Clamped Pectoral Fin In Elephant Ear Betta

[Flinkbag]

Hey all!
 
I returned home to find my beautiful Elephant Ear Betta, Raj, has one pectoral fin clamped ('stuck' is a better word for it, it looks like its plastered to his body!) to his side. It appears to only be half stuck to his body, because he can still move the bottom portion of it. The rest of his fins are just as glorious as ever though. He is still acting as per normal and is as hungry as ever, and I cannot see anything suspicious on him at all. He is in an unfiltered but heated 16 litre planted tank with 2 Bumble Bee Gobies and 1 golden mystery snail. I do a 20% water change twice a week, and condition with prime and a small amount of conditioning salts. The tank mates were added only 2 days ago, so I'm suspicious about possible parasites being introduced. However upon looking at the Gobies, I can't see any signs of disease or parasites. They appear to look and behave as they should. Colours have brightened considerably actually
 
I did a 20% water change as soon as I saw the clamped fin, and have bumped up the temp to 26 degrees Celsius. He seemed a little better after that. What should I do next? Should I immediately treat for parasites, or should i give him a mild salt bath and add a minute amount of ascorbic acid? I have never had much success when treating clamped fins with the Bettas at work, but they were normally too far gone to treat in the first place. Whatever Raj has, its only just hit him today. Do you think its parasites, or stress? He seems completely unfazed by the newcomers to the tank, so I doubt they would be causing him excessive stress. I chose the gobies specifically because they're peaceful, not too fast, and like to hang around the bottom and keep still, plus their colours aren't too excessive. 
 
Please if anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do next, let me know asap! I want to nip this in the bud before it progresses into something nasty
 
Thanks again!
 
Sophie 

 

[Flinkbag]

*update* 
 
Fin seems to have un-clamped itself! What on earth? Could the water change really have been the fix? I'll still be monitoring him very carefully over the next week, but still, very strange. I'll have to get my water tested tomorrow and see if theres anything crazy in there. I doubt it, but you never know I guess...

 

[NickAu]

 
2 Bumble Bee Gobies

I hear these can be fussy eaters.

 

[betta fish]

Whenever I have seen the odd clamped fin in bettas it is usually as a result of injury of some sort and the fact it improved so quickly after a water change suggests this may be the case, the only thing I can think of is perhaps one of the bumblebees found the dumbos fins to be a little too tempting and had a chomp? I have never owned bumblebees so unsure of how they act but have seen them at my lfs and have been tempted, lovely little things they are 

 

[Flinkbag]

NickAU: Nah, mine don't seem too fussy Eating well so far!
 
Betta fish: Yeah it is a little strange that he had just one clamped fin... And I can't see any chunks out of said fin, so I'm going to say the bumblebee didn't chomp his fin And they are the CUTEST little things! Such sweet personalities and temperaments
 
Ill keep this post updated if it happens again in the next few days, but fingers crossed this is the end of it!

 

[betta fish]

It is still possible a goby grabbed the fin without taking a chunk which caused the betta to do what he did, just keep an eye it may have been a mistake on the gobies part, I'm not sure how good their eyesight is and the bettas curiosity may have caused him to get a little close and flap his fins too near, would love to see a pic of all

   

 

[Flinkbag]

Betta fish: Yes thats certainly very possible. I HOPE that's the explanation. His fin actually seems to be clamping and unclamping today, like one section of the fin is a little stiff. I'll upload some photos of the glorious diatom-filled tanks XD 
 
Photo 1: See how the darker section of this fin looks like its stuck to his body? It will occasionally come apart from the body, but he seems to prefer keeping it close to his side. 
 
Photo 2: Diatom algae everywhere! D: You can see the snail and one of the Goby's in the back. It didn't come close enough to get a good photo unfortunately  
 

Also is it normal for a Betta to pace back and forth at the front of the tank for ages? I've already fed him today (fussiest Betta I've ever met! Won't eat bloodworms if they're deemed 'too big') but he still paces back and forth as if he wants attention/food. It's cute, but I'm not the most knowledgable on normal Betta behaviour... 

 

[NickAu]

 
Also is it normal for a Betta to pace back and forth at the front of the tank for ages

Yes its called glass surfing, He should get over it in a few days/weeks.
 
I think you need more plants including floating ones your tank is way too open and bright for a betta.

