Betta Fins Torn or Natural Shape?

[Oscar Betta]

Hey Guys,

I got a new betta a few days ago and I'm curious if his fins are a bit torn or if it's just their natural shape? Here's some photos:

FYI, he's in a Fluval Spec V. I plan to order one of these to cover the filter intake as I've heard their fins can get ripped by it: Intake Cover I'm also going to put a Fluval pre-filter sponge on the output spout to reduce the flow, as he's been getting pushed around quite a bit.

Thanks.

 

[MaloK]

There's a little rip in the anal fin and a split in the tail, but it's nearly impossible to avoid.

He looks great and your water seems very clean

I love the way the water intake serve as skimmer at the same time in the spec series. Intake cover is not required at all for a betta, the flow is slow enough to be safe there.

The dangerous place is the little gap "hole" that is lower under the intake, it's about 3 inches from the bottom...

It's to prevent drainage of the filter compartment in case the water level comes too low. It create a strong siphon when the media becomes clogged and critter got stuck there...

So I blocked it completely and make sure the water level doesn't drop under the intake as part of regular maintenance.

 

[Oscar Betta]

There's a little rip in the anal fin and a split in the tail, but it's nearly impossible to avoid.

He looks great and your water seems very clean

I love the way the water intake serve as skimmer at the same time in the spec series. Intake cover is not required at all for a betta, the flow is slow enough to be safe there.

The dangerous place is the little gap "hole" that is lower under the intake, it's about 3 inches from the bottom...

It's to prevent drainage of the filter compartment in case the water level comes too low. It create a strong siphon when the media becomes clogged and critter got stuck there...

So I blocked it completely and make sure the water level doesn't drop under the intake as part of regular maintenance.

Thank you! That's good to know since he really likes to rest up against the intake.

I just added the pre-filter sponge over the output using this method: https://spec-tanks.com/fluval-edge-pre-filter-mod-for-spec-aquariums/ He's no longer being blown around at all which is great since he's very active, but I'm a little worried it reduced the flow rate too much...article says not to worry about that but I may turn the filter up to the higher setting now. Top of the water is just moving a little bit.

 

[MaloK]

Yes these Tanks are a little overkill for bettas... But I love "the once in a year" cleanup schedule. It's sad, but it will take a lot of time to clog.

I cut the original medium sponge to make a pre-filter with it and insert an Aquaclear 70 sponge under, they fit like a glove.

That's how it looks after more that a year without touching it.

The best way to reduce the flow is by "populating" the filter compartment instead of trying to strangle the output.

since he does like to rest up against the intake.

They are so lazy, they stick themselves to it, so they can rest without any effort. Mine would do that, head pointing down.

It's also the best place for them to poop It helps keeping the tank clean, loll.

 

[Oscar Betta]

Yes these Tanks are a little overkill for bettas... But I love "the once in a year" cleanup schedule. It's sad, but it will take a lot of time to clog.

I cut the original medium sponge to make a pre-filter with it and insert an Aquaclear 70 sponge under, they fit like a glove.

That's how it looks after more that a year without touching it.

View attachment 361320

The best way to reduce the flow is by "populating" the filter compartment instead of trying to strangle the output.



They are so lazy, they stick themselves to it, so they can rest without any effort. Mine would do that, head pointing down.

It's also the best place for them to poop It helps keeping the tank clean, loll.

Oh nice! At least it seems we can do a lot of modifications with them.

I'll keep a close eye on the water quality with my current sponge cover on the output...may pivot to another solution if it starts looking bad. There is a film at the top now, but I know that showed up yesterday before I made the change.

I'm going to put a floating betta log in and see if he prefers to rest there.

 

[MaloK]

That's something I never understood. Every single time I started a betta tank from scratch.

After a while there always that period where the tank starts to have that oily slick... I always thought it comes from betta food. But after a while at removing it with paper towels it doesn't come back...

I don't let it accumulate too much, it's not good for gases exchanges and the labyrinth of the betta.

 

[Oscar Betta]

Hi all - I wanted to revisit this thread as my betta has had significant fin loss in the last week. I'm not 100% sure what's causing it, but I believe it may be fin nipping. I do have fake plants in his tank, but I tried to buy very soft, silk ones. He had no fin loss in the previous 3 months of having him in there with them. He likes to surf the glass and then swim in a C shape backwards. I just witnessed him fall on his back trying to seemingly get at his tail. Water parameters are good and temperature is around 79. I treated his tank last week with aquarium salt and have been dosing seachem stress guard daily. Also doing more frequent water changes. Below is a series of photos showing the damage, progressing from last week until today.

I'm not seeing any big signs of fin rot yet (the ends of his fins are normally black and the bottom of his tail has been a bit frayed since I got him), but there seems to be more fin loss every few days. Based on what I've seen, I'm guessing this is fin nipping but wanted to get other opinions? Do I need to do any other treatments outside of keeping his water very clean? I'm not sure if he's just bored and I need to add more stuff to his tank.

 

[MaloK]

Do you have a picture of the whole tank too ?

 

[Oscar Betta]

Yes here it is attached.

 

[MaloK]

There's no sign of infection on the fins or tail I can see... Some betta have such a temper they, like us will try to rip off something annoying like an ingrown toenail... If you seen him doing it at least you know where you stand. And the fish gets mad at his robe.

And yes... I would pack all the plants you have in a corner and buy a big bushy ( or two or three ) near tall to the surface real one.
After a couple weeks if the plants go well, drop a starter colony of cherry shrimps during the night.
Slowly remove all plastic and replace it with something natural you found.

One of my favourite image to describe a betta environment:

 

[Oscar Betta]

There's no sign of infection on the fins or tail I can see... Some betta have such a temper they, like us will try to rip off something annoying like an ingrown toenail... If you seen him doing it at least you know where you stand. And the fish gets mad at his robe.

And yes... I would pack all the plants you have in a corner and buy a big bushy ( or two or three ) near tall to the surface real one.
After a couple weeks if the plants go well, drop a starter colony of cherry shrimps during the night.
Slowly remove all plastic and replace it with something natural you found.

One of my favourite image to describe a betta environment:

That's good to know, I think I will try that! I do regret not starting with real plants...had a bad experience in the past where they gave me a snail infestation so I had been scared off. I all but confirmed it's fin nipping, as I've seen him try to get at his tail several more times this afternoon. He's always been very active so unfortunately this is his new obsession I guess.

Do you think his fins can grow back if his water is kept clean? I'll keep adding stress guard but I hate to overmedicate if there's no infection.

 

[MaloK]

In the last years, every plants I bought brought something undesirable. And I really, really hate pest snails above anything else.

So after spreading two tanks with them, I restarted disinfecting new plants with peroxide before adding and observe them for a while in a new setup... And still always something makes it trough. But I had success with insistent manual removal on sight of any found after and will probably QT the plants in addition next time to be sure.

It's better to assume that all plants coming from a mixed plant tank in a store... Has them and more... last time I also had a dragonfly nymph and it ended attacking my betta during the night... These are so good at hiding that I ended medicating the whole tank out of "not knowing what is going on" I was lucky enough the med killed it. But I would have never known that was there, it never went out in the open during daylight until it got poisoned.