I Just Bought A Betta, His Fins Are Ripped Off, And He's Got Some

[ShilohKeller]

i really wanted to try a http/www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Betta.htm fish, so i headed out to petsmart and go looking at the betta fishies. all i see are red and blue boring ones. then i see this little (under 1 inch) betta... and hes just torn to shreds and has weird (non-fluffy) white/black discolorations on his head. i just felt so bad for this little guy, so of course i bought him. what do i do now? 

the container he was in said hes a twin tail halfmoon male betta, but i dont know if its correct

theres no signs of fin rot, he eats anything i give him (a few old flakes he found in the tank and some freeze dried blood worms), and seems very active (but not darty or frantic)

he's currently in a ten gallon heavily planted tank, good water quality, theres a snail, and 2 bumbleebee catfish (which he's ignoring).

ive been researching for hours trying to find out what this black/white stuff is... could it be missing scales? could he have been sucked into a filter? 

i really want to help him get better and see his real colors
 

 

[Far_King]

Well done for rescuing him.
 
He may be stressed so doing things like keeping the aquarium lights off for a few days may help him settle in.
 
You might want to look at an additive like stress coat to help with his recovery http/www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/api-stress-coat-120ml.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=wa&gclid=CIKIv66ksMgCFYaD2wodY78Avw

 

[Ltygress]

The white and black spots MAY just be part of his coloring. It's hard to tell, because the camera focused on the plant, not the fish's head, so his head is a bit blurry.

The most important thing is that he's eating. One of the first things a sick fish will often do, is stop eating. That's usually how I can tell my fish are sick before they show any other signs. They won't eat and they stay in a quiet corner by themselves.

So I'd say give him a few days, let him settle in, and keep feeding him as you have been. If anything starts to look WORSE, or he changes behavior, then you can jump on that as needed. Try to get your hands on some Paraguard for now though. It treats darn near everything, and it's really great to have on hand JUST IN CASE. That way if he starts to look or act worse, you'll already have it there to treat him with.

And from the rays I can see in his tail, it looks like he may indeed be a twin tail halfmoon. But again the camera made him kinda blurry, and his tail is so torn up, I can't be certain. His tail sure does have a lot of rays though!

 

[Wildbetta]

He is definitely a double tail (what some stores are marketing as "twin tails).  His coloring is some kind of greenish marble and honestly from that pic -- his head looks to be coloring.  However make sure and watch it to make sure that nothing starts to look fuzzy or anything like that.  Watch his fins, they look really rough although not necessarily infected by rot right now, so clean, warm(80-82F) water is a great way for him to heal.  I would feed a good quality pellet and maybe some frozen food for him to be at his best.  Freeze dried foods and flake are bad to cause bloating/constipation and flakes especially can foul water quickly.