Are specific medications best for ADVANCED finrot?

[marmoset]

Hi! I'm new to the forum, and in need of some advice from more experienced betta owners.

I recently aquired a betta with very advanced fin rot from a relative of mine. All of his fins except for his pectoral fins have rotted away into stumps no longer than one or two mm. Brown rot is clearly visible along the ends of all of the rotted fins. As far as I can tell no rot has reached his body yet but it's very close.

He was being kept in a "Marina betta kit" tank with a plastic plant. These tanks are only 1/2 gallon I believe... so they're pretty small. I'm sure his water was not being changed enough for such a small tank and I'm sure that's what led to the fin rot. He's since been moved to a 1 gallon bowl.

I took him home and started treating him with Jungle Fungus Eliminator, which I used on one of my fish when he got fin rot from chewing on his fins. The JFE cleared up his fin rot just fine then, but I caught it very early with my own fish. I'm worried that it might not work as well on such advanced fin rot.

Is there a specific medication or treatment anyone can suggest for treating very advanced stages of fin rot, or should I stick with the JFE? I don't want to give this rot a chance to reach this poor fish's body. He is still very active, with a very healthy appetite, and seems to be enjoying his large tank with clean water.

Thanks a lot for any advice you can give me!

[abm]

Hi, welcome, and I'm sorry your fish is so ill.

JFE is usually recommended for fin rot, but you often need to use several rounds of it for stubborn cases. Maracyn and Maracyn II together are also a good choice.
I have to be honest and tell you I've never had a really bad case of fin rot to deal with...but I do have kids. The doctor will sometimes alternate antibiotics (like 2 weeks of one treatment, two weeks of another) to knock out stubborn sinus infections. My daughter once rotated meds for over 3 months
Assuming the fish isn't getting any worse, you might try finishing a round or two of the JFE, then do a water change and use the maracyns and see if that helps.

[marmoset]

Thanks for the help! Anyway, I'm just glad I happened to find him before he got any worse. I feel like he still has a chance but I don't know if he'd ever recover if the rot had a chance to reach his body. So in a way he's a really lucky fish, that I found him just in time!

I think the JFE is working - the rot isn't progressing, at least, and the fish seems to be getting more active. He's started jumping out of the water trying to bite me when I feed him!

Would Maracyn and Maracyn II together be better than Tetracyclene or any other meds? I live near a large, well stocked fish store so it's easy for me to find most fish medications.

Thanks again for the advice

[marmoset]

I just wanted to let you know that the JFE seems to be working just fine even on this advanced case of fin rot. It looks like his fins have started to grow back already! The progression of the fin rot stopped very quickly. Before, the ends of all of his fins were very dark brown but all of that went away very soon after I started treating him

I took a photo of him so you could see how bad the rot was when I took him from his previous owner. This photo is after a week of treatment in JFE. (He was originally a bright red-orange veil tail male with very long flowing fins and very bright coloration.)

All that white finnage looks like new growth to me, but I think I'll give him another round or two of the JFE just to be sure the infection is really dead.



His behavior has really changed also - he's making bubble nests and is even more active since I first aquired him.

[abm]

Good news all around