female betta with fin rot and white spots, what's the cause?

[florapass]

I've had my female betta for 6 days now. I set up a 4-liter quarantine tank with live plants before introducing her to the main tank. Regular water changes, heat's perfect. But today, I noticed fin rot and a few hours later, a small part of her fin fell off. Her fins have darkened, and there are white dots all over. She's acting weird - suddenly darts in different directions, like she's jumping underwater. This morning, she seemed okay, just a bit of fin rot, but this is way worse than I expected. I have no idea if it's just fin rot or if she's got parasites. What treatment should I try? I already did an Epsom salt bath, but it didn't help.

[oceana]

I'm no expert, but that quarantine tank seems a bit cramped for a betta. Ideally, you'd want something with at least 2-5 gallons, a heater, and a filter to keep the water quality stable. The fin rot and those white dots around her fins might be signs of poor water conditions and possibly ick. Considering her symptoms, I'd recommend upgrading to a 5-gallon tank with proper equipment and treating her for ick and fin rot.

[Dawnrider]

Sounds like fin rot and possibly ich to me, but I'm no expert on ich so take my input for what it's worth. My betta had fin rot previously, and in my experience, a bit of aquarium salt and a larger, cleaner tank did the trick - my old tank was tiny and unheated, barely cleaned, not exactly ideal conditions. I've been lucky, fin rot hasn't gotten worse since making the changes, but I'm sure there are other treatments out there.

If I'm right about the ich, that could be causing her strange behavior - my betta has velvet, and he exhibits some weird behaviors too. He rubs against decorations and does this up-and-down "shimmy" or nosediving thing, swimming up the glass and then diving back down to the gravel. I've read that this is a common symptom of parasites.

[goldminer]

I'm not going to tell you to just raise the temperature, I need actual numbers - what's the temperature you're keeping your betta at? The method I'm about to suggest has worked for me every time, you should start seeing results within 18-24 hours.

First, you'll want to raise the temperature to 86°F (30°C) - do this by increasing it by 2°F (1°C) per hour until you hit the right temperature. Keep it at this temperature for at least 10 days, as high temperatures speed up the life cycle of ich and can prevent it from replicating. Just make sure your fish can handle the higher temperature.

If your betta can handle even higher temperatures, you can take it up to 89°F (32°C) for 3-4 days, then drop it back down to 86°F (30°C) for another 10 days. Just be sure your tank has enough oxygen, as warmer water holds less oxygen.

At the same time, you can treat the water with salt. Always check that your fish can handle the temperature increase - observe how they react or research what temperatures they can tolerate.

Also, increase oxygen or aeration in the tank to help your betta's immune system and quality of life. Ich can inhibit a fish's ability to breathe and absorb oxygen, so increasing aeration can help boost their immune system and prevent suffocation. You can do this by:

- Lowering the water level so filtered water creates more oxygen at the surface
- Adding more airstones or moving them closer to the surface
- Using bubble disks for bigger bubble streams
- Using powerheads for increased oxygen and water movement

Check out this link for more info on treating ich: http://www.wikihow.com/Treat-Tropical-F ... ease-(Ich)