New To Bettas

[Nexi]

You guys probably get asked this a lot, so I'm sorry if there is a general info thread somewhere.

I got a betta around 1 week ago along with a few sunset platy, this morning I woke up and fed them and nothing had changed, but around an hour after feeding them I glanced over and the betta is flaring at the platys and has a hole in his tail.

Would the platy have done this? I have thought about fin rot because the end of his tail is a little transparent but I think that might just be his normal color(he is very dark crimson in the body nearly black with bright red fins), also I don't think fin rot would work that fast would it?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Do you have a pic? Will be easier to see if its fin rot or not( i doubt it is though)It could of been the platty's hence why he was flaring warning them to back off. What size is the tank they are in?

 

[betaphish]

http/www.bettafish.com this goes into further detail about bettas. It is impossible to register.
If it's transparent it might mean it's growing back.

 

[Hmongol]

Hi nexi, it could be the platy as well or if you have plastic plants or sharp decor.
I've had a halfmoon betta in my tank for 4 months along with some tetras and nothing has happened since than until recently there was a giant tear at the end of his tail which was obviously a nip... it's always going to happen but usually it's always during the night, I find that fish change attitude in the dark.

 

[Nexi]

Hi, sorry I haven't replied to anyone. I took him to the pet store down the road who deal with bettas quite a bit and they said that the water conditions were poor and his fins are deteriorating because of it. That was on the day I posted and his tail has actually gotten worse. I'm using a friends android to take these pictures so sorry that they are kind of bad quality I took the best I could.

Basically it doesn't look like it's rotting. It's more like his tail has been shredded and the rest of his fins just look ragged. Should I just keep doing my weekly 10% water changes and wait it out or is there something I need to change?

The tank is 30L it has the betta and 4 plattys inside it. I have checked the decorations inside it to see if they could tear his fins but they are fine.

 

[The_Betta_Lady]

Brightly coloured fish are always bad to keep with Bettas as they see them as a threat and will fight with them which can cause problems. The tank size is lovely and the plants look real so they wont be a problem. He doesn't have finrot. So yea I would say the plattys are you problem. The thing with Bettas is they are territorial and see other brightly coloured fish as a threat, especially ones that swim mainly mid tank. Any way I hope it was a one off and that what i have said is of some help

 

[Nexi]

Brightly coloured fish are always bad to keep with Bettas as they see them as a threat and will fight with them which can cause problems. The tank size is lovely and the plants look real so they wont be a problem. He doesn't have finrot. So yea I would say the plattys are you problem. The thing with Bettas is they are territorial and see other brightly coloured fish as a threat, especially ones that swim mainly mid tank. Any way I hope it was a one off and that what i have said is of some help

Thanks for the reply. I will keep that in mind but would they be why his tail is looking shredded?
He hasn't flared at them at all since I saw the hole in his tail and he never did before that.

 

[The_Betta_Lady]

What you also have to take into account is that he done it to himself. Some bettas get stressed out and bite there own tails, they also can do it when they get bored. I did quite a bit of looking into this when a friend of mine had a fish that seemed to get shredded over night. Since then I have seen more cases.

As I say there is more than 1 reason for it. Firstly stress, if water currents are too high or he feels threatened. Remedy take away what has stressed him. Secondly, boredom/habit. Remedy move his ornaments around and rearrange his tank on a regular basis.

Just watch him and if he seems to get worse, think about what I have said

 

[Nexi]

What you also have to take into account is that he done it to himself. Some bettas get stressed out and bite there own tails, they also can do it when they get bored. I did quite a bit of looking into this when a friend of mine had a fish that seemed to get shredded over night. Since then I have seen more cases.

As I say there is more than 1 reason for it. Firstly stress, if water currents are too high or he feels threatened. Remedy take away what has stressed him. Secondly, boredom/habit. Remedy move his ornaments around and rearrange his tank on a regular basis.

Just watch him and if he seems to get worse, think about what I have said

Thanks a ton.

 

[Louiseness]

Hi, sorry I haven't replied to anyone. I took him to the pet store down the road who deal with bettas quite a bit and they said that the water conditions were poor and his fins are deteriorating because of it.

I wouldn't look for more complicated explanations to be honest, this could well be the case.

Fin rot can certainly look liked ragged/shredded fins, especially in the early stages. If the shop told you your water quality was poor you need to remedy that straight away. Do you have your own testing kit? If you do, could you tell us the water parameters please, particularly for ammonia and nitrite. If not, what parameters did the shop tell you you had?

Also, how long have you had these fish, and did you cycle the tank?

 

[The_Betta_Lady]

Hi, sorry I haven't replied to anyone. I took him to the pet store down the road who deal with bettas quite a bit and they said that the water conditions were poor and his fins are deteriorating because of it.

I wouldn't look for more complicated explanations to be honest, this could well be the case.

Fin rot can certainly look liked ragged/shredded fins, especially in the early stages. If the shop told you your water quality was poor you need to remedy that straight away. Do you have your own testing kit? If you do, could you tell us the water parameters please, particularly for ammonia and nitrite. If not, what parameters did the shop tell you you had?

Also, how long have you had these fish, and did you cycle the tank?

Sorry I didn't read this bit fully. Still doesn't look like rot to me but clean water and a little bit of bettafix of Melafix will work on his fins a treat. Also it cant hurt to know all the possibilities.

Tanks don't need to be cycled for bettas as long as water changes are done. I never filtered most of my tanks as sponge filters took up to much of my space. Tip is to always test you own water on a regular basis.

 

[Louiseness]

Tanks don't need to be cycled for bettas as long as water changes are done. I never filtered most of my tanks as sponge filters took up to much of my space. Tip is to always test you own water on a regular basis.

RE: testing the water - the OP needs to know this is the crucial part. I don't disagree with keeping bettas in unfiltered tanks (I've done it before myself) but I was doing a 50% water change every two days on a 60L tank. The OP's mention of 10% weekly water changes is not nearly enough for a non-filtered or uncycled tank IMO, which would be the first problem to solve, especially if they've already had water tested and been told it's poor quality.

 

[Nexi]

Tank was filled with water with filter running + cycle put in every day for 3 days before I put the fish in. When the person at the pet store tested the water they said there wasn't enough ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in the water or something along those lines.

I have done 2 50% water changes since the fin was damaged hoping it would help a little.

 

[Louiseness]

Tank was filled with water with filter running + cycle put in every day for 3 days before I put the fish in. When the person at the pet store tested the water they said there wasn't enough ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in the water or something along those lines.

I have done 2 50% water changes since the fin was damaged hoping it would help a little.

Well the ideal water has NO ammonia and nitrite and very little nitrate, so there would be no reason why the person at the shop was saying there wasn't enough.

I'm sorry to break it to you, but what you did doesn't cycle your tank at all There is some great information about both fishless and fish-in cycling in the beginners resource centre that you might want to read through to help you understand.

Basically, what you;re doing now is a fish-in cycle and I'd bet money that that's the cause of these ragged looking fins. The first thing you need to do is get yourself a liquid test kit that tests for at least ammonia and nitrite. Then you'll be able to find out your actual water parameters which are very important to know.

How big is your tank (dimension/capacity)? Unless it's a big one I'd be changing 50% of water every day until you get that test kit as build ups of ammonia and nitrite can kill your fish.

 

[Nexi]

He died.... :'( Gona take the platys back and just have a betta in the tank from a store that keeps them in full sized tanks. Water is apparently fine so I'm guessing he was sick when I got him because they kept him in a really tiny tank next to a bunch of others and the stress of the new tank + fish must have been too much.

Thanks for your help with him.