This is my fish Gibby, I have had him since July 2024. Since last November, he has been getting bouts of SEVERE fin rot as you can see in the photo. I’ll use E.M ethromycin and he’ll get better for a little while. All the white will turn back to blue and his fins will even start growing back, but then it usually comes back within a couple months. I also use almond leafs for tannins as that’s helped before. But this time he doesn’t seem to be getting better. I’ve tried fin & body cure with no luck in the past.
I can’t bring myself to euthanize him because he still acts normal. He has a big appetite (he was eating a piece of food off that leaf in this picture). He’s also active and swims excitedly when someone approaches the tank. He doesn’t glass surf or stay in one corner/ near the bottom of the tank. He’s constantly exploring, begging for food, and just seeming all around happy other than the fact that his fins keep disappearing.
I’m kind of reaching my wits end here. The medicine is expensive and the treatment process is annoying at the least, especially since I’ve been doing this for a year now. If anyone has ANY advice at all to how I can get my Gibby better again please let me know. I’m willing to try almost anything. My water quality is fine and my tank is well established and cycled. He just won’t stop getting sick 😫
https://i.redd.it/cvywy9eltn6g1.jpeg
Posted by Less-Rough-9504
3 Comments
Tank size: 10 gallons
Heater and filter: yes
Tank temp: 78-80F
Ammonia: 0 nitrites: 0 nitrates: 10
Ph: 7
I’ve had this tank for 6 months and the fish for over a year. This isn’t the only tank he’s gotten sick in.
Water changes 10ish% once a week. Standard gravel vac and refill. Water is treated with seachem prime.
No tank mates
Betta bites about 3 kibbles twice a day with fasting usually on Wednesday
Silk plants and some hides all passed the nylon test. No natural plants yet
Incase anyone is curious, this is what he looked like before he started getting sick :/
https://preview.redd.it/k0oy4i4own6g1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74623ed387f4a88d88e832d4a9bf28c294c774f6
do you dose medication in your main tank? the problem with dosing antibacterials liberally is that bacteria might become antibiotic resistant. thats why you gotta dose antibacterials in a smaller hospital tank while doing doing large water changes in your main tank.
understanding how bad bacteria is growing in your tank and rectifying that is more important than rushing to antibiotics. doing a 100% water change and moving fish to different tank are the first line of defense with antibiotics being the last option. otherwise you risk creating monster bacterial strains that can’t be cured with current medication
as for gibby, you can try stronger antibiotic products but be careful or you’ll end up with the same issue again