Fin rot is becoming one of the major problems in every fish. Betta fish fin rot was caused due to poor water quality and bacteria start eating the fins. Many people have fin rot problems and they are searching for easy treatment and various ways to avoid it.
So why does fish have fin rot? You may also have this question in your mind. Don’t worry because I can help for sorting out this problem.
Betta fish have fin rot due to poor water quality and the bacteria will start eating the fins. It was simple to treat the fish. Every aquarium has bacteria but when the water quality becomes low then they will start eating the fins.
In this detailed guide, you will learn more about betta fish fin rot and various ways to treat them. Follow till the end for better treatment of the fin rot.
So without wasting time, let’s start.
What is betta fish fin rot?
Betta fish fin rot was caused by bacteria eating the fins due to poor water quality. When the water gets dirty there will be a chance for ammonia to build up in the tank and burns the fins of your betta fish.
You need to provide good quality water for avoiding toxic ammonia build-up. One of the major reasons for betta fish fin rot was ammonia, when you keep the betta fish in dirty water and without water conditions, the fish may have fin rot and stress.
Fin rot was caused by bacteria named Aeromonas sp, Pseudomonas sp, etc. Most of the time the bacteria will not be harmful but when the water becomes dirty, they will start attacking our fish and have problems like fin rot, eye cloudy, etc.
To avoid fin rot in betta fish, you need to clean the water according to schedule and put leaves of Indian almonds in the betta tank.
Does fin rot hurt the fish?
If you don’t treat the fish at the beginning then it will lead to many problems. The fish may feel stressed when they affect fin rot. Provide good treatment for fin rot fishes or else they may die.
Fin rot will also affect other fishes in the aquarium. So you need to treat the fin rot fish separately for avoiding spreading.
The fin rot will make the fish stress and reduce the immunity system. The fish become tired and show some erratic movements when they feel stressed.
What does fin rot look like?
If your fish has fin rot then check their fins.
You can see white color on the fins or damage on the betta fish fins. Sometimes the fin’s edges will start breaking.
So you can confirm that your fish has fin rot. Here are some images of the fin rot in fishes
What are the Stages of fin rot in betta fish?
There are two stages in fin rot, such as mild and extreme.
In the mild stage, the fin rot will start affecting the fish fin. At that time, the fin may turn into discolor or turn into white.
The color of the fin becomes dull and it will start spreading around the fin and tails of the betta fish.
In the beginning stage, you can see white or black spots on the fins of the betta fish. So you need to provide good treatment in the beginning stage for avoiding spreading.
In the extreme stage, the fins will start disappearing and spread the fin rot to other aquarium fishes. It will be harder to cure the fish from fin rot in this stage. So you need to treat the fish separately for avoiding spreading.
Can fin rot heal on its own?
The fish can heal the fin rot only if they had immunity power to recover the fin rot. The fish will have stress when the fin rot affects them. So they will start losing the immunity power and it will be hard to recover from fin rot on their own.
At the beginning stage itself, the fish will have stress. So you need to treat them for faster recovery from fin rot.
What is the Reason for betta fish fin rot?
Here is the main reason for betta fish fin rot.
- Poor quality water
- Poor filtration
- Low-quality feeds
- Overcrowding
Let’s dig into deep about the reason for fin rot in betta fish.
Poor quality water
It was the main reason for betta fish fin rot. When the water becomes low quality, the fish may affect fin rot that was caused by bacteria that I have listed in the beginning.
If the water becomes dirty then fish may have a lot of problems such as fin rot, breathing, stress, etc.
So you need to clean the water weekly and change the water once every month. If you find the water dirty suddenly separate the fish into another tank and change the water.
You can keep a good filtration system in the aquarium to clean the water and remove the tank’s debris.
When the water becomes dirty, the ammonia starts spreading in the tank and will start eating fish fins.
Poor Filtration
Poor filtration will make aquarium water dirty, so it can also lead to fin rot in fish. You need to keep a good filtration system in the aquarium and also clean the filter when it clogs.
If the filter gets clogged then it will reduce the performance of the filtration. So you need to provide weekly maintenance for cleaning the clogged area in the filter and remove the collected waste.
If the waste gets jammed in the filter and there will be a chance for ammonia spreading. That will lead to major problems in the aquariums.
