Hello, I recently (around 2 weeks ago) got this new Betta, and all of a sudden overnight the tail is very frayed and it seems like its just beel falling apart or desintegrating. I'm not sure if it is fin rot, due to the sudden nature of the fraying. His tail when I first got him was like 2x the size it is now. The tank has 2 fake plants, no heater, and has a small current.
Betta Tail Frayed Overnight?
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**sarahp**
Fishaholic
Hi there, welcome to TFF 
Can you answer the following questions (copied from NickAu)
I realise that you have already answered a couple of them but if you could answer all of them it would really help us to give you the best advice. It might seem like we want to know everything except your inside leg measurement - but it really does help us to pin point what the problem might be!
How big is the tank?
Has it got a heater? What is it set to?
What is the temperature of the tank water?
Has it got a filter?
How strong is the current?
Is it cycled?
How often do you change water?
How much water do you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate?
What additives or chemicals do you use? Eg De Chlorinator?
Do you use tap or bottled water? If bottled water please give us the brand.
Do you have a water test kit?
Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
When you clean the tank can you tell us exactly what you do.
What do you feed him? how much? how often?
Any tank mates? What sort how many?
How long have you had the Betta?
Has he got a history of illness?
Any plants or decorations? Please give details?
Can you provide a close up photo of the fish?
Can you provide a photo of the tank?
Can you answer the following questions (copied from NickAu)
I realise that you have already answered a couple of them but if you could answer all of them it would really help us to give you the best advice. It might seem like we want to know everything except your inside leg measurement - but it really does help us to pin point what the problem might be!
How big is the tank?
Has it got a heater? What is it set to?
What is the temperature of the tank water?
Has it got a filter?
How strong is the current?
Is it cycled?
How often do you change water?
How much water do you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate?
What additives or chemicals do you use? Eg De Chlorinator?
Do you use tap or bottled water? If bottled water please give us the brand.
Do you have a water test kit?
Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
When you clean the tank can you tell us exactly what you do.
What do you feed him? how much? how often?
Any tank mates? What sort how many?
How long have you had the Betta?
Has he got a history of illness?
Any plants or decorations? Please give details?
Can you provide a close up photo of the fish?
Can you provide a photo of the tank?
How big is the tank? 2 1/2 Gallons
Has it got a heater? What is it set to? There is no heater
What is the temperature of the tank water? 78 Degrees F
Has it got a filter? It has a simple carbon filter
How strong is the current? It's not very strong
Is it cycled? I'm not sure what you mean by cycled
How often do you change water? Every 2 weeks
How much water do you change? Around 50%
Do you vacuum the substrate? No
What additives or chemicals do you use? Eg De Chlorinator? General Water De Chlorinator from the pet store
Do you use tap or bottled water? If bottled water please give us the brand. Soft Filtered Tap Water
Do you have a water test kit? No
Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? No
When you clean the tank can you tell us exactly what you do. Remove water, add water, and wash off the plants
What do you feed him? how much? how often? Betta Food, 2-3 times a day anywhere from 1-3 pellets
Any tank mates? What sort how many? No tank mates
How long have you had the Betta? Around a month
Has he got a history of illness? No
Any plants or decorations? Please give details? Yes, 2 plastic plants and a plastic rock
Can you provide a close up photo of the fish? Already Provided
Can you provide a photo of the tank? Already Provided
Has it got a heater? What is it set to? There is no heater
What is the temperature of the tank water? 78 Degrees F
Has it got a filter? It has a simple carbon filter
How strong is the current? It's not very strong
Is it cycled? I'm not sure what you mean by cycled
How often do you change water? Every 2 weeks
How much water do you change? Around 50%
Do you vacuum the substrate? No
What additives or chemicals do you use? Eg De Chlorinator? General Water De Chlorinator from the pet store
Do you use tap or bottled water? If bottled water please give us the brand. Soft Filtered Tap Water
Do you have a water test kit? No
Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? No
When you clean the tank can you tell us exactly what you do. Remove water, add water, and wash off the plants
What do you feed him? how much? how often? Betta Food, 2-3 times a day anywhere from 1-3 pellets
Any tank mates? What sort how many? No tank mates
How long have you had the Betta? Around a month
Has he got a history of illness? No
Any plants or decorations? Please give details? Yes, 2 plastic plants and a plastic rock
Can you provide a close up photo of the fish? Already Provided
Can you provide a photo of the tank? Already Provided
Whenever there is fish food or fish waste in water it produces ammonia. Over time (usually 2-4 weeks) the filter develops a colony of beneficial bacteria that eat ammonia and convert it into nitrite. A few weeks after that and more good bacteria develop and convert the nitrite into nitrate. When the filter has all these beneficial bacteria working properly the filter is considered cycled.
Right now I would say you are about half way thru the cycling process and have ammonia and nitrite in the water. These are both bad for the fish and will be the most likely cause of the tail and fins splitting and breaking down.
You need to do a 75% water change and gravel clean each day for the next few weeks. This will dilute the ammonia and nitrite in the water and make it safer for the fish.
Make sure any new water going into the aquarium is free of chlorine/ chloramine. Tap Water filters do not always remove chlorine/ chloramine so make sure you use a dechlorinator in any new water before it is added to the tank. The best way to do this is to get 2 clean buckets that have never been used for soaps or chemicals and write "FISH ONLY" on them. Use the buckets for the fish and nothing else. Fill one bucket with tap water and add some dechlorinator, then aerate it for at least 30 minutes (preferably longer) before you use it. Use the other bucket to put the water you drain out of the tank, then tip the old tank water on the garden. Because you are going to need to do water changes each day for a few weeks I would suggest making up the bucket of water each day, use it for the water change then make up another bucket immediately and allow it to sit near the tank until you use it for the next water change tomorrow.
