Shredded Fins

[natalie265]

Just noticed today that my HM's tail is SHREDDED. I mean, there isn't much tail left. What happened I've had him for several months and this happened very suddenly. I have never seen him nipping at his own fins, as i've heard some bettas do. There is a piece of drift wood in his tank and some live plants. Could he have snagged his tail on the drift wood somehow?

My only other theory: could he have hopped the barrier between him and my other betta, gotten his #16##### kicked, then hopped back over? My other betta doesn't show any signs of a fight, but he is a CT and it might be harder to tell. Or maybe he just came out of it unscathed. I did notice that he is now flaring at the other betta, which i've never observed him doing before. But, how likely is it that he'd hop over AND hop back without me noticing?

Any ideas??? I'm dumbfounded. I can't believe how horrible he looks!

What should i do for the poor guy? I just did a big water change, and always keep my water stats really good anyhow, but should i be putting an additive in the water to help prevent infection? He is (was) a stunningly beautiful fish (hence his name "Beau") and i'd really hate to loose him.

 

[tom130691]

i think theory 2 is a fial as i thought they fight till one dies and never back down/run away?
could it be fin rot?

 

[Honeythorn]

i think theory 2 is a fial as i thought they fight till one dies and never back down/run away?
could it be fin rot?

No, they do not always fight to the death. If there is a way to escape after a defeat then it will be taken unless the injuries are too great. Death would occur if there was absolutely no escape at all.

Either theory could be true. How tall is the divider? It should almost reach the top of the glass and be well above the waterline. Bettas can jump pretty high/far. You should also check there are no gaps in the sides of the divider that he may have squeezed through.

Bogwood is always an iffy bit of decor for long finned fish as there could be all manner of hidden splinters sticking out that you may not have seen. Bettas do love to cram themselves in small spaces >.<

But squeezing past bogwood should theoretically only rip his tail a couple of times.

If his tail is completely shredded then I would say he may have leaped the divider and fought.


Another thing to consider, where is your filter in the tank? If it's an internal cannister type, and is in his section, then he could have been resting and got himself sucked against the side of the intake and had his fins sucked in, trying to pull free could easily rip the tail if that happened.

 

[Tortea]

SAme thing happened to me, it got in a fight with a ram, but anyway he didn't have any fin at all anymore, but it did grow back after i moved him into the hospital tank.

 

[Honeythorn]

A half dose of melafix and keeping the water very clean will help to heal the fins . Adding IAL leaf or it's extract if you don't already, is also a good way to help with healing and general health as it contains natural antibacterial properties.

 

[natalie265]

Well, the filter IS on his half of the tank, but i just stuck my hand in there, and the intake has very little suction. I don't think the filter did the damage.

The tank divider is NOT well above the water line. And there IS a small space above the tank that i suppose a betta COULD get through. I'm going to lower the water as soon as i finish this post.

I don't have any IAL but i DO have oak leaves in the tank, as well as the tannins from the drift wood. Not sure it does the same thing, but i'd have to special order IAL and it's too late for that. I WILL pick up some melafix though.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[woodstock]

Actually, please don't use Melafix.

Melafix is very dangerous (and possibly lethal) to any kind of labrynth fish. There's an ingredient in there, I'm not specifically sure which one, that is very dangerous to all labrynth fish. It constantly acts as an overdose to them.
So please, consider another medication for him! I'm sure there is another.

Me, what I use for them is ... Garlic! (juice)

I ALWAYS soak their food in garlic juice before feeding it to them (usually around 1 minute or so). It's great great great for their immune systems. Garlic and water changes are always the first step for me when anything goes wrong. To them, garlic is just the magic stuff
I've never heard of a failure with garlic either.

 

[loraxchick]

Actually, please don't use Melafix.

Melafix is very dangerous (and possibly lethal) to any kind of labrynth fish. There's an ingredient in there, I'm not specifically sure which one, that is very dangerous to all labrynth fish. It constantly acts as an overdose to them.
So please, consider another medication for him! I'm sure there is another.

Me, what I use for their tails in ... Garlic! (juice)

I ALWAYS soak their food in garlic juice before feeding it to them (usually around 1 minute or so). It's great great great for their immune systems. Garlic and water changes are always the first step for me when anything goes wrong. To them, garlic is just the magic stuff
I've never heard of a failure with garlic either.

i agree 100% do not use melafix with bettas. while some have no reaction, some bettas can NOT tolerate it! i learned the hard way when i started out with them.
#1 id suspet the filter. it is calm as you say, so perhaps not.
#2. finrot. it can happen very quickly with giant chunks missing. on the fins that are left,. do any look transparent in parts? or like the color is getting "thin"? any pinhole marks on the fins?
#3. somehow he jumped into the other tank, fought and then jumped back, but honestly this scenario is HIGHLY unlikely. you would almost certainly see damage on both fish, and the likelihood of that fish jumping unscathed without a landing on the floor twice is very small.
best advice i can give is to put some sort of cover between the tanks (so he cant jump over again if that were the case) and to cover the filter intake with some pantyhose (to rule that out). then just do some partial water changes throughout the week just in case. dont use melafix if clean water isnt enough on its own, antibiotics are much less risky for a betta. but 90% of the time clean water will sort out any sort of damage with no need for meds. maybe put some dark paper between the tanks so he cant see the other guy to cut down on stress until there is improvement in his fins.
cheers

 

[woodstock]

I forgot to mention - please don't compare human strength to fish strength. Especially smaller ones, like bettas. Sure, they fight, but that's when they are intentionally agressive and actually ATTEMPT to fight back. Their tails are oh-so delicate. Are there any plants near your filter? Is it near the ground? (the intake, I mean). This has happened to be countless times.
I put a plant by the filter. My betta slept in it. It shredded. I never put the plant there again, nor did I ever have any problems. And I put my filter to the weakest level. It's still all too possible it could be the filter.

