Who Gives A Fish Forums

I got my Betta almost a year ago, and he was in rough shape - fin rot and Popeye. I treated him with Betta fix right away, and it helped a lot with the Popeye and fin rot. The swelling from the Popeye went down almost completely after daily water changes, except for a little bit, and the white fuzzies on his fins from the fin rot went away too. His fins still looked pretty beat up, and his eyes had some swelling, but at least it wasn't getting worse. I tried Melafix a few months later, but it didn't do anything. I've since learned that Bettafix and Melafix aren't great for bettas, so I won't be using those again. It's been a few more months now, and his fins and eyes aren't getting better or worse. I'm looking for some advice on how to help him heal. He's in a 5-gallon tank with a filter and heater, and I do 75% water changes every week. My water parameters are all good - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 4 nitrate.

I'm glad you're aware that Melafix and Bettafix aren't good for labyrinth fish like bettas and gouramies. For finrot, daily water changes are a great natural medicine, but there's another option you could try - aquarium salt. However, considering your betta's on his own in a 5-gallon tank with long fins, I suspect boredom might be an issue, and he might be ripping his own fins, which could be causing or contributing to the finrot. That being said, based on your water parameters and the fact that you're doing 75% weekly water changes, I think there might be another issue at play - I suspect your betta might be biting his own tail. I'd recommend trying to entertain him with a mirror or rearranging his tank decor to see if that helps.

I'm on the same page as brinyveg. Daily water changes seem to be the way to go.