New Betta - concerns about possible fin rot

Fishy_Dan

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Hello!

I recently picked up a new Betta, he seemed very active in the shop, good colour, and bright eyes. He's been very active in his new tank. He was incredibly aggressive towards a nerite snail resident when he first went in, but thankfully he ignores him now. Shortly after I got him home I noticed some transulscent sections on his tail fin and some dark colouration along the tip.
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I've been keeping an eye on it and while the tail fin seems to be generally ok, one small hole seems to have appeared (can't be seen below, light is off at the moment), but more worrying is the dorsal fin now seems to be clumped together at the tip.
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Should I be worried about his fins? He's quite small, so quite young I would guess.

Would you consider treating him? Or might he start to improve after a few weeks in my tank? This tank is long established, 60L, been running for over 3 years, Am/Ni/Na are 0/0/20 as tap water here comes out at 30 nitrates. It's heavily planted, filtered with a baffle to lower the flow, and heated to 79F.

Thanks for taking a look.

Dan
 
Not fin rot. He's fine. Do not treat. The black edging is common in solid red bettas, as is the translucent part of the fin. And the dorsal fin issue is also commonly seen on long-finned bettas and not indicative of disease. The small hole is the result of flaring. There does appear to be a split on his anal fin, which you didn't mention, which could be a tear or the result of him biting it. That too would be aggravated by flaring. Keep an eye on it. Was it always there or might there be something sharp in the tank that caused it? Keep the water clean, keep up on your water changes, and all should be fine.
 
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Not fin rot. He's fine. Do not treat. The black edging is common in solid red bettas, as is the translucent part of the fin. And the dorsal fin issue is also commonly seen on long-finned bettas and not indicative of disease. The small hole is the result of flaring. There does appear to be a split on his anal fin, which you didn't mention, which could be s tear or the result of him biting it. That too would be aggravated by flaring. Keep an eye on it. Was it always there or might there be something sharp in the tank that caused it? Keep the water clean, keep up on your water changes, and all should be fine.
Thanks. That's a relief, I guess. As I said he's very aggressive. He was going crazy about the nerite snail for a full 36 hours. Flaring and attempting to bite his shell. The snail is fine and completely left alone now. He also gets agitated every time I get close to the tank.

You think all that flaring is damaging his fins? That doesn't sound good for the long run. Hopefully he chills out a bit.
 
The damage from flaring is usually minimal and short term. He's likely to chill over time...and age. The most telltale sign of excessive flaring are pin holes. Which are harmless as long as you maintain water quality.
 

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