doing great, my friend.
my Betta's tail is healing a bit. Thanks for all the useful information and help!!!
Glad to hear it's healing a bit - it may take a few dosing rounds to get it all and it doesn't hurt to do a full 3 rounds to make sure you get it all. My pleasure and great news!
Nice vid. Looking forward to the follow up video on the reason(s) why you selected and not selected your treatment meds.
Rod - appreciate the kind words and support as always! Absolutely more videos to follow on why I selected the meds I did, and why I didn't select others, which I hope will be a helpful series as I feel there is some confusion about meds out there...
This is really helpful, it saved my betta and worked the best of ask my trials. Just wondering if we could do a second treatment after a few weeks, or how long fun regrowth might take for a more serious fin rot case.
Hi Aiyana - good to hear!! I'm glad it was helpful. The only downside to the medication is that once it works, it may not work a second time, so you may have to try something else out. Here is a vid that explains that more:th-cam.com/video/qsGoAHQ4WlQ/w-d-xo.html Doesn't mean it can't work twice, just means the probability may go down. Fin regrowth depends a lot on the age of the Betta, water quality, etc...In a younger, healthy Betta, to get back to where he was before, it can take a month or two. Depending on how bad the fin rot was....But if you keep his water quality excellent, his temperature good, within a few months he should have some nice new growth. The fins will look like clear as they start re-growing, then will color up gradually as well. Hope that helps!
Thanks. Really good to know for any possible need
Taggie912 my pleasure. Glad it was helpful!!
I am currently treating a Male double tail Betta. He was doing great but then we moved and although I tried to make is as smooth as possible I'm sure it stressed him. His tail is so flowing it's sometimes hard to tell if it's really fin rot. at any rate he also was moved into a larger tank from a 10 gal. to a 20 gallon tank. water parameters show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates. I added aquarium salt and Imagitariums Bacterial Infection Remedy and it seems to have helped slightly after the three courses he is a bit more energetic and he always eats though the last couple of days he doesn't seem as excited. I completed the three courses of the herbal Imagitarium bacterial remedy, did a 20% water change and used then just now used the Jungle Clear and I did not have Kanaplex but you mentioned broad spectrum and an antibiotic that would get inside so I used API Fin and Body Cure that has an active ingredient Doxycycline which I figured was broad and a good substitute for the Kanaplex. I'm not a doctor though so would you be so kind as to let me know if you think this is a proper substitute? Thank you!!
just thought I'd follow up. This Betta I called Beansie passed away in December a couple of weeks before Christmas. He never seemed to get back to 100% but he lived another 11 months before giving it up. I had him over two years and I have him buried in the back yard. I really loved little bean. RIP Beansie.
I'm dealing with fin rot that's really stubborn in my betta I've had for about a month now. I have a nice heated 5 gallon for him, but he's been glass surfing from day one. It's like he just can't settle down, even though I've played with the current and placement of decorations. He has a beta leaf and a floating log. anyway, I've done two rounds of the kanaplex, the second was combined with API general cure because I saw some white stringy droppings. Every time the fin rot seems to be getting better, when treatment stops, it will just get worse than ever. Maybe it's time to try the antifungal you mentioned in this video.
It’s not always gram negative.. kanaplex didn’t help but erythromycin did for my fish.. fish actually got popeye after doing kanaplex cuz I think it was hard on his system. So hard to know what works sometimes!
Very true Noel! Absolutely right. And unless any of us have the ability to gram stain, which we normal hobbyists really don’t, it is unfortunately sometimes a guessing game. It certainly can be gram positive and Emycin is fantastic at the gram positive stuff 😀. Glad your fish recovered well and thanks for watching!
Thank you for this video. It has helped my Betta so much!
My pleasure! Glad it was helpful!
So I went though with the medication cycle, it helped in getting rid of this white spot he had on his head, but his fins are getting worse by the day. I've already done two full treatments with alittle more then a week apart to help the tank rest. But I'm starting to think his condition is worse then I had anticipated. Since I've already done two full cycles I'm afraid a third may be top much for him
Reggae - I'm so sorry to hear that. It could perhaps be gram positive bacteria causing his fin rot. I would try Erythromycin. It's great with gram positive bacteria....if the Kanaplex and JFC didn't work (which usually works for gram negative bacteria), it may be gram positive.
Hello Dan. I notice my betta have fin rot at the top of his fins. I have Bettafix and was about to treat him with this medication. I am glad I saw your informative video. I will try these products to treat his fin rot. I have two Otocinclus catfish in the ten gallon tank with him. Do I need to remove them before I treat him?
Lol I love the Betta commentary, too funny because in my head I’m always making voices for my animals (by choice lol)
Lol - glad you enjoyed it! There is something strange in my water that makes them do that.... ;)
Your a life saver, thank you 👑
Great video! I have two questions, Will using this medicine kill beneficial bacteria in the tank? And for the time you were medicating your betta, did you feed him any food?
as always great info 👍👍
Thank you, Discus Whisperer! 😉 Thought it might be helpful to folks as fin rot can be common in Bettas. 👍 Hope you and the fish are doing great, George! Appreciate the kind words and support, as always!
Hey! I’m a new subscriber and I absolutely love your videos! I currently have a beautiful betta who contracted fin rot after getting quite banged up himself. His ventral fins appear red but his other fins seem to be healing? I’m not quite sure what the signs of healing are, but they seem to have wide white edges. I’m going to use your treatment next and I wanted to know how long he should be quarantined for? What can we do after the treatment? When can we reintroduce him to his main tank? Thank you so much for your help!
Shre Shre - so sorry for the late reply here - Somehow I missed this comment....how is he doing now? How did the treatment work? Let me know how he is doing so I can see how I can help. Thank you for the kind words on the videos!
After 2 treatments of erythromycin and salt I’m going to try this method (but with furan) and hope it actually yields results. Wish me luck 😬🤞🏻
Good luck, Ellen! Yeah, sometimes E-Mycin won't get it. E-Mycin is the best with gram positive bacteria infections, but isn't as good with gram negative bacterial infections....and a lot of fin rot is caused by gram negative bacteria. Sending good thoughts your way!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻I love the voices
My Betta seems to have severe fin rot and possibly clamped fins as well. I treated exactly like this video and he began to get better, but after over a week started getting worse again. So then I treated with erythromycin and same thing - started better, then worse. I check his water levels and they’re stable and clear, plus his tank is heated (to 80). He seems to have tiny bits of fin growth but there still parts that look withered. Any advice for what to do next?
Hi Emily - I'm in a similar situation right now with my Betta, Patriot - The JFC and Kanaplex didn't work, the E-mycin didn't work (this can sometimes happen....). Here is what might be helpful, and I'm going to do a video series on this soon because I learned a lot with as stubborn as Patriot's fin rot has been. Is your Betta by himself in a tank? Is it heavily planted? If it isn't heavily planted, you can try aquarium salt, BUT, the amount of salt you use makes a big, big difference. You would want to treat the tank with 1 tablespoon of salt / gallon. It's a high salt dosage, but at this level, aquarium salt can kill just about any bugs, parasites, etc....You will want to dissolve the salt in a cup of tank water prior to putting it in the tank. I would try this treatment for one week. The salt will essentially dehydrate all the bugs, killing them off. I would do a water change each day, then replace the salt coming out of the water change....so if you take out one gallon of water, replace the water and another tablespoon of salt. If you have a heavily planted tank and don't want to use salt, I would try Seachem Polyguard next. The bacteria has already built up an immunity to the JFC, Kanaplex, and the E-Mycin, so we have to attack this with a different med - Polyguard uses Sulfadiozonale, as well as other meds, different than the Kanamycin in Kanaplex and the E-Mycin. We do have to use a different antibiotic, and Polyguard is a good choice - it is Seachem's broadest, most potent medication. The salt may work for you - it didn't for me with Patriot, and I have been fighting his fin rot for 2 months. I'm about to begin treatment with Polyguard. Does that help a little? 😀
Thank you!! It’s a 6.2 gallon planted, which is part of the reason why I haven’t tried aquarium salt so far. And he lives alone in the tank. My local stores don’t have Polyguard so I’ll be ordering it online and hoping that finally helps, especially because he’s becoming lethargic now. Thank you for the advice!
So I’m back with another problem- my Betta was on Polyguard for the maximum amount of time (two weeks, if I remember right) and still, no improvement, but his fins aren’t getting worse either. The ends of them almost look withered or clamped, and just won’t heal. He hardly swims and is lethargic. I’ve been changing the water every other day now to make sure it stays pristine, but I don’t know what med to try next. Any advice?
NEW SUB!!! I had a female crowntail betta that recently died in Feb 2020 she lived 3 years. She got really sick and got bad fin rot then swim bladder disease. I gave her Fish Amoxcillin, that did not work. I did not want anymore fish but my friend gave me a male betta. He currently has fin rot too. I dont know what to do. I am not really familiar on how to treat bettas when they get sick, there is alot of different info. out there but your videos help me. I just ordered both meds on Amazon. Wish me luck!
