Iām realitively new to the fish world, however Iāve done extensive research on Bettas over the past month before making the commitment to own a betta fish. Before adopting my little guy I acquired a 5.5 gallon filtered tank and a 50 watt heater. Right now Iām only treating the water with nutrafin betta plus and do not have any live plants. The water temperature is 76Ā° and pristine. The water tests have checked out and everything is as it should be.
As for my betta who Iāve named Guthrie, he is a bit of a rescue fish. Iāve seen posts of Bettas in a lot worse condition, but this little guy was far from healthy when I found him at the store. He was being held in a communal tank with other Bettas only separated by a grid of plexi glass. It didnāt feel right to take home one of the show stopper Bettas on display when he looked so distressed and defeated so I made the decision to adopt him instead. Iām not sure what kind of betta he is as he is missing a fair amount of his fins, and what fins he has are fairly shredded. The employee at the store didnāt know either, guessing he was either a crown tail, half moon or moon tail betta. (Perhaps someone can help identify what kind of betta he is?) She thought he was crown tail because of his shredded fins but Iām pretty sure theyāre shredded due to distress/disease.
Iāve had him for one week and heās really come to life! Heās extremely active and loves to speed swim. Heās very social and gets so excited when I come up to his tank! Iām also happy to report that thereās a significant amount of new fin growth on his top and bottom fins. What Iām worried about most at this point is the shredding of his rear fin, it seems to have gotten a lot worse since bringing him home. Iām thinking he may have fin rot but not 100% sure. Could he be bitting his tail? Or, if he really is a crowntail betta, is that what his fin is supposed to look like?
Iāve also thought about getting a slew of API products (stress coat, bettafix, zyme etc) however I was told by a pro betta owner that the betta plus solution along with warm, clean water was the best plan of attack and that adding all these chemicals and solutions could do more harm than good. Any suggestions or opinions on this? ...the nutrafin betta plus Iām using contains tropical almond leaf extract and says it protects scales and fins, and makes water safe. Im feeding him north fin betta bits. Should I be adding an antibiotic to his tank?
One other thing I may have done that may not have been a good idea, was that I have a few soft plastic plants in the tank. Iām not overly concerned as he completely avoids them (theyāre bunched in the corner hidding the filter intake and water heater) and he prefers the other half of the tank where itās empty and he can swim in circles at full speed.
In conclusion, if anyone has any tips or suggestions on what more I can do to help this guy regrow his fins and stop the shredding, or if anyone can identity what the problem/cause of his shredded and missing fins are, or are able to identify what kind of betta he is, that would be much appreciated!