 

[betta fish]

Aww he's adorable

 , yes as Nick mentioned the behaviour is normal, he'll start to chill a bit more once he settles and floating plants will help subdue the lighting although you will probably notice he'll do it more when he sees you near, bettas are always on the look out for their food giver 

 

[NickAu]

 
. It's cute, but I'm not the most knowledgable on normal Betta behaviour...

Its not cute, The Betta knows you are a new owner and is training you to feed him on command, Bettas are evil like that they enslave their owner thru " cuteness ". Now that you have been bitten by the Betta bug there is no cure, and one Betta is not enough, soon you will fall victim to MTS, Multi tank syndrome.
 
These are my 2 guys and I am looking at getting another, 
Betta Being A Betta.
The Blue Crowntail is Terror he lives up to his name, and the Red/Pink one is Ossie hes as laid back as it gets.

 

[Flinkbag]

NickAu: Hahahaha! I got worried when I first read "It's not cute". I thought you were going to say theres something terribly wrong with Raj lol XD And yeah definitely going to be adding more floating plants regardless, my lighting is too strong. What would you suggest? Lace fern makes a good floating plant. What are some of the plants in Terror's tank? Did I see Blue stricta in there, or was that something else? Also are your Bettas fussy like Raj is? Like I said earlier, he will spit out anything that he deems 'too big', even a quarter of a Bloodworm! 
 
Betta Fish: Ah this is why I love them! They've just got the most amazing personalities! I have another Betta that I only got a few days ago (named Kyogre), and he's the most shy Betta I've ever seen! He's taken days to come out of hiding, whereas Raj was up and about within hours of being newly introduced to the tank. Animals never fail to surprise and amaze me

 
Update on Raj's fin: I woke up this morning to find it frayed looking and clamped worse. When I got home this afternoon, it looks like the frayed bits had been sliced off? Is this normal? I'll show you a pic of how it looks today. Just compare it to the pic above, looks quite different. On the plus side, he seems to be using it almost normally now, almost as though the 'bad part' had fallen off. 

 

[NickAu]

 
Did I see Blue stricta in there,

Yes its Blue Stricta as you ca see he loves using it to launch ambushes from and for cover.
 
Other plants are Water sprite, and duck weed they take up most of the surface, some Crypts and a lot of Annubias.
 
Both my boys can best be described as garbage disposal systems with fins, and Terror also hunts the shrimp mercilessly, That is when hes not flaring at me, Or chasing the BN around the tank flaring at it, or flaring at plants that get in his way, But he saves his best flaring for the siphon hose.
 
This is Terrors tank
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fopqlx_qJVs
 
Ossie lives in a 5 gal cube.

 

[Flinkbag]

Nice! What a beautiful set up! Yes mine is certainly a little scrappy looking. I've never aquascaped a planted aquarium before, so this was a first. I'll be adding more plants as I go Also what do you think of Raj's fin? 

 

[betta fish]

Hmm something has happened there, keep the water nice and clean and it will regrow back fine, I hope it is not the gobies or that it was a one off, just keep an eye and watch interactions between them. I really want bumblebees now! saw them a while back at my lfs but not since, perhaps I should pay them another visit? 

 

[Anika]

NickAu: Hahahaha! I got worried when I first read "It's not cute". I thought you were going to say theres something terribly wrong with Raj lol XD And yeah definitely going to be adding more floating plants regardless, my lighting is too strong. What would you suggest? Lace fern makes a good floating plant. What are some of the plants in Terror's tank? Did I see Blue stricta in there, or was that something else? Also are your Bettas fussy like Raj is? Like I said earlier, he will spit out anything that he deems 'too big', even a quarter of a Bloodworm!

Betta Fish: Ah this is why I love them! They've just got the most amazing personalities! I have another Betta that I only got a few days ago (named Kyogre), and he's the most shy Betta I've ever seen! He's taken days to come out of hiding, whereas Raj was up and about within hours of being newly introduced to the tank. Animals never fail to surprise and amaze me

Update on Raj's fin: I woke up this morning to find it frayed looking and clamped worse. When I got home this afternoon, it looks like the frayed bits had been sliced off? Is this normal? I'll show you a pic of how it looks today. Just compare it to the pic above, looks quite different. On the plus side, he seems to be using it almost normally now, almost as though the 'bad part' had fallen off.

Hi there! Sorry for reopening this thread but the same thing is happening to my dumbo ear betta! I saw him fighting with the filter current so I know that is how he got his injury. His fin has been clamped for the most part but he does still move it. Today I noticed his fin frayed and I suspect the same thing will happen. How did Raj turn out?? Did his fin grow back? I am dying to know!