Hi Mari - Thank you for the sub!!!! Proud to have you on board! Good luck! I have more videos coming out soon on fin rot, so I hope they will be helpful to you. That combination of medicine has worked for me on the past, so I'm hoping it will do the same for you. Really important though: Keep the water clean and make sure ammonia and nitrites are at 0. If you don't have a water test kit, API makes a great test kit (Master Test Kit). You can find that online. Also - when you dose, if there is any carbon in the filter remove that as it will soak up the medication. Finally, while dosing, the meds will get bad bacteria, but they will also get some of the good bacteria, so to keep your beneficial bacteria colony up, I would dose daily with beneficial bacteria once you start the meds. Fluval Biological Enhancer is a good one. It has a red cap and can be found in most stores. If you can't find that, any will work - API Quick Start, Seachem Stability, etc...Hope that helps a little more!
@@dmichaelsfishden awwh thanks man!! Your info is extremely helpful, better than google. lol Looking forward to the new videos! right on dude!
@@MariRed310 lol. glad it is more helpful than google!!! Thanks for the kind words, the support, and for watching!
@@dmichaelsfishden no problem man! Keep on going!
@@dmichaelsfishden Hello! quick question..I am going to order the Fluval Biological enhancer but is it a water conditioner? I see 2 types online a booster and a water conditioner? I usually shop for pet products at Petsmart, Chewy Petco and Amazon..Where can I purchase the exact one you have?
Great intro.
Thanks for the kind words, Oscar!
Thank you for your awesome video! Earn yourself a subscriber!
Joseph - thank you for the kind words! Hope the video proves helpful and thank you for the sub! Proud to have you on board!
Just ordered kanaplex from Amazon.
My male injured his dorsal fin and now finrot has spread across entire dorsal fin...hopefully this combo works
Candice - sorry to hear about your Betta! Glad you are going with the combo - Its worked for me 3 different times with 3 different Bettas and it is the best remedy I know of....sending you good thoughts 😀In the case the combo doesn't work....Remember most fin rot is caused by gram negative bacteria, but not absolutely all of it. This combo is really effective against gram negative bacteria, which is why it seems to work well. There is a small chance that your fin rot may be gram positive bacteria - if that is the case, Erythromycin works great against that (API Erythromycin). So if the combo doesn't work (hope it does for you!), then I would wait a week or two and try Erythromycin. Hope that helps! Let me know if I can help further! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you so much for additional information!
My pleasure, Candice!
@@dmichaelsfishden
Hello. Just finished first 2 doses of kanaplex and one fungal cure. Noticed my guy acting little "off". Did 50%water change and then checked Ammonia= 1.0 ppm. I added 6 drops prime to his 1.5 gal QT. Going to check Ammonia in 6hours do another water change.
I'm afraid to do the 2nd dose FC and KP. Dont see any new fin breakdown. Any recommendations ? Thanks for your time.
Candice - the fact that you don't see any new fin breakdown is a good thing. Yes, your guy will act a little off - kind of like when we get medicated....it's a little weird and stresses them out some. Definitely finish the treatment. Here is what I would do about the ammonia....remember, kanaplex knocks out the bad bacteria but also knocks out the good bacteria...The ammonia spike is likely because some of the beneficial bacteria got knocked out .I would add some beneficial bacteria to the tank...a little every other day until your ammonia reads 0..you'll need to rebuild your beneficial bacterial colony. API Quick Start, Fluval Biological Enhancer, etc....any of it is fine. Do the one last water change before the next dose, but make sure to keep the medication in there 48 hours before another water change. The prime will help as it will help to detoxify the ammonia. So......water change, then dose again but also add beneficial bacteria. After the 48 hours (Kanaplex is active for 48 hours), do another 25 - 30% water change, add more beneficial bacteria - and I would keep adding every other day until your ammonia reads 0. After that last 25 - 30% water change, I would add some activated carbon to the filter, which will help filter out any residual medication. It will also be helpful after that to do a 25 - 30% water change every other day until your beneficial bacteria colony rebuilds and your ammonia is 0
Though it sounds like you stopped additional fin breakdown, if it was me, I would dose one last time, both with the Kanaplex and Jungle Fungus Clear - just to make sure we got all the bad bacteria....feel free to email me as well at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com if I can help further :)
Ooh GREAT video!!!! A lot of videos share the same bs information that people read off the internet and didn't really experience on their own! I own kanaplex but always thought it was mainly used for major major infections like dropsy and stuff, but my betta's fins are getting pretty bad, he's a biter which I determined with complete certainty but that's leading to infection I think... it's so hard to tell because he's dark blue. But there are definitely grayish ends on his caudal fin and it immediately strikes my brain as fin rot so I follow my instincts (I've done hundreds of hours of research and examined hundreds of pictures I'm a science person) do you think it would be too harsh to use kanaplex? A portion of his caudal fin is getting pretty short about 1.33 cm from his body. Which I estimate is about 60 percent of the length gone!
Alexa - thank you for the kind words on the video! And thanks for watching! It sounds like your betta is developing a fairly serious case of fin rot, or, that it might progress toward that. Certainly not too harsh to use kanaplex for a round of dosing to try to get that gram negative bacteria that might be present on his fins. It sounds like it's certainly eating at your bettas caudal fin. For absolute best results, I would go broad with a spectrum of antibiotics, so I would use Kanaplex (for the kanamycin) in combination with either Jungle Fungus Clear OR API's Furan - 2 (this will provide the Nitrofurazone). Using both of these in combination will provide a broad spectrum, and certainly won't harm your betta if you do one round of dosing, per the instructions on the box. In the video, toward the end, you can see areas on my bettas tail that are clear - his fins re-growing after we nipped the bacteria. You are probably safe even after you do a round of dosing with both, you dose one final time. That will ensure everything is gone, then let your betta grow his fins back naturally...just keep great water parameters 😀At this point right now, however, in my opinion, you've reached a point where antibiotics are warranted. Do a broad spectrum with both meds, a full round of dosing, and if needed, one final dose to make sure you got everything. This should do the trick! 👍 Let me know how it goes and if I can help further!
Hello, d! I came across your video after searching for treatment for finrot. I noticed that my little halfmoon have some frayed fins on the dorsal fin. Yesterday, he didn’t have that. Would you recommend treating it immediately with meds? With the situation right now with coronavirus, I’m wondering if I should go out to get some meds.
For now, I just changed 25% of his water and popped an indian almond leaf in there.
I"m so sorry for the late reply. Trying to catch up on a lot of comments. How is your guy doing now? I hope I'm not too late, but, it never hurts to medicate right away (if we really think it is fin rot) to nip things right away. If you don't want to go that far, you can always try a mild salt treatment - 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 3 gallons. In that situation, you want to dissolve the salt first in a cup of tank water before putting it in. When doing the salt treatments, it is helpful to do a daily water change...so if you take out a gallon one day, at a salt ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons, you would add back in 1/3 tablespoon of salt since the salt is being removed during the water change. You can do this salt treatment for 7 - 10 days and that should get any mild issues. Hope that helps a little and I'm not too late!
dmichaels fish den hi! Guess we’re both late repliers. Thank you for sharing your advice! My betta slowly recovered from his bout of fin rot.
Thank you! Something I can work with! I have kanaplex and furan 2 - should I follow the dose on the box for furan 2 since it’s not the same drug you’re using, or just follow your suggested dosing with the furan? They’re both looking so raggedy 😢. I don’t think it’s the driftwood - they’ve been in that tank with the same decorations for just about a year. They’re in a 15G with a divider and 2 nerite snails each, lots of plants, some smooth, flat stones - although there are a couple of slightly jagged stones as well, but nothing really sharp - and I do a 30% WC once a week. This is the first time they’ve had this problem.
Hi Deborah - yep, just follow the dosing on the box for Furan 2 - it is a little different than the JFC, but the ingredients (meds) are about the same as JFC. And don't worry - you are doing everything just right. Fin rot is caused by opportunistic bacteria that is always present in our tanks....it can happen to anyone. Keep up the great work with the water changes! Nice job keeping smooth stones in the tank!
Thank you so much! I’ve used Melafix and salt, and he got a lot worse. I’ve ordered these products, hopefully they will come before he is in more pain. I have spider wood in my tank, the pet store people say that it shouldn’t damage fish fin, but some parts feel sharp, what should I do?
