Sick Betta?

[CdnRednek]

We went on holidays for a couple of weeks and when we got back we noticed that one of our Betta's was missing his top fin and the rest were looking pretty ratty.  He's in the tank by himself so obviously it wasn't a battle wound.  There was quite a bit of algae growth in his tank so we gave it a good cleaning.  He had been kind of lethargic but once we cleaned his tank he perked up again.  The area on his back where the fin should be is discoloured and some of the ribs from his fin are still there.  My husband's theory is that the plant we had in there was too sharp edged and basically rubbed the fin off.  Is this likely or could it be some sort of disease or parasite?  Bottom line is.....what can we do for the poor boy?  Should he be medicated or should we just leave him be and hope the fin regenerates on it's own?  Any advice is appreciated as Bluey belongs to my son who would be devestated if anything happened to him.  Thanks

[aidensmomma2000]

Form my understanding, algae wont hurt your fish at all so no worries there.

Sounds like fin rot to me, but Im no expert at diseases.

[CdnRednek]

Yep.......just did some further research and it seems like the poor boy has fin rot.  Ok......now has anybody got any suggestions on treatment?  Of course every web site I checked had different suggestions, I started hyperventilating around the time I read about surgical procedures to treat it.  I figure I'm much better off to rely on the vast knowledge of OVAS members.

[mseguin]

My suggestion would be frequent waterchanges and some melafix.