I actually suspect him jumping over twice as well, but I'm just saying about the filter.

Actually, please don't use Melafix.

Melafix is very dangerous (and possibly lethal) to any kind of labrynth fish. There's an ingredient in there, I'm not specifically sure which one, that is very dangerous to all labrynth fish. It constantly acts as an overdose to them.
So please, consider another medication for him! I'm sure there is another.

Me, what I use for their tails in ... Garlic! (juice)

I ALWAYS soak their food in garlic juice before feeding it to them (usually around 1 minute or so). It's great great great for their immune systems. Garlic and water changes are always the first step for me when anything goes wrong. To them, garlic is just the magic stuff
I've never heard of a failure with garlic either.

i agree 100% do not use melafix with bettas. while some have no reaction, some bettas can NOT tolerate it! i learned the hard way when i started out with them.
#1 id suspet the filter. it is calm as you say, so perhaps not.
#2. finrot. it can happen very quickly with giant chunks missing. on the fins that are left,. do any look transparent in parts? or like the color is getting "thin"? any pinhole marks on the fins?
#3. somehow he jumped into the other tank, fought and then jumped back, but honestly this scenario is HIGHLY unlikely. you would almost certainly see damage on both fish, and the likelihood of that fish jumping unscathed without a landing on the floor twice is very small.
best advice i can give is to put some sort of cover between the tanks (so he cant jump over again if that were the case) and to cover the filter intake with some pantyhose (to rule that out). then just do some partial water changes throughout the week just in case. dont use melafix if clean water isnt enough on its own, antibiotics are much less risky for a betta. but 90% of the time clean water will sort out any sort of damage with no need for meds. maybe put some dark paper between the tanks so he cant see the other guy to cut down on stress until there is improvement in his fins.
cheers

Actually, betta fish jumping isn't a surprise. At all... and IMO, when two fish are fighting, it would make sense for the weaker to just run, right? If he came in by jumping, it's possibly he escaped by jumping as well. And the OP did say it was possible for a jump. Yeah, bettas are insane jumpers. Didn't learn the hard way (thank goodness), but I do see it often if I put my hand above my bettas about 4inches up.

 

[Honeythorn]

There is a reason I reccomended a half dose you know.

 

[woodstock]

Ahhh..half a dose or not, it doesn't change the fact there is a dangerous ingredient in there... and again, it doesn't matter the dose, the fact that there's a dangerous ingredient in there practically makes it a constant overdose anyway! I don't want to start an argument or anything, but it's dangerously risky with Melafix. I've never used bettafix or primafix, but I'm sure those are some alternative.

And again, use garlic juice. Works wonders

 

[natalie265]

Okay, i'm nixing the melafix.

No, the fins do not look transparent at all. Also no pin holes.

I really don't think that this particular filter could do that much damage. I'm not ruling it out entirely though. Maybe i should switch to a sponge filter just to be safe. Still, i hate to buy a new filter when i have a perfectly good one. I don't know. I think i'm leaning towards the theory that he jumped the divider. The water was only about an inch and a half below the top of the divider. If someone has a betta that can jump four inches (!!!), i'm pretty sure mine could have gone over. Wish i'd been more careful.

 

[woodstock]

Yeah, mine did once and only once. It FREAKED me out. But I was there, and i think he was trying to get to my hand (I was fixing the hood. Guess he was hungry. But he's okay )
But 4'' may be a little exaggerated... I have a divided, and water level is 2inches flat below the divider. Well, frankly, he jumped waaay over that.

What kind of filter is it? One with an intake tube? I guess the main thing with the tube is that there shouldn't be anything close to it that he could rest on. That was my main issue. But if the intake tube is seriously left alone and he doesn't seem to hang out by it, then it very possibly couldn't be the filter. I was just sayin'. Plus if the fins are REALLY REALLY that bad, then I doubt the filter more. And I was thinking the same thing. I should get a sponge filter, but mine works just plain fine so it's really a waste...

 

[betta fish]

Personally I don't think it was the filter or the other betta that shredded the tail I think the betta did it to himself, of all the tail biters I have had they have all been halfmoons, I had an identical setup to yours and ended up with the same problem, though I had a plakat on one side and a halfmoon on the other, one day I found the halfmoon shredded, once they get going they can be relentless, I saw him doing it to himself, he now has his own 5 gallon tank and has grown his fins back fine, I think it was just the stress of being so close to the other betta that did it.

 

[natalie265]

Personally I don't think it was the filter or the other betta that shredded the tail I think the betta did it to himself, of all the tail biters I have had they have all been halfmoons, I had an identical setup to yours and ended up with the same problem, though I had a plakat on one side and a halfmoon on the other, one day I found the halfmoon shredded, once they get going they can be relentless, I saw him doing it to himself, he now has his own 5 gallon tank and has grown his fins back fine, I think it was just the stress of being so close to the other betta that did it.

Well, i will definitely keep an eye on him. But so far, i haven't seen him bite at himself, ever.

As for the filter, it is a little hang on back. The intake isn't really near any of the plants or driftwood.