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Betta Fin Damage

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Lawteo

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Hi all,

Stupid and stubborn me had a 5 gallon tank all along and recently bought a Male Betta which colours and fins I absolutely loved. Then crazy me thought it would be a lovely idea to house him in a 75 gallon tank along with 10 others female bettas to provide him with his own paradise harem.

I was under the impression if I plant heavily, all bettas would be safe and have their own hiding space.

It was fine for the first week, zero fatalities (It is still zero fatality now) ......2 days ago, I bought 4 more female bettas and yesterday night, I come back home to find my male betta's fin in tatters.

I loved this male betta and yes, on hindsight, housing him with female bettas was not a good idea but I had good intents for him.....

1st & 2nd pics are pictures of him when I first got him

The rest of the pics are his current condition now.

Last pic is my tank setup, all water levels good and CO2 is good and etc

I have removed all female bett fish and housed them seperately. He is alone now only with corys.

Can folks here confirm this is not fin rot or fungus? I dont think it is......i believe he is being bitten by the female bettas thus resulting in his current tail's condition in tatters.

Lastly, how should I treat him now? If it is fin rot, i obviously need to re-house him in a quarantine tank (but I rather not re-house him). If it is confirmed his tail was a result of being bitten by other female bettas who are now removed from my main tank, what should I do to my main tank to help his fin heal and regrow?

Thanks in advance for all advice and comments
 

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Hi and welcome to TFF!!!!

You have made a horrible blunder that might lead to the death of the male. The first step towards making a good sorority is to have balance. You must move him to another tank, let him heal nicely and If you want to move him back you must add two or three more males. Good luck!!
 
Male and females bettas should not be kept together except very briefly while spawning, and then only under close supervision. Male bettas are not good community fish, and keeping one in a 75 gallon tank would mean having just one fish and maybe the cories you say you already have. This would not be a very interesting tank. I would move the male to his own smallish (5 to 10 gallon) tank, and do plenty of water changes. The clean water should help his fins heal. Only medicate if they start to get worse.

If you move the male into his own tank and keep the females separated, you could then stock the 75 gallon tank with community fish that would get on together.
 
I agree 100% with essjay’s advice. Please do as she has said. The clean water should heal the fins without medication. Good luck!
 
You must move him to another tank, let him heal nicely and If you want to move him back you must add two or three more males.
Don't add more males, that is just asking for trouble.

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The reason this went wrong is because you had a nice little community for a week and everyone was happy, then you introduced 4 new fish and the stuff hit the fan. The new fish were considered intruders and there were fights. One of the new fish might have been a young male or just a grumpy female and it caused everything to go haywire.

If you want a nice Betta splendens community, you introduce a group of females and 1 male at the same time, and monitor them closely. If they settle down and there are no fights, that is great and you leave it at that. Do not add any more Bettas once it is settled. Adding new Bettas simply stresses everyone out and new territories have to be worked out and that is when the fights occur.

There are other species of Betta, which are social fish and live happily together. Betta imbellis, B. coccina, B. pugnax are all social Bettas that can be kept together. However, they don't have big long flowing fins. And you can't keep the different species of Betta together. You can't keep gouramis with Bettas either because they are all territorial and fight.

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Right now, put the injured male into a small tank (5 gallons is fine) and do a 75% water change and gravel clean every day for a week. Monitor his tail and if it goes red and inflamed or white and fluffy, post more pictures and we can talk about treatments. But at this stage, don't treat with anything, just keep the tank clean with water changes.
 
I forgot that bettas invite trouble into community tanks.:)
 

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