Problems With Tail Biting

[blinky000]

I had my guy Pluto delivered from Bettaboys on Saturday and he's in 14 gal split between him, Apollo and Steve. When Pluto arrived he had been chewing his tail in the bag. In fact, the only time I caught him doing it was in the bag but over the past week, his tail is getting worse and worse and it's obvious he's still biting it. Here he was before shipping:

And here he is this morning (excuse the algae):

Despite how he's been going at his tail, he doesn't seem to have any other signs of stress. He isn't pale, he's eating plenty and he knows he's the biggest boy in the tank so his ego isn't damaged. He even makes me a nice big bubble nest almost every morning. This one from this morning is larger than my palm:

The only thing I can think of is he has far too much testosterone and he's getting wound up seeing Apollo, even though he knows he's the boss. I'm not sure how I can stop him seeing anyone else in a divided tank. And you'd think if anyone was going to be stressed about the situation it would be the smaller of the two.
Is there anything more I can do for him? I'm running out of ideas.

 

[Bettaboys]

Hi Blinky,

you have not had him long and this could be due to stress of the travel or being housed next door to another male who he can see constantly, although it may look like he is the boss this may be causing him to much stress, HM's are also known for blowing there tail when they flare to much this could be another cause

If you have another tank, you may want to think about moving him, adding 1 teaspoon of tonic salt per 5ltrs of water, do 25% daily water changes for a week and see if that helps

let me know how you get on.

 

[lilfishie]

1 of mine bit his tail whilst being housed alone, now he is in my divided tank, he's stopped (so far) he's to busy exploring and showing off to the other 2 males to take any notice anymore, plus he gets more attention there

 

[blinky000]

I have a spare 5 gal so I'll give it a go would it be worth seeding from my main tank or will the water changes be enough?

 

[loraxchick]

I have a spare 5 gal so I'll give it a go would it be worth seeding from my main tank or will the water changes be enough?

Its always "worth" seeding/cloning from a cycled filter if you have the option. Just dont take more than 1/3 of the media from the existing, cycled filter.
best of luck
cheers

 

[Dieses Madchen]

There is a product called Bettafix that is very good to use for injured fins. One of my boys ripped his fin on a plastic plant (I later learned they are bad for bettas) and after a couple of days of treatment, his fin was back to normal. It may take a little longer with a tail that has been bitten, but it will help the healing process. Sorry to hear about your boy, but I must say he is quite a stunner