BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish NEW to the forum, Betta questions, please be kind

Hello, I'm new to the forum and new to Betta parentship! I've been researching the Betta topic for a few weeks now, to try and understand my lil buddy better. I've been searching hard today, cuz I think my lil guy might have finrot (just learned that term today). The edges of his fins, (top and rear mostly, but slightly on the underside fins as well) are shredding. He (Fred) is still quite active and doesn't appear sick, but I'm worried nonetheless.
Fred lives in a 5-8(?)gallon bowl with a healthy, hardy foliage plant on top. There is room (1/2-1") above the water level, and the roots hang down into the bowl (a few reach 3/4 of the way down, most are within the first half). I actually trimmed the roots today to give him more room, wondering if he was snagging his fins on the roots, because he loves to swim around and between them.
The water temp has been kept pretty cool (70-71) because I don't have a heater (didn't realize until recently that I needed to keep him in the 77-80 range), so I have now begun adding small amounts of very hot water and swishing, trying to bring the temps up to 73-74 range and stay there (so as not to shock him with a great temp change).
Anyway, I've read a lot today, trying to figure out my best course of action, but I haven't found anythinig specifically related to my situation, with the plant in the bowl, etc. I would really appreciate some input from all you pros out there. I'm becoming attached to the lil guy and would like to do right by him. He sits on my desk at work, and the temps here are pretty chilly, so it's hard to keep him stable. If there is a small heater made for a litle bowl like this, I'd run out and get it. But I really need to know how to treat his fins, if it's finrot, and how those treatments might affect the plant. I read "aquarium salt" everywhere, but not sure how to use it with the plant.

Thanks for any help
Pam

Wow, I thought this forum ould be my saving grace (or Fred's anyway), but either you guys don't like newbies or you don't have any advice to offer. 17 people have looked at this thread but nobody's responding. Guess I'll keep doing my research.

PixieGal,

I wouldn't assume no one wants to help just because no one responded right away. Maybe the people who have looked at your post already don't know how to answer your question...?

As for the betta questions, they do make heaters small enough for a 5 gallon bowl. My betta has had a recent bout of fin rot and I treated him with a fungus and fin rot medication made by Aquarium Products and extra salt in the water. He was better in just a couple of days. These things did not effect the live plants that I have in my tank. You can get heaters, aquarium salt, and medications for fin rot at most pet stores (I got mine from PetCo.).

My betta's lovely fins were shredding at one point because the gravel/plant leaves were too abrasive. I removed the gravel and put flat stones and got a smoother plant and now he's healing. I'm not sure about your plant, if you really want to keep it maybe you could put him in a 1 gallon hospital bowl until he gets better. For finrot I treated my betta with betta fix / aquarium salt and he is improving nicely.

Also, it counts every time you look at your own post, or if I look at it, and then go somewhere else and back track in the same window, it counts me as multiple page views. So you and one other person could have looked at it a couple times.

Hi, That is a huge bowl - are you sure it's 5-8 gallons? I mean, you can get a tank with as many gallons as you want, but bowls aren't usually that large - they are usually just one gallon, although, of course, there are bigger ones.

People on the forum have given you good advice - personally, I would recommend trying something mild at first, though, like Betta fix Remedy for the fin rot. Have you had a chance to also read some articles on this fish site at BellaOnline.com? There are quite a few about Betta fish! I have several myself and really love them!!

I'm wondering what exactly your plant looks like. Can you post a photo here on the fish forum? Although plants are great and have their many benefits, there is this one particular type of Betta fish bowl that has a plant on top that should really be illegal because it cuts off the air supply for the Betta fish and they suffocate. You know, Betta fish are special and different from other fish because they have a labyrinth organ on top of their head from which they breathe air by going to the surface of the water periodically.

Gosh, in your situation you really really need a heater. You do need to make sure how much water your bowl holds - and anyway - your betta would thrive much better in an aquarium with a filtration system so you don't have to change the water so often - because the water becomes toxic if not kept clean and then you'd have a heater, too - to keep your water at a nice toasty warm Betta tropical fish temp so your baby will be blowing bubbles of happiness on the surface of the water.

Please get a heater, at least, and update us - a photo would be super helpful to give your more useful advice.

Kudos to you for caring so much and reading and researching for your dear, sweet little guy!!!! How is Fred doing? Please update us.

First, I want to thank those of you who did reply. Sorry if I sounded nasty, guess I was just anxious and worried about my lil guy.
Second, I am an idiot. I do not have a 5-8 gallon bowl. It is, however, 5-8 lbs, lol. It is actually a one-gallon bowl, much too small for Fred, I fear. I have ordered a new 2.5 gallon desktop aquarium, so he will have a much more luxurious home soon!
Lastly, I treated him with aquarium salt and Tetracycline, and he is doing much better although the edges are still a little ragged. I honestly don't know still if it was finrot or just him thrashing against the roots of the plant (NOT that water lilly thing, just your average green houseplant with plenty of room on top for air). Fred thrashes wildly about every once in awhile (he gets in moods, I guess), and I watch his poor fins slashing back and forth against the roots. I think this HAS to be detrimental, so I trimmed the roots way down to free up more tank space. It may be just this that has helped his fins recover, but he still manages to find and "scratch" up against the roots! When his new tank arrives, the plant is not moving with him.
I have a heater coming with the new tank, so he is going to be a very happy fish, and I've alredy switched his food to the floating ball type; he really goes after that stuff.

I can't figure how to post a picture, but I'll try to attach one here from y photobucket album. Might have to click on it, not sure. One shows the tank itself and the other is as good a pic of Fred as I could manage, lol. Happy Easter, All.

Pix

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