siamese fighter trouble

[nicki82]

Hi
I have a white siamese fighter which I am keeping in a small bowl of water whilst my proper tank cycles. All that I have added to this water is water conditioner. The bowl is empty of any plants and so on and I change the water twice a week about 50%. Today I noticed that the fighters fins are bright red with blood at some of the fin tips and I have no idea how it could have happened as I said before the bowl is empty. Is it possible the fighter was nipping itself because it saw its reflection in the bowl? Or is it some kind of fish disease? Its swimming and eating normally! help!

 

[black angel]

it could be high ammonia or nitrite levels. do you test the water?

how much water is he being kept in and is it heated. bettas do best at around 80f.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Some types of fin rot also manifest themselves as bloodied fin tips which slowly deteriorate. If you don't observe him nipping himself (which seems doubtful), it is probably either finrot, ammonia/nitrite, or maybe even the early stages of septicemia.

 

[Flashfire]

Finrot remedies can be found easily

 

[nicki82]

Hi just reporting an update on the condition for the use of other fish keepers! the red outline on the fin tips was indeed the beginnings of fin rot caused by a bacteria in the water bowl so i changed the water 100% for 2 days , then placed my betta in the cycled community tank and the symptoms disappeared.

 

[SRC]

Just for the sake of saying...

Anytime you keep a betta in anything smaller then a 1 gallon tank...you really should change the water daily (every 2 at the most), to keep the amonia from builing up. Otherwise they will get fin rot everytime. If they have fin rot...you should change it 100% everyday.

Keep an eye on your fish, just becasue the redness went away..doesn't mean the fin rot is gone, it's usually not that easy to just "clear up". If his fins get raggedy or fray in any way..I would treat him immediantly. Him being a white fish, it will be hard to keep up with, unlike colored fish, their fins turn clear-ish when they have fin rot.

If you don't have any cory's or plec's in your tank..I would add 1tsp of aquarium salt for every 10 gallons, just for extra comfort.

 

[nicki82]

hi
my fish is doing fine yipee