So i've kept about 5 betta fish and am on number 6. They all had the uncanny ability to be susceptible to fin rot. 2 of them died from it. I was wondering how to prevent that from happening to my new betta, Neptune. Thanks for the help, i appreciate it.
Betta fish Fin Rot
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Usually fin rot is caused by either water quality or a very stressed fish. Picture of the setup is helpful as well as description of water parameters, (ph, gh/kh, tds, temperature) etc.
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The best way to prevent fin rot is by keeping very clean water with stable parameters, and making sure your fish is not subjected to stress that can lower its immune system.
Doing more frequent, small water changes and keeping healthy plants (to partially slow buildup of nitrogen compounds, and to help your fish feel more secure and therefore less stressed) with your betta will both help.
The tank should have a filter unless you are keeping tons of plants or are changing water daily (you still need to do frequent water quality tests with those methods though, and I wouldn't recommend them for beginners). It's also important that the tank is cycled, but if you already added the fish before cycling you should keep testing frequently and be prepared to do more water changes until the cycle finishes (can take a few weeks to a few months, depending on the tank size, filter, and bioload).
If you still get fin rot after all that, there are medications sold at large retailers available to treat it, though you might want to set up a separate small tank with just a sponge filter to treat the fish so that it's easier to dose and do the water changes between rounds of medication.
With proper care, bettas can easily live 5 years or more, and there is at least one account of one that lived around 20 years (though that was really exceptional).
I will add that back when I kept bettas in smaller tanks (I didn't know better, and probably many of the folks here fell prey to the lies of the tiny betta bowls before we learned better), they also were prone to fin rot and short lives. I now keep mine in 20-gallon or larger tanks with other fish, or in tanks at least 5-gallons if they are alone. Bigger tanks are much more stable, and I haven't had fin rot problems since I quit using the smaller "betta tanks".
Doing more frequent, small water changes and keeping healthy plants (to partially slow buildup of nitrogen compounds, and to help your fish feel more secure and therefore less stressed) with your betta will both help.
The tank should have a filter unless you are keeping tons of plants or are changing water daily (you still need to do frequent water quality tests with those methods though, and I wouldn't recommend them for beginners). It's also important that the tank is cycled, but if you already added the fish before cycling you should keep testing frequently and be prepared to do more water changes until the cycle finishes (can take a few weeks to a few months, depending on the tank size, filter, and bioload).
If you still get fin rot after all that, there are medications sold at large retailers available to treat it, though you might want to set up a separate small tank with just a sponge filter to treat the fish so that it's easier to dose and do the water changes between rounds of medication.
With proper care, bettas can easily live 5 years or more, and there is at least one account of one that lived around 20 years (though that was really exceptional).
I will add that back when I kept bettas in smaller tanks (I didn't know better, and probably many of the folks here fell prey to the lies of the tiny betta bowls before we learned better), they also were prone to fin rot and short lives. I now keep mine in 20-gallon or larger tanks with other fish, or in tanks at least 5-gallons if they are alone. Bigger tanks are much more stable, and I haven't had fin rot problems since I quit using the smaller "betta tanks".
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Yah, I have a couple of 1g and 2g tanks, but I only use those for use as nurseries, quarantine, and hospital tanks now. Tanks that small are really only good as permanent homes for small invertebrates like cherry shrimp.
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Hi! I'm new to this forum so I don't know the rules but im going to ignore them for now because i want to help you. There is a forum (a lot like this one) that is specifically for bettas. If you put into your search engine "www.bettafish.com" it will bring you there. They have a wonderful community with lots of very experienced betta keepers that you can reach out to whenever you have a problem or just a question about your fish.
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There is nothing wrong with recommending another forum that has more focused knowledge of a particular fish. This is a good recommendation. I would recommend looking at the stickied sections in this sub-forum. Betta Fish Diseases and Emergencies
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