Have Had My Betta For A Week Now, Shredded Fins And How To Nurse Back

[saffholly]

Hi, i bought my betta just over a week ago, after 2 days i noticed his fins were shredded, took me a while to work out what had happened but it turned out to be the filter (i think) so i bought him a small filter thats run by the air pump and he now seems happy. His fins still dont look great though. Should i add salt to the water to aid his recovery or should i just let it heal itself?

Also, my betta is a bit of a fussy eater and will only eat bloodworm, if i feed him any flakes he just spits them out, i'm worried that just feeding him blood worm will bloat him. What is the best thing to feed him?

 

[Crossfire]

Hi, i bought my betta just over a week ago, after 2 days i noticed his fins were shredded, took me a while to work out what had happened but it turned out to be the filter (i think) so i bought him a small filter thats run by the air pump and he now seems happy. His fins still dont look great though. Should i add salt to the water to aid his recovery or should i just let it heal itself?

Also, my betta is a bit of a fussy eater and will only eat bloodworm, if i feed him any flakes he just spits them out, i'm worried that just feeding him blood worm will bloat him. What is the best thing to feed him?

What are the other fish in the tank? Any snails or invertebrates? Real or fake plants?
As long as you keep the water very clean and in tip top shape, no infection should arrive and he'll heal in time.
Try adding StressCoat+. It's a dechlorinator, but it has the added bonus of aloe vera, which soothes wounds, calms fish, and promotes healing

As for the food, what flake brand? It might just be a low quality food and he doesn't like the taste.
Until you get him off bloodworms daily, feed him deshelled, cooked, organic peas. They prevent bloat and constipation in fish. Never met a fish that wouldn't eat a cooked pea

 

[saffholly]

He's in a 35ltr tank on his own (no fish or snails), he has one silk plant and a plant pot (he did have a plastic plant at first but i removed it as i thought it might have caused the shredding?). He seems happy and very friendly, will come up to the the tank when i walk in the room and dances around.

I will give peas a go (my mollys seem to love peas but didn't think to try them with the betta). we have tried a couple brands of flake (a cheap store brand and a more expensive brand), have also tried tetra mini pelets (which all my fish seem to refuse).

How long does it take for the fins/tail to repare?

 

[LucyB]

My betta shreds his own fins for fun... not so fun for me, I am constantly worrying! He doesn't care, he does it anyway! I have tried everything to make him stop... but no success I just let him get on with it now, he seems to enjoy it... I have to keep the water very clean though so it heals quickly and he doesn't get infections...

 

[Crossfire]

He's in a 35ltr tank on his own (no fish or snails), he has one silk plant and a plant pot (he did have a plastic plant at first but i removed it as i thought it might have caused the shredding?). He seems happy and very friendly, will come up to the the tank when i walk in the room and dances around.

I will give peas a go (my mollys seem to love peas but didn't think to try them with the betta). we have tried a couple brands of flake (a cheap store brand and a more expensive brand), have also tried tetra mini pelets (which all my fish seem to refuse).

How long does it take for the fins/tail to repare?

Shouldn't take long, no less than a couple of weeks. Since there are no plants or any invertebrates, go ahead and add a teaspoon of aquarium salt.

Don't add plastic plants in the future, they are known to tear fish's fins. Silk or live plants are much better.

 

[APacman]

Hi, i bought my betta just over a week ago, after 2 days i noticed his fins were shredded, took me a while to work out what had happened but it turned out to be the filter (i think) so i bought him a small filter thats run by the air pump and he now seems happy. His fins still dont look great though. Should i add salt to the water to aid his recovery or should i just let it heal itself?

Also, my betta is a bit of a fussy eater and will only eat bloodworm, if i feed him any flakes he just spits them out, i'm worried that just feeding him blood worm will bloat him. What is the best thing to feed him?

My betta is an incredibly fussy eater too, also a little bit slow on the uptake! So I wouldn't worry about it, think bettas are just rather picky. Mine likes to eat the cory food as it's sinking and refuses to eat flakes too. If he likes bloodworm there's a good chance he'll love live daphnia, make him swim for his food!