If you don't have a gravel cleaner, visit the local petshop and get one similar to the one in the following link. You only need a small basic gravel cleaner, nothing fancy.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html
You could also invest in an ammonia test kit, a nitrite test kit and a pH test kit. Buy liquid test kits not paper strip test kits. The liquid test kits are more accurate. If you can't afford the test kits, take a glass full of tank water to a petshop and have them test the water for ammonia, nitrite & pH, and get them to write the results down on paper for you. Then post the results here.
Do not bother adding medications/ chemicals to the tank at this stage, just do big water changes and gravel cleans and see how he looks in 2 days. If it continues to get worse after a couple of water changes then you will need some medication. But try water changes first.
Right now you need to do a water change first and foremost. You don't have to do the gravel now just do a big water change. Then visit the petshop when you can and get tests done and buy a gravel cleaner. Take a water sample for testing before you do the water change.
Live plants would help and if you can find some Water Sprite (Ceratopteris species), that will float in the tank and help use some of the ammonia and nitrite.
---------------------------
Do you live in a warm climate or is the room the fish lives in just naturally warm? I ask because you don't have a heater. Bettas are tropical fish and need warmth. Your current temperature is fine but if it get cold you will need to invest in a heater for the aquarium.
---------------------------
Only feed the fish once every second day until the filters have established. Then you can feed more often. The more food you put into the tank, the more waste and ammonia that will be produced.
Right now I would say you are about half way thru the cycling process and have ammonia and nitrite in the water. These are both bad for the fish and will be the most likely cause of the tail and fins splitting and breaking down.
You need to do a 75% water change and gravel clean each day for the next few weeks. This will dilute the ammonia and nitrite in the water and make it safer for the fish.
Make sure any new water going into the aquarium is free of chlorine/ chloramine. Tap Water filters do not always remove chlorine/ chloramine so make sure you use a dechlorinator in any new water before it is added to the tank. The best way to do this is to get 2 clean buckets that have never been used for soaps or chemicals and write "FISH ONLY" on them. Use the buckets for the fish and nothing else. Fill one bucket with tap water and add some dechlorinator, then aerate it for at least 30 minutes (preferably longer) before you use it. Use the other bucket to put the water you drain out of the tank, then tip the old tank water on the garden. Because you are going to need to do water changes each day for a few weeks I would suggest making up the bucket of water each day, use it for the water change then make up another bucket immediately and allow it to sit near the tank until you use it for the next water change tomorrow.
If you don't have a gravel cleaner, visit the local petshop and get one similar to the one in the following link. You only need a small basic gravel cleaner, nothing fancy.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html
You could also invest in an ammonia test kit, a nitrite test kit and a pH test kit. Buy liquid test kits not paper strip test kits. The liquid test kits are more accurate. If you can't afford the test kits, take a glass full of tank water to a petshop and have them test the water for ammonia, nitrite & pH, and get them to write the results down on paper for you. Then post the results here.
Do not bother adding medications/ chemicals to the tank at this stage, just do big water changes and gravel cleans and see how he looks in 2 days. If it continues to get worse after a couple of water changes then you will need some medication. But try water changes first.
Right now you need to do a water change first and foremost. You don't have to do the gravel now just do a big water change. Then visit the petshop when you can and get tests done and buy a gravel cleaner. Take a water sample for testing before you do the water change.
Live plants would help and if you can find some Water Sprite (Ceratopteris species), that will float in the tank and help use some of the ammonia and nitrite.
---------------------------
Do you live in a warm climate or is the room the fish lives in just naturally warm? I ask because you don't have a heater. Bettas are tropical fish and need warmth. Your current temperature is fine but if it get cold you will need to invest in a heater for the aquarium.
---------------------------
Only feed the fish once every second day until the filters have established. Then you can feed more often. The more food you put into the tank, the more waste and ammonia that will be produced.
Last edited:
Thanks for the help, was really insightful. To answer your question about the climate, I live in florida, it has just been through a cold stretch recently in the past like 3 days for some reason, but it usually is decently warm here. How long does it take for the filters to be established? I want to make sure I am not feeding him too much too early but also not starving him.
it takes between 2 weeks and 3 months for a filter to establish. Longer in cool water. In general tho it should only take 4-5 weeks.
Fish don't need food to keep warm so anything he eats is used for swimming and growth. He can go days or even weeks without feeding and won't suffer from it.
feed once every second day and he will be fine.
You won't need a heater in Florida. Yay the tropics
Fish don't need food to keep warm so anything he eats is used for swimming and growth. He can go days or even weeks without feeding and won't suffer from it.
feed once every second day and he will be fine.
You won't need a heater in Florida. Yay the tropics
assuming the fin is not infected with bacteria, and conditions are improved asap, the tail should grow back over the next month.
Watch the fish and if you see any red lines or red along the edge of the tail then that is bacteria getting into the fin, and it will need treating.
And watch for white fluffy stuff on the damaged areas, that is fungus and will need treating.
If the fish develops bacteria or fungus on the fin post a picture asap and we can advise you on treatments.
Watch the fish and if you see any red lines or red along the edge of the tail then that is bacteria getting into the fin, and it will need treating.
And watch for white fluffy stuff on the damaged areas, that is fungus and will need treating.
If the fish develops bacteria or fungus on the fin post a picture asap and we can advise you on treatments.
So it has been 2 days and it seems that his fins are just getting shorter and shorter, and I'm thinking that I might need to get medication. I'm not sure what specific medication to get so if you have any sugestions it would be appreciated.
look for a medication with Methylene Blue in, or something that treats bacterial and fungal infections. The medication will probably wipe out any filter bacteria that is in the filter, so you will have to keep doing water changes for a while.
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