Is There Something Wrong With My Betta?

[t4ppo]

hi i have one male fighter had him about 2 months now he;s been fine today i woke up to find his fins like this? the back one is the one im concerned the most, the bottoms ones are better than when i bought him there healing, but teh back one looked fine until this morning,

Any help would be appreciated thanks.

These two are how he used to look nice open fins at the back and the bottoms ones a little torn

And now he looks like this?

 

[newfishy]

perhaps he caught his fins on something sharp in the tank. take a pair of nylons and run them over all the ornaments and items in the tank. if the nylons snag then the item is sharp enough to rip a bettas fins.

 

[t4ppo]

perhaps he caught his fins on something sharp in the tank. take a pair of nylons and run them over all the ornaments and items in the tank. if the nylons snag then the item is sharp enough to rip a bettas fins.

i have done this test nothing catches,
its just looks as though his back finis clamped up like its all stuck together?

 

[Truck]

perhaps he caught his fins on something sharp in the tank. take a pair of nylons and run them over all the ornaments and items in the tank. if the nylons snag then the item is sharp enough to rip a bettas fins.

i have done this test nothing catches,
its just looks as though his back finis clamped up like its all stuck together?

your telling me those rocks didnt rip a pair of thin tights?

 

[t4ppo]

perhaps he caught his fins on something sharp in the tank. take a pair of nylons and run them over all the ornaments and items in the tank. if the nylons snag then the item is sharp enough to rip a bettas fins.

i have done this test nothing catches,
its just looks as though his back finis clamped up like its all stuck together?

your telling me those rocks didnt rip a pair of thin tights?

Might sound stupd but there actually quite smooth, they dont rip a thin pair of tights, he likes to hide underneath those,
but i could take it out anyway? see if theres an improvement its just its been there in the tank with him since he moved in to the tank,

 

[Glegorly]

Looks like you've got neon's in there too, be careful, they can be nippy and hassle your Betta.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

I dont believe he has caught his fins on anything at all. They look "Clamped" (sticky fins).

What temp is the tank?
Is it filtered?
What size tank?
Any tank mates?
Water stats (ammonia, nitrIte etc)?

 

[t4ppo]

Hi

I dont believe he has caught his fins on anything at all. They look "Clamped" (sticky fins).

What temp is the tank?
Is it filtered?
What size tank?
Any tank mates?
Water stats (ammonia, nitrIte etc)?

Ok its filtered yes fully cycled, tank is 60l, 2ft by 1ft General hardness 120 carbonate hardness 40, ph 7, nitrite 0, there is a slight amount of nitrate, and zero amonia, temp is 25, tank mates 5 neon tetra, 5 zebra danios, 4 head and tail light tetra, thanks,

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

Ok. There are numerous reasons why his fins have gone bad. Unfortunately, one of the things to do, you cant because of the other fish and that is turn the temp up, But dont.

It could be stress related and/or water? Your water appears fine stat wise though. Maybe do a nice big water change (50%).

When ours have had this problem we up the temp (you cant), keep the water really clean, add an airstone and add a small amount of aquarium salt. Maybe someone can advise whether your other fish are salt tollerant??

The other thing you can do is exercise him! Hold a mirror up for him a couple of times a day for 5-10 mins. This will encourage him to flare and hopefully open his fins a bit

 

[love4aquatic]

Hi

Ok. There are numerous reasons why his fins have gone bad. Unfortunately, one of the things to do, you cant because of the other fish and that is turn the temp up, But dont.

It could be stress related and/or water? Your water appears fine stat wise though. Maybe do a nice big water change (50%).

When ours have had this problem we up the temp (you cant), keep the water really clean, add an airstone and add a small amount of aquarium salt. Maybe someone can advise whether your other fish are salt tollerant??

The other thing you can do is exercise him! Hold a mirror up for him a couple of times a day for 5-10 mins. This will encourage him to flare and hopefully open his fins a bit

most of the fish in there are verry active and nippy, that could stress him. also is it 25*F or 25*C?

 

[bronzecat]

most of the fish in there are verry active and nippy, that could stress him. also is it 25*F or 25*C?

I'd hardly think it was 25f ......thats -4c

 

[t4ppo]

most of the fish in there are verry active and nippy, that could stress him. also is it 25*F or 25*C?

I'd hardly think it was 25f ......thats -4c

its 25C lol, right he has been in the tank for a couple of months with his tankmates and his fins have only become clamped in the last day or so, i was advised they were suitable by the pet shop, obviously just wanted my money?
Well i have done a fairly big water change tonight, got the light off now, see how he is the rest of te week if theres any improvement, im putting cherry shrimps in the tank wednesday im pretty sure he'll be ok with thse as he was in the tank with loads of them where i got him from, as for the putting a mirror to the tank i was under the impression this stressed the fish out? i will try it out tommorw, im sure he'll be fine though

Thanks for your help jamie.

 

[bronzecat]

He wont get too stressed with just 10 mins of mirror exercise

The only other thing is bacterial infection leading to clamped fins as a symptom. If he shows no improvement or gets worse in the next 24hrs, pop a thread on the Emergencies section. There's a member called Wilder who is pretty up to speed on most infections and their treatment.

 

[Netty]

This text is from www.bettatalk.com

It might be a reaction to being in with the other fish.

Bettas will go into a clamped fin position for a couple of reasons:

*

sickness. A sick betta may have clamped fins. This is especially true when the betta has velvet or other external parasites. This is also often true with bacterial outbreaks, but not always the case. Hence some sick fish may not exhibit clamped fins. Poor water quality or untreated tap water will cause bettas to clamp their fins. So check your water parameters and make sure they are OK!
*

fear. When being manipulated (netted, water changes, released in a new tank) bettas will clamp their fins temporarily. My feeling is that the manipulation makes them nervous and when bettas feel nervous their reaction is to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. By clamping their fins, bettas look smaller and in a hostile environment, being smaller always works in your favor, because you are harder to spot, and may go unnoticed (hence not get eaten by a predator).

Now if your betta has clamped fins AND is not eating, it is a sign that he is sick. Please see my disease page to try to determine what may be wrong with him. If he acts normal and just does not eat a lot from time to time I wouldn't worry too much about it. Some vitamins may be good for him, I recommend Vitamix by Aquatronics.

 

[squiremaster]

perhaps he caught his fins on something sharp in the tank. take a pair of nylons and run them over all the ornaments and items in the tank. if the nylons snag then the item is sharp enough to rip a bettas fins.

i have done this test nothing catches,
its just looks as though his back finis clamped up like its all stuck together?

your telling me those rocks didnt rip a pair of thin tights?

I'm not an expert at this but I don't think that causes the discoloration