Totally get you on the spider wood - I can just give you my experience - for Betta fins, in my opinion, it is too sharp if it is newer wood. After a lot of time, when some of the wood has worn down, it works pretty well, but newer spider wood does tend to have sharp parts to it, so I wouldn't recommend it for Betta tanks unless it is pretty old wood. I'd go more with malaysian drift wood....it doesn't tend to have sharp edges, especially when it wears down just a little. I can just tell you I've had spider wood not only tear Betta fins, but it tore up a Paradise fish I had as well. If you can, I would take the spider wood back and try to get some malaysian drift wood. And glad you have the products coming! Be patient with them and let them do their thing. Let me know if I can help further...
I had to say goodbye to mine today :-( dropsy sucks...had the little guy for 2 years.. will check out the seachem stuff it I decided to keep going with the bettas
Tim - really sorry to hear that. Dropsy really does suck. I've lost a few fish to dropsy myself in the past. I think we all have. I haven't had personal experience with this, but a good friend of mine (complete fish jedi...very advanced aquarist) has told me that he has had success treating dropsy with a combination of Seachem Kanaplex and Seachem Metroplex as a broad spectrum solution. Good meds to have on hand - Hope you don't give up on the Bettas just yet!
Hi there! I just watched your video, it was very informative, helpful, and the cute voices was a nice touch! I have a divided 10 gallon tank with 2 bettas. It seems one of them has fin rot, I'm not sure if he brushed up against something sharp. Should I medicate them both since they're in it together? I'm worried about stressing him out more if I remove him. Although, I do have a spare 5.5 gallon.
Brenna - thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it! This is a good question. I always recommend first looking to see whether he may have brushed up against something. Bettas fins are like tissue paper, so fin rot can sometimes be confused with simple frayed fins (as a result of brushing up against something). Is there anything sharp in the tank? Anything that could have ripped his fins? Also - do his fins look like they are receding back or do they look ripped? If ripped, he may have brushed against something. If they are receding back, that could be fin rot. If this was me, I would first remove anything sharp, then monitor the fins for several days. If you see more receding or if you notice things start to look worse, then I would medicate the whole tank. Since both Bettas are exposed to the same water, I would want to make sure I tried to get any bad bacteria that might be in there - the other Betta may be susceptible to catching it as well if it is fin rot....😀
@@dmichaelsfishden There was a decoration in my tank that could have been a suspect but I'm not sure. I took it out anyways just in case. It doesn't appear to be rips, it looks as if tiny pieces have been taken off the end of his tail. It's hard to tell if it's receding, I'd need pictures to tell. I will wait until Sunday and decide to treat fin rot or not. If he needs treated I will definitely treat both as you've suggested. Thank you for getting back to me. :)
Here is my situation, I have a 36 gal with 2 dwarf frogs, 6 neons, two albino bushy nose plecos and an algae eater, I simply don’t have the money to buy a hospital tank but I can get meds so can put meds in with the others? Or do I just put the Betta in a glass, put some med powder in and meanwhile do a water change on the 36 gal to remove bad bacteria. I’m relatively new to aquarium keeping and I can’t find good solid answers but this vid helps a lot.
Colton - glad the video was helpful! And I certainly understand! A lot of people don't have the money or space to set up a separate quarantine tank. Definitely don't put the Betta in a glass. Depending on the medication you use, you are ok simply dosing the tank. The medication won't affect your other fish, though you don't want to overdo it with the medication. We want to do one round (per instructions on the medication), and I tend to do one final dose to make sure everything is killed off. Are you fighting fin rot with your Betta? Medication is a last resort for me, but with fin rot, especially if it is advanced, medication is often needed. Unfortunately, simply doing a water change won't remove the bad bacteria. We will need to kill these guys. You can use the combination in the video, which has worked very well for me in the past - Kanaplex and Jungle Fungus Clear. Your can also use just Erythromycin. If you use Erythromycin it will kill off your good beneficial bacteria, so you will need to add some beneficial bacteria during and after medicating.
I have a few videos on the channel that might be helpful to you. I have two out so far on the beginning guide to fish disease and medication, and I have another video on beneficial bacteria 101. Hope they help! Keep in touch, and let me know how I can help further! WELCOME TO THE HOBBY! Glad you are in it!!!
First off, thank you for the excellent video! I purchased a couple of Tiger Nerite snails after I saw this video for my 5 gallon tank which is home to my Betta (who is currently being treated for fin rot). There is currently not much algae in the tank for the snails to eat at the moment. I read that carrots and zucchini are good substitutes for their food. Is it safe to put that in the tank with my betta?
Diego - thank you for the kind words! And glad to hear you picked up a few Tiger Nerites! A great call. Yes, they love zucchini, peas, cucumber, spinach, etc....I've actually never tried carrots, but I'm sure they would eat those as well - you may want to blanch the carrots, though, boiling them on the stove for about 3 minutes to soften them up a little. And you are doing the exact right thing going with the veggies. Rather than veggies, if you were going to try to feed the Nerites algae wafers, I'd be worried your betta would eat the majority of the aglae wafer and that could lead to constipation and other issues. So definitely go for it with the veggies - perfectly safe and your Nerites will love them - mine seem to enjoy zucchini the most - to the Nerites, it's like I'm feeding them donuts. :)
dmichaels fish den you’re the best! Thank you for your help!
Where do you get the jungle fungus clear and kanoflex,great video btw
Rayyan - Thank you for the kind words! I've had success getting Kanaplex online on Amazon or at local fish stores. It seems the big box stores don't tend to carry it, but it can usually be found in many local stores, as well as the Jungle Fungus Clear. I've been able to find the Jungle Fungus Clear on Amazon as well - any luck looking for it online?
dmichaels fish den well it's too late my fish died from it 😰😰
Hi -- I have pond goldfish that have suddenly gotten what appears to be a horrendous cotton wool disease problem and also small gray patches. The one we noticed first has a huge lesion that just seems to have appeared one day. We drained and cleaned the pond and moved the worst one to a hospital tank, not thinking the others were also ill, but then one by one we've noticed small patches on the others. The two now that we have in the hospital tank have been through API fungus cure course, and I don't see improvement. The bottom line is that I think they need antibiotics and I wonder what you think of the API erythromycin? The one with much less serious disease has gray patches (fungus?) and also small bleeding patches which seems like something bacterial. I'm really interested in saving these guys...
Karen - I'm so sorry for the late reply. Catching up on a lot of comments. It is a good guess to start with API fungus cure, especially if you are seeing that cottony growths. But I agree, antibiotics may be the best treatment here. The small bleeding patches sounds like hemorrhagic septicemia. Erythromycin is a great antibiotic and treats a lot of gram positive bacterial infections. I apologize if I'm too late here, but if not, I would try a broad spectrum antibiotic mix of Maracyn (erythromycin) and Maracyn 2 (this gets the septicemia, etc...). Maracyn and Maracyn 2 work great together in combination and can be found online on Amazon and many fish stores. As another solution you could try Seachem Polyguard by itself. API Erythromycin is fantastic, but because it primarily gets gram positive bacteria, it is nice to pair it with something that gets gram negative bacteria (Maracyn 2). That's why I like the combination of the 2 Maracyns. I hope that helps a little and hope I'm not too late in replying. Again, apologies for the late reply 🙏
best video!! i got Furan2 but didnt know about Jungle fungus. My betta had some holes in its fins and its tail fin split in two and there were 2 tiny white spots that are now gone, from its body.. so ....i dont know what it had...I had aquarium salt in there... I have a 5G MiniBow.. OH!! What kind of vaccum/pipe do you have to drain the water for water changes?
Canada has stop the sale of fish medications, thus i cannot get any of these supplies, anyone have another suggestion?
I heard about that. Frustrating, for sure. You can try aquarium salt, which, at the right doses, can get just about anything. If you have snails in the tank, you'll want to remove them first if you try the salt and plants don't love it but they can tolerate the salt for awhile. To get mild fin rot, I would dose the salt at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. You'll want to dissolve the salt first in a cup of tank water. You can pour that right into the tank. To keep the water clean, I would do daily water changes, but you will have to replace the salt, since some will be taken out when you do the water change. So at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons, if you take out a gallon of water, you'll want to put 1/3 a tablespoon of salt back in. To get more severe cases of fin rot, the ratio that works best is 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water. If you go that route, I would start at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons for the first few days, then on day 3 or 4 increase to 1 tablespoon per gallon. Each day, though, I would do a water change, then replace the salt. You can do this treatment for 7 - 10 days. In the absence of being able to get medications, salt, in the right dosage amounts, can be very effective. It also stimulates your betta's slime coat. Hope all that helps a little 😀
I have my betta in a 10 gallon tank with the salt and a product called Supratect which was recommended by the owner of the fish store near me. I'm in Canada so antibiotics like Kanaplex are not available. I have had him in the tank for 5 days and have done 75% water change 2 days ago and re-added the appropriate amount of salt. The Supratect is added once every 7 days. My concern is that at this point he is eating and making nest bubbles but keeping to the floating log and other floaty rest places. His tail still has a white bump on it but I can tell his behaviour has improved. I am wondering how long should I keep him in the high dose aquarium salt and when should I reduce it? When can I put him back in his tank (which has also been cleaned and all tank mates moved). Should I continue to add salt to his tank when I return him? Thanks for any help. This video has been really helpful and I have hope for the little guy but want to make sure I am doing everything possible as long as needed. Cheers! Yvonne
3:42 can I have a link to the fish calendar
Here you go! th-cam.com/video/Dg9Q4SVBqYw/w-d-xo.html
Love your videos! I only have Kanaplex on hand and am waiting for Furan (can't find Jungle anywhere). Does it matter if I start w Kanaplex?
