Hi :)

[Bekkaz]

Hi I'm brand new to bettas and am living on the south side of Brisbane. I've just gotten my first betta about 10 days ago. I've named him Diesel. He's a little blue coloured guy that I picked up from the pet store. He has a bit of a white butterfly tail. Or did have. I was searching for info about them a few days ago when I noticed that bubbles started appearing at the top of the tank (and while talking to my Mum in NSW found out that my sister's one that she's had for a year has just started doing the same thing), and found all the information here on bubble nests. I'm keeping him in a tank that holds about 10L, I'm not really sure how much it is exactly.

I have been having a good read of the forum in the days since then and taking in a LOT of info. As a result I now think my little boy has finrot. I realised just today that the butterfly markings on his tail have all but disappeared and the ends are getting a bit ragged. Not sure if it's my fault or the petstores Any advice on what exactly the treatment is would be welcome. The bottle says just to 'use 5ml in 20L, repeat two days later if necessary'. Not very informative. Does that mean I add the solution and then leave it or do I give the fish a 30 min swim in it?

I'm completely new to bettas, I had a pair of red oscars when I was younger but haven't had any fish since then. Been feeding him mostly on freeze dried bloodworms, as the little round balls that I was first feeding him wouldn't stay on the surface of the tank, and would sink and make a mess after just a second or so of being in there. The ones that did manage to float he wouldn't eat, but he took to the bloodworm straight away. I'd keep the frozen ones except not sure my flatmates would like it

Anyway, I was at another petstore the other day and saw another little guy who was stuck on the bottom of the tank. He was sitting vertical at the time, and when I asked the ladies about him a few days later they said that he shouldn't have been on display. I felt sorry for the guy and asked if I could give him a home, so I now have two. It takes a little bit of effort for him to get to the top to get air. He eats happily and loves the freeze dried bloodworms, but he's also happy to eat the little balls, so I've been trying to feed him mostly on those so that they dont' go to waste. He eats them off the bottom of the container, so when they sink straight away they get eaten before they go bad.

After all my reading, I found the posts about feeding them peas to keep them regular, so I'm going to give that a go with my second one to see if that might help him at all. He doens't always sit vertical but usually just sinks and stays on the bottom of the tank.

Here are pictures of my two boys:

Diesel (he doesn't like posing for photos, very hyperactive!):

New fish (I'm in the process of naming him):

I'm hoping that one day I'll be ready to do some breeding. Colours and genetics fascinate me so I'm really keen to get into that. Not yet as I am a student who doesn't have the funds and don't know anything, but maybe at some point when I know more about them.

So anyway, that's me...I tend to talk a lot when I get started, sorry if you've managed to make it this far through the post!

[Callatya]

Hey Bekkaz! I think you win the prize for our longest intro post . We might have to whiz part of this over to the betta forum later on Deisel looks gorgeous, and i think you are right, it does look a bit like rot. Good call on getting him the meds. What is the product called? When it doesn't specify a time period, it usually means to just add it and leave it. Often it becomes inactive after a certain period anyway. After 2 days, you can do a water change and re-dose. If it is manky after one day, you could change the water sooner The little yellow fellow looks a bit swimmily-challenged. See how you go with the peas. Daphnia would also be a good choice instead of bloodworms for him, as they are higher in fibre. They come in frozen, and if you grab an opaque container and scissor the blister-pack into individual cubes, I think your housemate shouldn't be too grossed out Great to have you on board :)

[Jess]

Welcome Bekaaz Diesel is gorgeous looking So is that orange VT you have (I love orange VT's!!!!) Ab's has given you great advice already Jess

[debstep]

Welcome to the forum Lovely boys you have Cheers Deb

[Chuckie]

Hi Bekkaz. Good luck treating the finrot. There are lots of good suggestions on the forum about how to minimise the risk of it. Generally, I get the impression that Brissie tap water is finrot-on-tap (same as Sydney) so make sure you age new water (time-wise) and preferably aerate it too, as well as adding dechlorinator, so all the chemicals can evaporate. Banana leaf is a great thing to add to the water, as is indian almond leaf if you can get it. even blackwater extract is better than nothing. Can't wait to see you posting in the forums!

[Bekkaz]

Thanks for all the replies

What is the product called? When it doesn't specify a time period, it usually means to just add it and leave it. Often it becomes inactive after a certain period anyway. After 2 days, you can do a water change and re-dose. If it is manky after one day, you could change the water sooner

The product is called 'Fungus and Fin Rot Medication'. It dyed the water green, which was a bit of a shock for both me and Diesel I think. He couldn't work out what the funny new green bits were in the tank before I gave it a gentle mix in. It says on it "active constituents: Acriflavine, malachite green'. I'm guessing the second one is the dye. The other product the fish store guy recommended was somethingFix, and with all the reading I'd done I'd found a lot of people who said it was only tea tree oil or something and isn't the best fix for it, so I didn't get it. I wasn't sure if I should leave it in so I gave him a water change after a few hours anyway (not long before I posted here).

