Fin rot on betta progressing really rapidly

[spleenharvester]

In the space of the week his tail has become really tatty and halved in length. Any ideas?

It's a Fluval Spec 19L, heated to 27*C. Not a water parameter issue as tested with API kit, and also changed 50% weekly.

Tank was rescaped a week ago and changed from soil to sand, perhaps this has stressed him out?



I have lots of medication at my disposal, including for gram+, gram- bacteria and fungal.

 

[MirandaB]

If it's done that in the space of a week and in conjunction with a tank change I'm leaning more towards him having a chomp himself.
Can't really see any signs of fin rot but couldn't zoom in as close as I'd like on the photo.

 

[spleenharvester]

If it's done that in the space of a week and in conjunction with a tank change I'm leaning more towards him having a chomp himself.
Can't really see any signs of fin rot but couldn't zoom in as close as I'd like on the photo.

It did cross my mind - but he also seems to have some rot on one of his pectorals, and I'm not sure how he'd manage to reach that for a chomp!

 

[meyscapes]

Tank was rescaped a week ago and changed from soil to sand, perhaps this has stressed him out?

Nipping of the fins can usually be seen directly in the centre of the tail (where the Betta wraps around quickly and bites) and looks like a large, clean chunk bitten out of the tail.

I would be tempted to say from that photo that it does look like fin rot as the tail is looking a bit ragged/streaky, but it’s a bit hard to see clearly here.

If the there are any red, white or black edges on the end of the tail (that aren’t usual for your Betta colour) and if the fin edges themselves look floppy in these areas, then I would likely say it is fin rot.

If the fins still look like they’re receding I would go ahead with a course of treatment.
Best thing aside from treatment would be to keep the water as clean as possible, vacuum up any dirt from the floor and placing things like a boiled Indian almond leaf in the tank help. The leaves have antibacterial and anti fungal properties and Betta’s love them!

Hopefully this helps. I’ve kept long tailed Betta’s for the last couple of years and one of them was plagued with fin rot the entire time I had him unfortunately (I eventually had to keep him in a bare bottom tank to keep it as clean as possible), so I know the pain of dealing with it!

 

[spleenharvester]

Thanks all. Quick update, started him on Neoplex at the start of the week and he's already looking better, it's stopped progressing and the edges of his fins are looking more uniform.

 

[spleenharvester]

9 days of NeoPlex, looking much better