Also, I have another half moon betta who does not have fin rot or ulcers but has been very lethargic staying mainly at bottom and struggles to come to top for food. I transferred from 5 gal to 2.5 bc I thought that tail was too heavy and why he struggles. Treated w Kanaplex but no change. I stated bath dip last night (1tbl to 1 gal, for 8 min then 1/4 salt solution in separate container for 3 min). and will do for recommended 3 days. But do you have any other suggestions if this does not work?
What's the exact equipment name you used for the water changes? Random question. Also, I tried your treatment and I believe Midnight's looking better! Thank you.
Hi Pearl - glad to hear midnight (love the name 👍😀) is looking better! For that small tank on water changes - I use (still use it today for my 10 gallon and small tanks) a DIY gravel vac I made - Here is a video on itth-cam.com/video/U5n1GiduP8s/w-d-xo.html Otherwise, I've been using the same equipment for 5 years....I use Seachem's algae scrubber - have another video on thatth-cam.com/video/03ObpPfLDjM/w-d-xo.html sometimes I'll use a small magnet scrubber if I need to. I use Seachem Prime as my water conditioner, aquarium scissors and long tweezers to trim plants, and once I finish I add some API Stress Zyme (sludge eating bacteria for maintenance) and some Kordon Fish Protector (has echinacea and vitamin B12 - helps fish keep their slime coat healthy) after each water change. For larger tanks I use a larger Aqueon gravel vac, but it is just to syphon out water. Because all my tanks are planted I don't gravel vac. That's about it. All add some NilocG THRIVE root tabs if my plants need them. Hope all that helps! 😀
Thank you for such a thorough answer! I really appreciate it! 😄 I'll attempt making the vacuum. Fingers crossed! 😊
My pleasure!
Hello! Thanks for the helpful video. I have ordered both Jungle Fungus Care and Kanaplex. My betta's case looks to be pretty bad. Jungle Fungus will arrive tomorrow, but Kanaplex won't arrive for a few more days. Should I begin the Jungle Fungus treatment without the Kanaplex or wait a few extra days and begin both dosages at the same time?
Hi Madeline - glad you picked them up! They should be helpful to you - yes, you can start with the Jungle Fungus Clear (one dose is good for 4 days). If Kanaplex arrives 2 days after, I would dose the Kanaplex (good in the water for 48 hours) while the Jungle Fungus Clear is still in the water. After that, I would do a 30% water change, then dose them both again together. Make sure to remove any carbon in your filter. One other suggestion - I would add some beneficial bacteria to the water every other day after you start dosing the Kanaplex. Kanaplex will get the bad bacteria, but it can knock out some of your good bacteria as well, so it's helpful to add some beneficial bacteria every other day to keep your colony up while dosing the meds. Hope that helps! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you so much!
@@madelinestein7151 my pleasure!
Hi I was hoping to see if I could get some advice for my betta who is in a 5 gallon heated tank. He has been battling finrot for some time now and I followed this video and thankfully it seemed to heal up and his fins were growing back! I recently noticed that the top of his fins were beginning to look a little frayed again so I proceeded to follow the same treatment plan as it worked great the first time. Unfortunately when I took a look at him the next morning it looked like it was getting worse rather quickly and this time it appears that he has red streaks throughout his new fin growth in multiple locations. I panicked and did a 50% water change and today I re-dosed the JFC and kanaplex. I am still on the same JFC and kanaplex regimen but feel that it is not working. I should note that the first time I treated with this duo, his finrot did not show signs or red streaking so this is a first for us. I am not sure if I should stop this treatment or if I should continue. Sorry for the lengthy post, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Kimberly - thanks for the message! How long was it after you used the kanaplex/jfc from when you noticed the red streaks? Very glad it worked, by the way! It has always been my go to for fin rot. The red streaks sound very much like hemorrhagic septicemia, where you see red streaks in the fins and sometimes the body. It can be caused by stress, overcrowding (which isn't the issue here) or less than ideal water conditions. How are your water parameters? Everything ok? That being said, the streaks could also be a change of coloration in the fins growing back (is it near the new growth?) When Bettas fins grow back after fin rot, they sometimes grow back differently, or may be different colors. It could be the new growth, but, if it also still looks frayed, it likely might not be. If it's septicemia, that can also be caused by a virus. I was wondering how long it had been since you dosed the first round of kanaplex/jfc because fin rot is caused by a bacteria...that bacteria strain can build up an immunity to the medication and the meds may not work the second time (much like why we get new flu shots every year - bugs get immune to the flu shot last year). That being said, you likely got the bacteria that caused the fin rot. Kanaplex can also be effective against septicemia, though. The septicemia could also be caused by stress from the previous medication dose (meds can stress your fish a little). If it was me, I would finish this last round of the kanaplex you dosed today (good for 48 hours in the water), so Saturday, I would do a 25% water change, then put a little carbon in your filter to soak up the meds. I'd watch your Betta after that for 3 to 4 days to see how he is doing. If the streaks are getting worse, or aren't going away, we may need to go to a different medication. I can keep in touch with you on it, if you want to email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com. Can you email some pictures? With this, we kind of want to go day by day....
btw - I have a video on why the same meds might not work twice...I think it's The Beginning Guide To Fish Disease and Medication, Part 2 - I also have a Part 1 that talks about some common fish diseases...hope those help!
Thanks for the video! I’ve been medicating Leroy as per your instructions and he seems to be doing much better! So yesterday was my last treatment and I plan on doing the 50% water change on Thursday. Can I return my snail then or do I have to cycle out more medicated water before he’s returned?
Phillip Paster great to hear! So glad the video was helpful. Absolutely do the 50% water change - your snail should be fine afterwards but if you want to play it super safe, I might run some carbon in your filter for one day after the water change. That will help soak up any residual medication and will ensure the tank is safe for your snail again. 😀👍. Hope that helps!
Enjoyed this alot.
Glad you did! Thank you for watching and for the kind words!
@@dmichaelsfishden currently battling some finrot in the tank. Ive seen kanaplex works well by itself? Or does it only work with internal bacterial infection?
Great question - I've tried Kanaplex both by itself and with a supplemental med...Yep, Kanaplex does work well by itself. In my experience the only time it doesn't is when the fin rot is caused by some particularly resilient, tough bacteria. In those cases, I've found it works much better when paired with either Furan-2 from API or Jungle Fungus Clear - those both have the Nitrofurazone. I don't have any idea why those two meds work so much better as a pair, but that seems to be the case, at least in my experience, providing a broader spectrum antibiotic. Where the Kanaplex is particularly good is the internal infections, especially if the fish isn't eating and you can't get Metronidazole in their stomach through food. Kanaplex is the only medication I know of that gets absorbed internally by the fish - so if its something internal, Kanaplex is a great call 👍
@@dmichaelsfishden you mentioned on the video that furan and not furan two is the substitute?
@@dmichaelsfishden hoping youd clarify if its supposed to be furan or furan 2. Thanks :)
i have 2 red belly piranhas and one of them has a rock house and spends lots of time in there. A couple days ago i noticed its fin started to look like it was shriveling away so i started to use melafix. The Melafix isn't really doing anything so today i am going to try The Jungle Fungus Cure and the Kanaplex. Anything else i should use for my piranha?
