My Bettas Tail Is Starting To Shred.

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Lazerus

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Hi all,

I have a little Betta...he's a male and I got him on Wednesday.

He's been doing well, and feeding etc. He's happy enough fluting about the 10gal tank on his own.

This morning I noticed his tail looked a bit ragged. I thought he might have caught it on something during the night.

Just now I looked in the tank, and I notice the tail is further shredded....so I'm a bit puzzled?

There is nothing really in the tank that would lead to his tail being damaged...plus he's been in there so far without incident.

He is not distressed in any way, so I'm not too concerned about his overall health, but just wondering what might be causing this rapid tail erosion?

Now, one thing is, I added Nutrafin Plant gro to the water yesterday evening, this is the only change I have made to the tank....could this be effecting the tissue in his tail? Perhaps its thinning it out and causing it to shred? Is it possible? :unsure:

By the way....I have two pieces of smooth bogwood & a resin log in the tank...plus live planted Amazon swordplants, twisted vallis and round tiny sand-like gravel. (I bought it for my impending Corys so it definitely wouldn't rip the bettas tail )
There is a mature filter in the tank...
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:5ppm
pH: 7.6
 
Maybe a couple of pics will help determine whats going on....

HPIM4675_edited.jpg

HPIM4662_edited-1.jpg


See the edge of his tail has gone all white...and although I can't get a good picture, his tail is ripping and fraying.

Can someone tell me is Melafix used for Bettas or not?....I'm reading conflicting reports on this forum.

How would I go about dosing....I have 38.7L tank (10 US gal). Can I just dose as per the bottles instructions or should I dilute it?

Also, would I need to change the water every day then re-dose, or is it okay just to dose once and re-dose each day as per the instructions on the bottle...it only mentions a 25% water change AFTER the dose has been given for 7 days?

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! :good:
 
It looks like the same problem I had when my betta was biting his own tail. They often do this when they are frustrated or distressed. If you haven't seen him bittinh his tail then it could be the filter. What sort of filter do you use?
 
Looks like it might be fin rot as the ends are discolored. My male has been guilty of biting his tail, but it hasn't turned a different color at the ends.
 
Hi all...

Yeah, having read up a bit more, I do think its fin rot actually.

I've never seen him bite his tail....the filter I use is a Magi Jet 1000 using a spray bar to lessen the flow. Its closed in and there's no way his tail could get caught in it.

I'm going to treat for Fin rot.

So, as per my last question....how do I go about treating with Melafix?

I don't want to over dose him...I've read Melafix is too strong for Bettas.

As I have a filter I don't need to change the water daily, so is it okay that I just add the daily dose as per the instructions, or is there another knack to it?
 
just use at half dosage. :good: ...with clean water and good food he should heal up in no time...
ps- he's purdy! :blush:
 
Hi again all....I think I need more help! :blush:

So, I added Melafix to the tank....as per the Bettafix V's Melafix thread, I added 1ml instead of the recommended 5ml for my 38L tank. (But, do you think I should add more?...up to 2.5ml i.e 50% of dose?)

Now, the reason I'm worried again is that his tail has got worse since this morning... I spent some time looking at him, and trying to assess the situation, when suddenly I caught him attacking his own tail...quite aggressively.

So, this is perhaps what the problem is....? Rather than fin rot? Or maybe its both?

I would be grateful if you could take a look at some pictures of him, and offer any advice as to what I can change in order to make the tank less distressing for him to stop him biting his tail...or is there anything I can do? :unsure:

Ok, this is his tank:

HPIM4729.jpg


The current damage to his tail...as you can see, its much worse than previous picture.


HPIM4702a.jpg

HPIM4716.jpg

HPIM4721.jpg


Here he is, attacking himself... :huh:
HPIM4697.jpg


And finally....here is his bubble nest.

HPIM4713.jpg


So, whats the verdict? Anything obvious that I can do to help him before he pulls himself apart entirely? :look:

Many thanks! :good:



:hyper:
 
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to stop him tail biting. We had a few like that ourselves, they bite them off, they grow back and look gorgeous and then they bite them off again.

You could try to put more things in the tank for him to explore. It may help but there are no guarantees!!!

You'll need to keep the water sparkling clean and if there are no tank mates you could add a small amount of aquarium salt and melafix to help reduce any infection setting in and it will also help the fins repair.
 
Is the glass in the back always reflective like that? I noticed my tail biters got better when they weren't near reflective surfaces. I couldn't just move them to new tanks obviously so I cut plastic canvas to cover the back wall of the tank (on the inside of course) and they improved.

Otherwise, to prevent any infections in the meanwhile I'd add 1 tbsp of aquarium salt per 5 gallons. It will help him heal and prevent infection.

Another option might be to buy one of those floating "betta toys", it might distract him away from biting his own tail.
 
Thanks...

I'll see if I have some more decorations in my cupboard to keep him occupied...also my plants are quite young....so I'm willing them on to grow faster!!! I have the same plants in my other tank and they are taking over the thing!

So a Betta toy is another suggestion...hadn't heard of them! I'll look them up! ;)

I think its just the way the picture was taken that it looks like its reflecting back, might be something to do with the flash on the camera...its actually the side of my tank, not the back but in real life there is no reflection.

But I'll bear it in mind alright..... He's not flaring at himself or anything, would that be a sign that he sees himself?
 
I know some people use ping pong balls floating in their betta tanks as a distraction.
 
Ping pong balls, eh! :lol: Yes, I can see how that would be fun! He'd be 'nosing' it around...ok, I'll see if I can get my hands on one of those. (Actually, maybe I can use a plastic orange from my daughters fruit & veg set ^_^ )

You mightn't see it in the pics, but both pieces of bogwood have hollows in them where he can swim through or hide....also he can swim straight through the log.

I have a spare large resin barrel that I'll put in also. It has dark hidey places in it.

Ok so, hopefully this will help loads...Many thanks.

Oh, and I'll keep up the melafix also....I don't have aquarium salt (or is Epsom salt the same thing? as I have some of that)
 
Epsom salt is good for treating dropsy but not for mending fins. Melafix will do fine :good:

Will be interesting to see the new tank disguised as a fruit salad bowl :lol:
 

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