Low-quality Feeds
Low-quality feeds contain a lot of waste that will help to grow algae in the tank. Uneaten foods will make our tank cloudy and turn the water dirty.
It will enhance the growth of algae and spread ammonia in the tank which lead to fin rot in fishes. So you need to provide premium quality foods to your fish and don’t overfeed the fish because it will increase the waste contents in the tank.
Here is the best betta food that I feed to my fish, You can check my post now.
Overcrowding
Overcrowding can be a reason for betta fish fin rot. If you put betta fish in a crowded tank, they will start fighting with each other and leading to many health problems.
Betta fish are very aggressive fishes and they need to be alone in the tank. So you need to keep betta fish in a separate tank to avoid reducing the fight.
Prevention For Fin Rot
The best way to prevent betta fish fin rot is to keep the aquarium water clean and provide a proper filtration system in the aquariums. Below are a few ways to keep your tank clean.
- Clean the water once every week.
- Change the water once a month.
- Don’t overfeed the fish.
- Test the water’s pH Level and temperature.
- Separate aggressive fish from the tank.
Betta Fish Fin Rot Treatments
Betta fish fin rot was a common problem in every betta fish due to poor water quality. You need to keep the betta fish in a separate tank for avoiding unusual casualties. Because betta fish are aggressive towards other fishes.
They have territorial behavior, so when a fish comes near their territory the betta will start attacking them. So you need to keep them in a separate tank.
However, After separating the fish and maintaining the water clean, there will be a chance for fin rot. So here are some steps for treating the fin rot fish
Change Water
Changing the water will make our aquarium clean the reduce the chance of spreading ammonia in the tank. So your fish may have difficulties healing the fin rot in the dirty water.
If you clean 75% of aquarium water and provide fresh water the fish will start reducing the stress and healing.
Maintaining clean water in the aquarium was an important step in treating it. So you need to keep an eye on water quality and the behavior of fish.
Clean Filter
Remove the waste from the filter for increasing the performance and reduce the spreading of ammonia in the tank.
The filter will make the water clean and remove debris and uneaten waste from the tank. Many people are not caring their fish and they are not keeping a filtration in their tank.
You need to clean the waste from the filter every week. So it can clean the water and store waste. Clean and fresh water allows for treating the fin rot in betta fish.
So make sure to keep a proper filtration system and maintain the tank and filter clean.
Clean gravels
Cleaning gravel was a difficult task when I was a beginner, Now you can use a vacuum cleaner for removing the waste that was under the gravel.
You need to also clean the gravel for removing the algae. Try to keep smooth edge gravel in the tank, otherwise, it may hurt fish bodies and there is a chance for bleeding on the body parts of fish.
So clean the gravel and another substrate in the tank before pouring fresh water.
Test Water parameters
You need to test the water parameter every week and ensure it is according to betta fish requirements.
Changes in the water temperature will affect the treatment of fin rot. The fish may become stressed due to sudden changes in the water parameters.
So you need to keep an eye on water parameters and if your treat the fish in a separate tank then you need to maintain the same water temperature before shifting the fish.
Maintaining water temperature was an important task for every fishkeeper. So you need to test according to weekly schedules.
Remove aggressive fishes
Don’t keep aggressive fishes with betta fish because as you know the betta fishes are very aggressive. If they are small they will start fighting with large fishes as well. So there is a chance for fin rot.
When the fish start attacking the betta fish, their fins and tails will be lost and it will be hard to retain the immunity of the betta fish.
So you need to remove the aggressive fish from the betta tank or keep the betta fish alone in a separate tank.
I recommend keeping the betta fish alone in a separate tank for better growth.
How long does fin rot treatment take?
Usually, It takes 7 Days for improving the fin’s growth, But it depends according to the immunity of the fish. If the fish have weak immunity then it will be a hard task for removing fin rot.
When the fish become stressed, they will start to lose their immunity power. So it will also affect the health of fish.
Wrapping Up
Now you know the reasons for fin rot and different ways to treat the fish. So you need to keep the water clean and remove the aggressive fish.
It was the only way to prevent and treat the betta fish fin rot problems.
If this detailed guide helps you then don’t forget to share.