Hi BlueRomance - Do the piranhas ever nip at each other? Does the fin look torn or nipped at, or is it receding away? If it's receding and it continues to get worse, it could very well be fin rot - Fin rot is really just a bacteria on the fins - opportunistic bacteria that take advantage of situations...like when a fin is torn, etc...it can infect the fin. And yes, unfortunately, if it is fin rot Melafix won't do much for it - Melafix is intended as a kind of Neosporin for fish...it can be effective in helping to heal small scratches, etc...but it isn't an antibiotic, so it can't battle fin rot. But Yes! I do have a tip for you - if the fins really are receding and you think it's fin rot, def go with the JFC/Kanaplex combination BUT remember to add beneficial bacteria into your tank every other day. The JFC and Kanaplex will get rid of any bad bacteria, but it will also kill off your beneficial bacteria in the tank. So as you medicate, add some beneficial bacteria every other day (like Fluval biological enhancer, etc...a lot of different kinds out there). By doing this you'll make sure you won't have an ammonia spike. 👍I hope your piranha gets better! Let me know if you have any other questions 😀
Any idea how long it will take for the betta’s fins to grow back? Our betta is in a 2.5 gallon tank.... I followed your treatment-crossing fingers it works on Leonard 😀
Hey Jess - All bettas are different. I can only tell you what happened with mine. After about 2 weeks, I noticed fins starting to grow back on mine.. They were both fairly young bettas, though. If your betta is older, it could take a little longer. What I can tell you is that it isn't instant. Remember, with the meds we are trying to get the receding to stop. Once it stops, we did our job. Your betta will handle the growing back portion after that 👍
dmichaels fish den-- thanks it seems they are growing some with the “clear fin” so far-his case was pretty bad! I hope it continues to get better. We have switched to distilled water for his tank-as we have reverse osmosis water & regular tap water-I thought I had figured the right thing but apparently not. I have used the water test strips as well-they are picky little fish. In the 2.5 tank we have a heater-but idk doesn’t seem to warm water all that much.
Hi,
So for 2 months Leonard seemed to be doing good fins were regrowing and now he is losing them again 😞 Do I do another round of treatment as in this video? I have all the stuff. He is in 2.5 gallon tank... we do distilled water when we change his water-maybe that is the issue? I have test strips but could never seem to find the happy medium with tap water and all. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated- it is my sons fish. Thank you!
I am going to try this but I have a couple of questions. Do these medications kill beneficial bacteria or harm plants? Also to clarify are you adding both medicines at the same time? I have had my betta for almost 3 months in a 10 gallon, filter and temp @ 81F He started going missing, odd in a 10 gallon I know. I finally figured out he was squeezing through tiny holes in the bottom of a plastic rock looking decoration and tearing his fins. They have never recovered and now they are getting worse. I removed anything that could harm him. I also do 30-50% water changes every other day. Ammonia & nitrite are 0 and nitrates are around 5ppm. Thank you - best video I have seen on this topic.
Coralocean - sorry for the late reply hear. Erythromycin does kill beneficial bacteria so if you go with that medication, you'll need to supplement beneficial bacteria. Kanaplex, according to Seachem, does not harm beneficial bacteria, however I am not as sure about Jungle Fungus Clear and its ingredient Nitrofurazone. As a practice, whenever I medicate, I do add a little beneficial bacteria to supplement, and really monitor my water parameters after medicating. You may need to do extra water changes until the bacterial colony catches up. And yes, I used both of these medications at the same time. Your Betta did the same thing mine did! This is what they do...the are a square peg and try to fit in round holes...squeezing themselves where they can, always ripping and tearing their fins. Use this combination to cure him. If he has wounds or torn fins, this is a broad way to medicate gram negative bacteria that could infect those wounds. Just do one full cycle and he should be good as new. And thank you for the very kind words on the video! 👍 😀 Let me know if I can be of further help!
Thank you very much for the response, I know this is an old video. I will be going to a fish store that sells Kanaplex. Jungle Fungus cure might have to be ordered online. I have been doing water changes daily and fins are still getting worse. P.s. Erythromycin from what I understand treats gram positive bacteria. Thanks again.
Coralocean - My pleasure, you are absolutely right, Erythromycin is a gram positive bacteria medication. Most of the bacteria that cause fin rot are gram negative, which is why the Kanaplex / JFC combination works so well....the focus there is more on gram negative bacteria. Sounds like you definitely need to medicate here, and that this is an advanced case of fin rot. Keep the water changes rolling, for sure, but once you do a round of medication, that should do the trick! 👍My guys case was pretty advanced as well and I saw HUGE changes after a week....
May I really wish we had these products in Taiwan.
I really appreciate this video! Thank you! I followed your instructions and tomorrow I will be on the final step (the last 50% water change). Do you have any advice on another approach if that does not help? Sadly my little dude is still really banged up. His fin rot progressed in a very weird way, starting with me noticing his fins "thinning" in the center. They almost became like tissue paper. I tried increased water changes, Indian Almond Leaves, aquarium salt, and finally your treatment (it's been a looooong journey). They look very frayed now and in some areas the rot is close to his body. My 5 gallon tank has driftwood and a few plants, but nothing sharp. Frequent water tests tell him his tanks is cycled and healthy.... Any next step advice? Thanks!
Hi Alexa - My pleasure! I'm sorry to hear about your guy. Happens to all of us sometimes. You are doing all the right things, though, using medication as the last resort - sometimes the Almond leaves and salt does the trick. Seems like parameters and everything looks good, so it certainly could be fin rot. A few suggestions that might help: fin rot is mostly caused by gram negative bacteria, which is what the Kanaplex gets. 75% of the time its gram negative bacteria. BUT, a smaller percentage of the time it could be caused by gram positive bacteria - for that erythromycin is the way to go. So, if this treatment doesn't work the first time around, I would wait a week to let your guy rest, then try API erythromycin. Also - when you start treatment, I would highly recommend adding some good beneficial bacteria the day you begin treatment, and every other day after that. Kanaplex will get bad bacteria, but it will get some of the good bacteria as well, so to keep your colony up, I would add it everyother day - Fluval biological enhancer, Seachem stability, API quickstart - they are all good. Let me know if I can help further - Also - make sure you take the activated carbon out of your filter before medicating if it is still in the filter...it will soak up the medication. Once done medicating, you can put carbon back in - it will help soak up residual medication at that point 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am so grateful for this info AND your quick reply! I have been on Betta forums and feel like everyone "knows everything" but can't help me... I feel so relieved that you mentioned erythromycin because I was considering that myself, but worried it may not be a good idea. I actually have another full bottle of Quickstart because I bought it in bulk and would add small amounts with water changes while my tank cycled. While playing detective for my little guy's fin rot (his name is Leroy) I was wondering if maybe I have something gross in my substrate... I use Fluvial Stratum and started with a lot of plants. Not sure if it was just that I'm a beginner or if my first light was crap, but I had a LOT of die off. I had read that many plants will wilt and grow back when adjusting to a new tank, so I left them in. After a while I removed them to find that they were completely dead and just mush. I can see lots of what I'm assuming is detrius under the top layer of substrate (through the glass) that I haven't been able to clear. I gravel vac when I water change, but I think I need to remove the drift wood to get all the gunk out. I assumed that maybe this could have negatively affected my water quality and possibly caused the fin rot, but my water tests have consistently read 0ppm ammonia. (I use the API master test kit.). Beyond treating I would love to be able to nail down what I was doing wrong that caused the fin rot in the first place, so I don't do it again. Do you think I could be on to something with the substrate theory? My tank is only 3 months old.
Hi Alexa - sorry I'm so late on this one - I didn't see it until now 😌Betta forums can be a little confusing sometimes - a lot of people are in different places. As always, the best teacher is experience 😀Yep, E-mycin is great and safe for the fish - just add that beneficial bacteria when medicating to keep the colony up. Quickstart will work great. I love the name, Leroy, btw. One way to keep the substrate cleaner is to use a sludge eating bacteria to do that. I have a video on that - I use API stress zyme after each water change, and I"ve been doing that for years....these bacteria help clean up a lot of the detrius, plants that have melted, etc...(snails also love eating plant matter): Here is the vid:th-cam.com/video/fiyCpfqcZQA/w-d-xo.html With the plants - yes, as they adjust to new water parameters a lot of them will melt back a little - I"m sorry they didn't make it. One thing that is helpful is that I add some root tabs when planting new plants to give them some extra nutrients - do you remember what kind of plants you had? You could be on to something with the substrate theory, but after 3 months it isn't likely much would have accumulated. Feel free to email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com - Happy to keep helping you along the way. I LOVE when people get into the hobby and I especially love helping newer hobbyists get started. Hope all that helps a little more!
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you so much! I'm watching the video now!
@@alexaraemartinez My pleasure!
Hi, so when doing the treatment, i have to take out the carbon filter? and just leave the filter running?
Paola - yes, take out the carbon and just leave the filter running. You want to take the carbon out because it will soak up all the medication. That being said, AFTER treatment, it's helpful to put the carbon back in the filter as it will help soak up any residual medication left. Hope that helps!
this video helped a lot! I was wondering if I am supposed to keep the filter on but take out the filter cartridge? Bc it says on the box to take out any carbon.. (if carbon is even in a filter cartridge I honestly don’t know lol)
Sambam - yes, you want to remove any carbon if medicating. The carbon will soak up the medication. The "filter cartridge" is a widely used term made popular by the old Tetra filters. Don't worry about the terminology. In the old "filter cartridges" you had carbon on one side and a sponge on the other. Are you using a Tetra filter? It would be a black filter with a green cartridge inside....if so, remove the black carbon when medicating 👍
Thank so much for the video, I tried using salt for my betta and the fin rot kept getting worse, It finally looks like the fin rot has stopped/not progressed except I'm using a combination of NEOplex instead of Kanaplex, with the jungle fungus clear, because that was what I could get in time. I'm following the directions for the neoplex as stated on the box which is different from kanaplex, but My REAL question is in regards to the JFC. In this video you recommended 2 doses of JFC. Can I continue to use JFC for a third or fourth time? Or would that be harmful to my betta? Thank you!
