my betta

[cutecotton]

i have two male bettas, a blue and a red one. Today, my dad took the blue betta and stuck it in the red one now the blue is missing a big chunk of its' tail what should i do *panics* it seems really jittery/nervous, IN LOTS OF PAIN, i'm worried that the chunk of tail missing may cause fin rot to the rest of the tail (that would be terrible). Is there anything i can do for it other than sit here nad stare??

the red one's alright, it eat most of hte fins tho...i hop eit doen'st start developing digestive problems from it ahhhhhhh

help

 

[Teelie]

Why would he do that? The tail will grow back in time though if it got to the body of the fish you may have an infection problem. Get some Bettafix or another medicine to treat the Betta and follow it's directions. Since the tail damage is so severe your fish may still die but treating it with medicine will help reduce that.

 

[cutecotton]

i'ts body is definitely alright, but i'm jsut worriedt hat this is gonna cuase stress to my fish which mihgt allow other disease to come up. i put in some aquarium salt as soon as i found out he's hurt, though now his tail is all clamped up but he's still moving around the tank alot (is that a good sign)?

He's not missing ALL his tail or anything, but roughly like a strand of it is missing...i dont' have a camera at the moment to take a picture, i can roughly darw in with an older pic that i have..umm how do i put a pic up here? i dont' see that thing at the bottom that lets me browse to teh pics

i just dont' know how badly it's wounded

 

[Teelie]

If it's not as far as the body that's good. It's less likely to cause infection but you are right to worry about stress. Keep his bowl covered so it's dark (helps them destress) and try to keep him medicated for the next few days.

 

[cutecotton]

really? darkness hleps them de-stress? i always though tsunlight and stuff was good for them so i try to keep them in the sun during the day (not too much), i'll get a cloth and put it over my betta overnight...should i leave it on during the day as well?

will the betta heal by itself if i just keep changing it's water ever 2 days, put salt in it and feed it well? honestly, the medicine for fin rot here is 4x the price of my betta...

it's a thin strand of tail missing, and goes to about 2/3 of my bett'as tail...is that severe? it's a thin strand tho..by thin i mean apprxomiately...3mm wide (when it's nto flaring)

 

[Teelie]

Darkness destresses them because they think it's night time, so they'll go to sleep or rest and usually they aren't as worried about being spotted by predators. I don't think you need the salt though and yes the fin will heal on its own over a period of several months. You may not notice the healing for a long time but it will heal up. Don't worry about changing the water too often. Just 10% every few days until he looks better. Water changes can also stress some fish out.

 

[cutecotton]

alright, theyr'e in a tiny litlte bowl so when i do water changes i sually do over 50% (i'm not sure if that's healhty but i fi don't the water seems to remain pretyt dirty still) but i'll try adn cut down the amoutn of new water put in these few days so the fish doesn't get to stressed. Is it possible for fin rot to develo wtih this wound? also, would the fish that swallowed the fin have any digestive problems? (i dont' know if betta fins are hard and spiky )

i covered both my betta's bowl with a grey and purple cloth, hoepfully ti'll calm down a little. Will the fins ever fully recover? or will there always be a litlte chunk missing?


thansk a lot for your help teelie i needed some reassurance to their condition

 

[Teelie]

There is a possibilty of fin rot developing but it's not a definite thing. The tail may never fully heal to the original size and shape but it will heal up on its own eventually. This is a common occurence in the wild and they recover from it there with much less hygenic water conditions.

I just read another thread where someone suggested treating nipped fins with salt but I don't think it's a good idea with Betta. Of course I could be wrong but I don't like to add salt unless necessary.

 

[cutecotton]

okay, i guess there isn't much i can do at the moment besides staring at my betta... i just want it to LIVE rather htan that from some terrible disase due to infection or something

why would'nt salt be a good idea for betta htough? i thought it protects the fish or something (but is bad against scaleless fish)?

 

[Teelie]

Salt can cause burns on the fishes body if not properly diluted before adding to the water (something many people don't realize) and some fish cannot tolerate any amount of salt. Betta never struck me as a salt-liking type though that doesn't mean they aren't, I just don't think salt is needed. Betta are also more sensitive to treatments than most fish and salt is a treatment they could be sensitive to.

 

[cutecotton]

hmmm...interesting, i've been sprinkling a lilte bit of aqarium salt into my betta's bowls every water change... but then again, how can i tell if they're sensitive to the salt?

 

[Teelie]

You'll see marks on the body and they'll act agitated or strangely if the salt is bothering them when you add the salt into the water.

 

[cutecotton]

hmm i usally mix in the salt in the new water before putting the betta in..never seem to notice a lot of agitation...by marks do you mean white spots or bumps?

strange little things.. i think my blue betta had a litlte bit of ich once so i put in the ich treatment and after a day or two it went away, then i kept putting the treatment in for another 3 - 4 water changes and it seems fine (i put salt along wtih the ich medication too).

ahh anyways, i'm just gonan leave them for now and let them heal...do you think the red one wlil be alright? (the one that swallowed the blue's fin )

 

[Teelie]

It's good you mix it before adding it. That dilutes it to where it's not so concentrated. The marks will look off from the rest of the color. Usually darker or redder than the rest of the body.

The other guy should be alright, he'll be full for a few days and shouldn't need feeding. It's also best to give him some time to clean his digestive tract of anything left over in there as well.

Fish are more hardy than we give them credit for, it's just when they take a injury or get stressed they can quickly collapse from it. When I was working at my local LFS, we had a Betta jump from its jar and was on the floor for who knows how long until I found him that morning. He went in the jar, had some dirt on him and laid there for a while but then he was all better, except a fleck of dirt was on his side.

 

[cutecotton]

wow, they are hardy fish. That's incredible lol. I think the red guy will be alright, he'll be doing some fasting for the next little while though.

I'm going to try and keep the cloth over hte blue's bowl for a while, feed him steadily and do regular water changes wtih a hint of salt, if he seems already after a few days i'll just take out the salt and hopes that he'll be alright