What do I do regarding adding the banana leaf? Just throw a piece of a leaf in there, or grind it up or something? I really am clueless

I can't wait to get more of the little guys. They're so cute and I love the little quirks they have. Diesel makes me laugh all the time, especially when he tries to hide from the camera (he didn't mind it the first couple of times but now he won't let it near him).

[Chuckie]

"something fix" is melafix. It is a good finrot treatment. I personally don't like Multicure (what you used) because although ti works it also kills beneficial filter bacteria, and stains silicone permanently. Phil also found that it seemed to kill some of his bettas once, used at full strength (but maybe they were going to die anyway). There is a sticky post in the Clinic forum on treating finrot. May be best if you check that out, because if I try and put it all here I'll forget something! Banana leaf must be picked while green and sundried, then you just float a piece of the leaf in the tank. it makes the water kind of slippery and seems to give a protective barrier to the fish. Keeps the tapwater from eating their fins off!

[najrick]

Hi Bekkaz, Nice to meet you and welcome to AusAqua. You have a couple of lovely looking boys there. That new boy of yours is really lucky that you can along and gave him a new home. I'm also a huge fan of melafix. It can stop finrot totally if you get in early enough. Though I have to say if the fin rot is too advanced then you will need something a bit stronger. I have also used Multicure is the past to treat finrot with mixed results. Good luck with your boy. Najina and Pat

[Figure_8]

Hi Bekkaz - nice to meet you <_<

[Bekkaz]

Well I have fed the second guy some bits of peas. I cleaned his container out this morning and I can see that he's managed to clear himself out at least a bit, though I'm not sure if that was there before I fed him the peas. I can see from looking at that first pic how much tail poor Diesel has lost. I really hope it grows back. I've got people looking out for banana trees for me so that I can put some leaves in the tank. Will probably get some of that melafix as soon as I get the chance as well. I saw a beautiful looking crown tail at the pet shop yesterday and almost bought him (as well as one without a tail that I felt bad for), but I don't want to jump into any more before I get these two sorted out and get used to keeping them. Just watch, I'm sure in no time I'll have more fish than I know what to do with.

[Leela]

Hi Bekkaz, welcome aboard! Your blue boy in the first pic is beautiful, is he a halfmoon betta? Where abouts did you get them from? Good luck treating the finrot, Melafix is a great product, I swear by it, its saved many of my more precious boys on a few occasions. I think most of the members on the forum here have the crazy betta addiction, I don't even know how many I own, I lost track a long time ago .... maybe 50 (including fry)?? Cheers Olivia ;)

[splendidbetta]

Hi Bekkaz! Welcome to Ausaqua! Goodluck with your bettas ;)

[Bekkaz]

Hi Bekkaz, welcome aboard!  Your blue boy in the first pic is beautiful, is he a halfmoon betta?  Where abouts did you get them from?

Thanks for the welcome He's supposed to be a halfmoon, but I can't get him to flare up to see if he really is. I also had no idea what halfmoon meant when I bought him, I thought he looked nice and when I asked the girl if his tail was ok because it had the white strip she said that was because it was halfmoon, which I now think was his butterfly marking.

He's a funny little thing. A mirror doesn't interest him at all, though he did take a look at it once, and when I put the new fish in a container next to him he had a good look at him, swam along that side of his tank a lot but still didn't flare up.

I got Diesel at Pet City in Wishart on Brisbane's south side.

[Leela]

I thought he was a pet city fish, that means he's a Bakerman boy. Bakerman is one of the breeders here on Ausaqua, he produces some stunning fish. :)

[Bekkaz]

Oh wow that's cool Well he has a good home (I hope - still working on that). I kind of wish I hadn't gotten such a pretty boy to learn on, because I'll feel bad if something goes wrong. But I'd get attached no matter what so I guess it doesn't matter either way. The other guy is from the Hyperdome down at Logan. It doesn't look like the pea is fixing him so I think he's just deformed. At least he's still alive.

[bent]

Hi and welcome I'm new hear too but all good hints and tips fom the other members help so good luck with your VT hope they both mend

[Bekkaz]

Well Diesel's tail isnt' improving at all. I'm not entirely sure what to do about the poor little guy. I need to work out what on earth is wrong with him. I can't imagine that it would be him chewing, it's not long enough that he could reach, but perhaps its a possibility. Is there a way to stop this?

[Bekkaz]

Hmmm....bought another one on Wednesday from the same store, a beautiful little pale guy with a turquoise sheen through him, and I think I'm starting to see the finrot starting in him as well, there's a darker line appearing around the end of his tail and its getting a little uneven. I'm not really sure what the problem is, the other 6 that I have gotten from a different store don't have a problem, but it seems weird that the fish from there are fine until a few days after I get them home - the fins look fine in the store! And I don't want to stop going there because they really are gorgeous fish. I was going to go back for a female later on this week. Anyway...wondering if anyone else has come across a similar problem.