My pleasure! And neoplex can work just as well - that is a broad spectrum antibiotic that targets gram-negative bacteria. With the JFC, if you feel you need to do a third dose, you certainly could. By that time you will have been dosing it for 12 days. The reason, in my opinion, you wouldn't need to dose a fourth is that you should see some improvement (should see the fin rot stop receding) after 8-12 days. It isn't that the JFC will harm your guy, but it will stress him, so you want to find a balance between his stress level and treatment. A third dose won't hurt if you think you need it. After that though, you should see improvement. If not, you may have to try a different med, but - it sounds like it is working! Keep it up!!! 😀 One other tip, though, I would dose beneficial bacteria (Seachem Stability, Fluval Biological Enhancer, etc...) while medicating, so you can keep your beneficial bacteria colony up. Remember, the meds will get the bad bugs, but they can get some of your good bacteria, too, so it's helpful to dose the beneficial bacteria every other day to keep that colony up. Keep up the good work!
Hello again!@@dmichaelsfishden The combination of JFC and Neoplex worked like a charm, and I saw ALOT of fin regrowth on my little guy. I was trying to do weekly water changes ever since the last dosage, and suddenly I noticed the fin rot was back, & I couldn't tell why, until I noticed that my thermometer was reading alot colder than usual, It looks like my heater broke and the fin rot came back (which I read that low temps can indeed contribute to fin rot) I bought a new heater of course, but my problem is that like you warned me, I don't thing the JFC and the neoplex are working this time around, because of resistance/tolerance... I'm currently giving Ick-X, Erythromycin, and almond leaves a shot because my guy's fins are back to what they looked like before all the regrowth :( do you have any tips and tricks on how to prevent "reoccuring" fin rot? Do I need to up my water changes to 2X a week instead? I have a 5G and his alone, no snails, not nothing. Thankfully My guy is very active and eats like a pig, but I really don't want to see his beautiful fins all torn up all the time.
I think my betta might have fin rot.. I've had my betta Neptune for almost a year now and when I got him I thought he may have been an older betta from the look of him. But now his fins are getting shorter and he has small black dots on the end of his fins. They don't look torn, they just look shorter than when I got him. I'm going to get a new filter as soon as possible because the one I have is old. Do you think the aquarium salt method would work for him? I have a 20 gal. I just feel very sad for letting him get sick and I'm worried his fins won't grow longer like they're supposed to
Hi Elena - I'm sorry to hear about your Betta. Yeah, it does sound like fin rot if the fins are receding back...getting shorter and shorter. That is a really common symptom. It is also common to get in Bettas so don't feel like you did anything wrong. Sometimes it just happens, for one reason or another. One tip - when you get a new filter, try to save all the media in it since it's good stuff and has good bacteria on all of it. You should be able to transfer it to the new filter. 😀 Yes, you can try the salt method....that can definitely work, especially if you don't have medication on hand. If you can get them, you can also add some Indian Almond leaves in the tank....they have medicinal properties. If the salt doesn't work....your goal is to stop the fins receding, which means you've killed the bad bacteria causing fin rot....(they should grow back afterward)...if the salt doesn't work you may need to go to stronger medications to get the bad bacteria causing the fin rot. But if all you have is aquarium salt right now, definitely good to give it a try - it definitely could work. Does that help a little?
I don't have any of those medications here in the UK or on Amazon, are there any others you'd recommend for a case of severe fin rot?
Hi I'm an American living in Taiwan I'm just curious if we don't have these kinds of products would methane blue work?
It's possible we have this but it might be from Germany.
We do have bettafix medifix and prima fix.
I wish we just had one product that kills all bad bacteria that would make it really helpful
Hi Meg - Meth Blue is typically used as a fungal remedy, unfortunately, I"m not sure how well it will work on bacteria. I think aquarium salt may be the way to go. Aquarium salt, at the right doses, can be very effective in getting bacterial, fungal, and even parasitic diseases...
Thank you so much for this video! I just have 1 question, should I use a heater while treating my betta? I read somewhere that I shouldn’t.
Hello, I've completed one full cycle of treatment in my 5g betta tank using Kanaplex and Fungus Clear as suggested. I haven't seen any noticable changes even after removing the driftwood that likely caused the issues in the first place. Today I began a second round of treatment after waiting the week. Hoping to see positive changes this second time around! Thank you for the video. Here's a question though: I have a couple platys in a 10g and I just changed out and moved around the decor to alleviate some tension and territorial bullying between them. However one fish suffered some fin damage, could I use the Kanaplex and Fungus Clear in that tank also to heal that one? Again, thanks so much for this helpful and through video.
Hi Serena - my pleasure! With one full treatment that means 1 dose of the JFC and 2 doses of the Kanaplex, yes? If so, you can do one more JFC dose (that will last another 4 days) with one more dose of Kanaplex (that will last 24 hours). After that, let the JFC run for another 2 days. Now you've done 2 doses of JFC and 3 doses of Kanaplex - after that, I could put in some activated carbon in the filter and do a 30 - 40% water change to get rid of residual medication - you can also put Polyfilter in the filter as well. I would let your guy rest about a week after that. Our goal is to get the rot to stop. The fin re-growth will take some time, so we are really just looking for the rot to have stopped. If you don't notice any more rot, the medication did its job. In a few months, with great water conditions, your guy should grow his fins back. If that doesn't work, let me know as there are a few different options: the fin rot could be caused by gram positive bacteria...in that case Erythromycin should get it, and that is a treatment you can start after your guy rests for about a week (the combo of Kanaplex and JFC gets gram negative bacteria). You could also use salt baths as a treatment, or if you don't have anything else in the 5g tank (no snails, shrimp) or if it isn't heavily planted, you can try aquarium salt dosed in the tank at a ratio of 1 tablespoon per gallon, for a week. You'll want to do daily water changes with the salt (example - if you remove one gallon of water, replace 1 tablespoon of salt, etc...). If the tank is heavily planted and you are worried about losing a lot of plants, or if you have snails or shrimp you can't relocate, you may want to try Emycin. Hope that helps a little more!
Thank you! The reason I haven't used salt is because I do have plants and my snail is currently being watched by my friend in another tank while I medicate. I did wait a week and completed the water change a couple days ago before the beginning the second round of treatment today. I did do the 3 doses of Kanaplex and 2 doses of JFC as recommended in that first full round. Thanks for the advice. I'm keeping a close eye on him and I'll be more patient to see if his fins are healing after the rot is gone. Thanks again for all the info! I'm so glad you engage in all these comments.
Thank you for the great video!! I do have some questions if you have the time, I believe my opal male betta has mild fin rot. I think this because his fins are now receding and look stringy, but I see no signs of discoloration on his fins. His face has developed red splotches though and Idk if that has to do with fin rot or a fungal infection? Also I have my betta in a community 10 gallon tank with corey fish, snails, and live plants and I am afraid of hurting the others trying to treat the betta, should I separate my betta into an isolated tank?
Paiden - My pleasure! you asked some very good questions. First, yes, I would isolate the Betta, mostly due to the snails. While the plants and other fish would be just fine, medication is not kind to snails and it always seems to be 50/50 whether they will make it through. To be as safe as possible, I would but the Betta in a quarantine tank. If your Betta's fins are receding and look stringy, it very well might be fin rot, especially if they have been receding gradually. The splotches are interesting to mention. This could be two things - one, it could be a harmless coloration change (hopefully). Bettas do that. The other is that when I hear about red splotches it could be Hemorragic Septicemia - this is an infection that can be caused stress and less than ideal water conditions. It wouldn't be fungus unless it looks like white cottony growths. The good news is that Kanaplex can combat both fin rot and Hemorragic Septicemia. Are they just red splotches? Do you see any damaged tissue there? The Kanaplex is pretty broad spectrum and should take care of everything , especially when used with Jungle Fungus Clear - another newer, great med from Seachem is Polyguard, but it is super strong, so I would try the Kanaplex first.....hope that helps!
@@dmichaelsfishden thank you so much that helps a lot! I don't think that it is color change because there is some tissue damage but its not to serve so hopefully he will heal up quick!
Good luck, paiden! And my pleasure
@@dmichaelsfishden hello again!! So my betta fish still has fin rot!!! Idk what I did wrong I tried to do exactly what you did and for some reason he has gradually been getting worse!! He still acts and eats fine but his poor fins are terrible. Do you have and suggestions for me anything will help! Thank you again
@@paidenproctor8395 you certainly didn't do anything wrong. This happens sometimes - this is one of the best medication combinations I know of for fin rot and that is because MOST fin rot bacteria is gram negative. This strain in your tank might be a gram positive strain. While it is not as common, gram positive bacteria that cause fin rot are out there. So we want to give your guy a few days to rest - try to put a little carbon in your filter and do a few 25% water changes to make sure all old medication has been removed. Then we need to switch our medication. I've had this happen before where this first treatment didn't work, so I switched meds. The best medication I know of to handle gram positive bacteria is Erythromycin - API makes it and it is easy to find. I would try medicating with the Erythromycin as a next step. Sometimes it is a little trial and error with the medication...the important thing is we never want to use the same medication twice as the bacteria will have built up an immunity to it. Are you able to get API Erythromycin?
I got a betta about 3 weeks ago :) He was doing pretty good until I noticed his fins started to look a bit more jagged compared to pictures when I first got him. He then developed what looks like a small pinhole in his fin. His tank is a 5 gallon with a heater and gentle flow filter. The only decorations in there is 3 live plants and a smooth rock cave. I got a tip that it might be fungal fin rot?? I purchased the jungle fungus clear, but I’m not sure on how to proceed. Please help! :(
My betta fins are just shredded. He had a few spots that look like he lost scales. I put him in quarantine gave him meds. Pulled out decor that I think is the culprit. His fins are still split. How long to see new growth? Also did you not feed during the treatment?
Thanks so much! I completed my treatment, his fins are growing back. How long do I wait after treatment to put him back into his 20 gallon tank?
Teal - so sorry for the late reply here. You are probably fine now to put him back into his 20 gallon tank. I usually wait about a week once the fins start growing back just to make sure all is well. Glad to hear your betta is on the mend!
If the first treatment doesn't work you have suggested erythromycin as a second treatment. Just for clarification is that erythromycin along with JFC or just erythromycin?
Hope - I would just use the Erythromycin as a second treatment. The first treatment with the JFC will get rid of anything fungal, but if the fin rot is still there and the Kanaplex doesn’t get it, the bacteria may be a gram positive strain, which Erythromycin targets. Hope that helps!
@@dmichaelsfishden thanks for reply
Oh woah learned something again.. i always thought the products you cross out works instead hmm
Glad it was helpful, Haus! I used to think the same about Melafix, Bettafix, Pimafix....but not so in this case. They do have their place though.....Going to share my experience with that soon. :) My betta's fin rot was just too aggressive and too far advanced to treat without good meds....
definitely looking forward for the next vid man!
Appreciate the support, Haus! It's coming soon in the que... :)
I need help with my betta fin rot but idk how advanced it is, I got it two days ago not knowing it already had fin rot, I didn’t know what fin rot was until watching a few videos
Hello, you might, might not remember me.
So after trying the method shown in the video, i was advised to use seachem polyguard
Ive done four treatments and I don’t see a change, he got slightly worse
I did 40% water change before adding new dosage, filter was on but the filterage was taken out, just running empty
I missed the third day so i did the treatment in fourth day instead of third for two times, does this mess the effect of the medication off?
It says the med can be used up to two weeks or until it gets better.
My next treatment will be two week mark.
I heard for some bettas, simply meds don’t work and I’ve seen this scary video of cutting betta’s affected fin area
Ive also seen one time 35% hydrogen peroxide treatment
When i watch videos, other bettas get better but mine never ever showed any signs of healing but just got worse
Let me know what i can do for this little poor friend
Thank you
Hi M - Sometimes, unfortunately, medications don't always work. Some of that depends on the Bettas age, the type of bacteria causing the issues, etc...So don't feel bad. Medications certainly work, but they just don't all the time. If the polyguard doesn't work, I would first try an aquarium salt treatment. For the first few days, add one tablespoon of salt per 3 gallons of water. Change the water daily and add salt back in for the amount of water you are taking out. So if you are taking out a gallon of water in a water change, add back in 1/3 tablespoon of salt. After about 3 days, you can up the salt concentration to 1 tablespoon per gallon. Again, water changes daily. If you remove a gallon of water, put back in 1 tablespoon of salt. I would keep up this salt treatment for 7 - 10 days. See if that helps. Salt will dehydrate the bacteria, fungus, etc...essentially, dehydrating it all and killing it off. If the salt doesn't work, then I would try the hydrogen peroxide treatment, but you want to use 3% hydrogen peroxide. I'm doing a hydrogen peroxide treatment on my Bettas fin rot right now, using 1/4 teaspoon in a 2.6 gallon quarantine tank. Let me know if I can help further!
dmichaels fish den thank you so so much, one thing though. He is swimming around and eating fine! I added more wood for him and he loves it, so at least I don’t see him suffer too much. Thank you i will try the salt method and get back to you. You’re giving such an amazing help. God bless you, im sure other people are so thankful for your help as well. Thank you so much
Could one treat gram positive and gram negative at the same time? IE using Kanaplex, JFC AND
Great question. Yes, they can. One popular treatment for that is Maracyn (E-Mycin) and Maracyn-2 together. (Both now made by Fritz). That has been proven very safe. Aquarium Co-Op has a quarantine medication trio of API general cure, API E-Mycin, and Ich-X, all administered at the same time, however 2 of those meds are parasitic meds. The thing to consider is how much will 2 strong antibiotics (Kanaplex and Emycin) plus another med including JFC in the mix might stress the fish. JFC is more of a fungal remedy so the Kanaplex/JFC combo is one antibiotic, one fungal. I’m just not sure how much stress 3 meds might cause at once. I’ve never personally tried it. So an idea - you could try the Maracyn/Maracyn-2 combo. I’ve done that safely and those two meds are designed to compliment each other. That way, you are getting one gram negative fighter and one gram positive fighter together. Does that help a little. You could certainly try Kanaplex/E-Mycin/JFC together, but that is a strong cocktail of meds all at once so I’m not sure how much stress it might cause
dmichaels fish den thanks for the advice! Grabbed some api erythromycin and Maracyn 2. Going to run those two simultaneously, cross my fingers and see what happens
Will this work without Kanaplex? I have a female betta with advanced fin rot in a five-gallon tank and she's losing a little color, but I know that antibiotics are pretty aggressive. I've only used Kanaplex once, when my goldfish got septicemia because one of them was a carrier. So, I have it, but I would prefer not to use it. I did put Fungus Clear in the tank, though, and she's actually perking up. She's been living on the gravel or in her hidey hole lately, not wanting to swim much. I really hope this helps. I thought I got rid of her fin rot with Melafix and aquarium salt in the early stages, but it just keeps coming back.
Jamie - I hear ya - and...been there. unfortunately, Melafix and aquarium salt are ineffective against fin rot, especially advanced fin rot. API really needs to change their marketing tactics and stop the rumors that it does anything for fin rot. Years ago, I used to try the Melafix/salt treatment as well, all unsuccessful. Fin rot is a bacterial infection and can only be treated with antibiotics that can kill off that bacteria - Fungus Clear does get some bad bacteria, so one thing you can do is try 2 JFC treatments to see if that is getting the fin rot - see if the fins stop receding. When they grow back, they will have clear tips - you'll see the new fin growth. If the JFC seems to be getting it, definitely stay there. If after the second JFC treatment you aren't seeing an improvement with the fin rot, I would combine the JFC and Kanaplex on the third treatment. Kanaplex is more aggressive as an antibiotic, but the fin rot can be aggressive in its own right, causing even more stress with your betta, so sometimes it takes an aggressive antibiotic to get it. Totally get using it as a last resort as I believe thats what a lot of us try to do, but sometimes it is the only choice. I've used this combination 3 different times on 3 different Bettas and though they may have been a little stressed, the Kanaplex didn't have any long term effects - that being said, I would only dose a maximum of 3 doses...anymore than that and it can stress internal organs - you'd have to wait a few weeks before dosing the Kanaplex again after 3 doses, but by that time the bacteria builds up an immunity to Kanaplex....
Sorry this response is getting long but one other thing that might be helpful - if you do decide to dose the Kanaplex remember, it gets the bad bacteria but it gets the good bacteria as well, so it is helpful to add some beneficial bacteria (ie..Fluval Biological enhancer, etc...) every other day to keep your good bacteria colony up...this way your tank won't crash and you won't have any ammonia spikes. And as you probably already know, don't forget to remove any carbon in your filter while medicating.....once you are done medicating, it's great to add carbon to soak up any residual medication - hope all that helps! 👍
I know your suppose to remove carbon filter, but when do you place it back in the tank? As in do you keep carbon filter off for the full 4 days or do you place it back in every now and then?
So sorry for the late reply. Once the med dosing is done feel free to put it back in. It helps to pick up residual medication to remove it. Take the carbon out for the 4 days, or longer if you are doing a second dose of JFC and Kanaplex. But don't put it back until you are done dosing. It will soak up the medication.
@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you, the fish is doing much better and is far more active than before.
I tried just kanaplex on my betta with severe fin rot and it didn’t seem to help, I’m going to try this method and see what happens. My poor boy has been struggling for so long and nothing seems to be working :(
Did you feed your betta while in treatment? (: I am treating mine with kanaplex but I’m wondering if I can feed him while in this process
This video is very helpful! I treated my betta with FURAN-2 almost 2 weeks ago and saw no improvement. Would you recommend I try this treatment as well or would it be too much on the little guy? I also have Betta Revive but have not used it since I can't find too much info on it. Do you know anything about it? Thanks for any advice!
Vanessa - glad to hear the video was helpful! What's going on with your Betta? Is it fin rot? Can you tell me a little more? FURAN-2 is a good Nitrofurazone medication, though I've switched to Jungle Fungus Clear because it has both the Nitrofurazone and Potassium Dichromate (this treats fungal issues). To successfully clear up a bad case of fin rot, as a first resort, I've always used the combination of Jungle Fungus Clear and Kanaplex (kanamycin). I'm not sure which medication was the cure, but the two meds together seem to work better as a broad spectrum antibiotic for gram negative bacteria, which is what most fin rot is. Betta Revive is Hikari's broad spectrum antibiotic, and they are a good company, so it's worth a try. 👍 I've never personally used it, but it's main ingredient, neomycin sulfate, is very effective as a broad spectrum antibiotic. Since it's been 2 weeks since you medicated (and done water changes, right? 😉), that should be enough rest to try another round of medication. If it's fin rot, how bad is it?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! In a large nutshell, we got the fish 2 months ago and he lived happily in a 2.5gal heated bowl for about a month. I read he should have more space, so we got a 4gal filtered tank, set it up and moved him in. I knew about cycling but maybe didn't fully understand how to do it. I did 25% water changes 2-3 times a week and added a very small amount of Prime each time. My ammonia was always 0 and my nitrites stayed between .25-.50. During this time our friend's fins got very tattered/stringy and developed a small hole. I again read up and decided to try the FURAN-2. When he didn't get better after treatment I went to my local fish store (not a box store) and was told to stop doing water changes + Prime and let the tank cycle. I was also told he didn't have fin rot, he had burns from the Prime and I would probably lose him in the cycle process. Well, I decided that was a terrible plan and I moved him back to his bowl with fresh water. I'm now doing a fishless cycle in his filtered tank - I have a better understanding of the process this time. So that's where we are now. I think he looks a little better in the clean water but I'm worried about a couple white spots, not fluffy, and scaly debris I see when I do water changes. I know I've made mistakes but I hope I can make it right. HIs been through a lot but acts healthy, always hungry and feisty. Sorry for the short novel and thank you again for your help. So much conflicting information out there it's overwhelming!
Forgot to ask, what kind of siphon do you use in the video? I've never seen one like that.
Vanessa - my pleasure and welcome to the hobby 😀😉 There is a lot of conflicting information out there, so I try to help by sharing my experience. So the local fish store is partly right - when you are cycling a tank, you don't want to do very many water changes - an easy way to cycle without putting fish in...put a little fish food in the tank and leave it in for about a week (it will start to break down and create ammonia). You can buy beneficial bacteria in a bottle to help with the cycling process (I have a video on that - Beneficial Bacteria 101, I think I called it). The beneficial bacteria will feed off the ammonia created by the decomposing fish food. You still want to do a 10% water change each week (Tank should cycle in about a week or two). Make sure there is still food in there decomposing - add some beneficial bacteria week one and a little more week 2. Then test your water (look up API master test kit for freshwater). Once you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, you are good to go 👍 Once you get a little brown algae in the tank in particular, then you really know it's cycled. 😀This is definitely not fin rot, which is why the Furan-2 didn't work...it wasn't a bacterial disease, and still really isn't so I wouldn't even use the Revive at this point as it's not necessary. Where I don't agree with the local fish store is that Prime is causing a "burn." I've used Prime for years without any ill effect. You do need Prime to get rid of chlorine and chloramine in the water (unless you have well water). Another option with Aloe Vera is Hikari Ultimate. It is water conditioner with some aloe in it. What I think we have here is some possible ammonia burn and nitrite poisoning - we want nitrites at 0. To heal his fins (assuming they aren't infected, but the clean water should help with that 😀), what I would use is Kordon's Fish Protector. Helps heal damaged fins, has echinacea in it, B12, and adds electrolytes....heals scales, etc...I use it after each water change and have a video coming out on that soon 😀And don't worry about any mistakes....I've made TONS over 8 years, but that is how we learn 😀
Lol - nope, you probably wouldn't. This is a DIY siphon I made because I needed something smaller to siphon smaller tanks...I have an older video on it on my channel - I think it's called DIY siphon? Something like that. Let me know if I can help further 😀
I got a Betta that was a pearl-ish color, 3 weeks ago, he began to turn-what I thought was black at first- around a week ago. I thought it was fin rot but now I am not so sure. It’s only his body and his tail fin that is turning this black/bluish color. *None* of the fins are torn or are falling apart. Is this just him changing colors? Also on his head it’s turning orange. If anyone knows it something is wrong please help me out
Mixonisse - very well simply could be a color change. Especially if your betta has what is called a "marbled gene." Or you'll find this in koi bettas ("koi betta" is the fancy term for marbled betta). My koi (marbled) betta has gone through a complete color change. Unless the fins are receding back and/or are starting to look torn, this is not fin rot. Without seeing your betta, I would suggest it is just a color change...which is very common in some bettas. Maybe he/she is trying to impress you 😉
also I have this same type of Betta. I know it is a veil tail but what is the name of the color?
Pan - a great Betta, right? I'm actually not sure of the name and/or color. My guy is just a common veil tail I rescued from his little cup at the local fish store. 😀But tons of personality, as you know from yours. You've got me on this one - I'd have to do some more research into the name/color 😊
@@dmichaelsfishden please let me know when you do. I have seen many pictures but never found the name. :) and yeah lots of personality but stubborn as all hell and quite the little piggy when eating and then learns his lesson the hard way lol. Mine was rescued when I won him at the carnival at my school. :)
Yep, always stubborn and will eat on and on and on and on....then the hard lessons. LOL. Glad you were able to rescue him!
1:40 it sounds like quakes 3 narator.
Lol - I had him do a special cameo appearance ;) Sure does sound like him, though
Did you keep the filter running?
I have several bettas I saved from Walmart and they all have fin rot. I started your treatment plan today for 2 of the bettas that are not in filtered tanks (they're in 2 gallon bowls while I save for bigger tanks), but I have 2 other bettas in 5 gallon filtered tanks that also need the treatment.
Thank you
Reyna - God bless you for saving them from Walmart in those little prisons they are in. Yes, when I treated I did keep the filter running but I didn't have any activated carbon in the filter - (I don't use it anymore anyway except to remove medication), so my filter simply had sponges and my biological media in it. I'm not surprised all of the bettas had fin rot - really common if they are sitting in those little dishes too long. Glad you started the treatment! It worked well for me on 3 separate occasions, with 3 separate Bettas. In the 5 gallon, it's ok to leave the filter going, just make sure to remove any activated carbon while you are medicating. Give the treatment a little time - I started to see differences after the second dose. If you get the fin rot, their fins will begin to grow back - they will look clear at the tips. Good luck and let me know if I can help further! 😀
@@dmichaelsfishden thank you, and God bless you for this video! I had no idea what I was doing but I knew it was wrong for them to be in those tiny cups. I learned, through TH-cam, that they're tropical fish and just how bad those tiny cold cups really are! I have 6 bettas now and have decided I can't go in the fish isle anymore. It's costing too much to rescue these beautiful fish.
One of the boys, "Noble", was so near death they gave me a discount on him. His fins are bent and a lot of them fell off (as I was transferring from the cup to the bowl). Nerve-racking. He's in great spirits now tho, and I think he'll survive if this treatment works.
I'd love extra help/guidance from you, thank you. -Reyna
Those are 6 more bettas that will have a much better life than in the petri dish prisons they were in 😀Always here to help! If I miss a comment on TH-cam (I do try to read all of them and respond to all of them - sometimes one or two slip by) you can always email me at dmichaelsfishden@gmail.com
I'm dealing with this and decided to try starting with just the jungle fungus clear after trying just clean water and vitachem and stressgaurd for weeks. I just did the second dose yesterday, but am not sure if I should go head and do the kanamycin as well... some parts of his fins might look like they have some regrowth but it's hard to tell. One area looks slightly worse. Do you recommend letting the tank rest before dose a new med, or starting the kanamycin during this first round of treatment? Will regrowth be pretty obvious?