Tail worse than ever! Agh help!

[Raechal]

So I moved my male betta to his own 10 gallon a few days ago where I am treating him with melafix and a little salt. I took the female out of the 120 gallon and put her in the 2 gallon bowl until the rest of the females get here so I can add them all at once hopefully she will blend in with the 12 I am getting in a few days.

So I sat the bowl infront of the male's 10 gallon because that is the only place I have for it right now. At first he starting flaring at her and just going wild! And my female was kind of flaring back (can females flare? because it looked like mine was flaring just a tiny bit?) and they were all excited and happy and that is when I saw it!

My male betta looks like it has 3 tails! His tail is severely split into 3 parts. I am just hoping they do this when they get excited? But I highly doubt it. I have been doing regular partial water changes and nitrites and ammonia are at 0 and nitrates are at about 5. What should I do? The black edges around his tail are getting longer. I will try to take some pics if I have time before school.

 

[D Chia]

At first he starting flaring at her and just going wild! And my female was kind of flaring back (can females flare? because it looked like mine was flaring just a tiny bit?) and they were all excited and happy and that is when I saw it!

Like males, females do flare too.

My male betta looks like it has 3 tails! His tail is severely split into 3 parts.

Vigorous activity like prolonged flaring, displaying or spawning may result in fin damage, especially in half-moon and super delta tail bettas. Treating with MelaFix® and keeping the water clean will help the tail's tissue to regenerate. How well the tail heals will depend on the extend of the damage.

 

[SRC]

Giving him a salt bath everyday for about 30 min each will also help speed up the re-growth process some.

 

[Raechal]

Well he only saw her for like a minute and then I put a divider between the tanks so he can't see her anymore.

I am worried. So I should just continue treating with melafix and salt baths?

 

[BettaMomma]

Don't be too worried about the tail splits.
Most of my boys have gone through that at one time or another.
With good clean water, some salt and some time they'll heal up very nicely.
In fact, some of my boys' tail strips started healing back up very nicely within a few days.

Currently, NOBODY within my brood has any splits in their tails.

Now, for the black stuff on his fins progressing, I'd watch that like a hawk. You will wanna medicate for that stuff. I have tried melafix and haven't had much luck with it, but others have. Good clean water is the best thing to keep it under control - and a pinch of salt too. If it gets to the point where it's really bad you might need to go to a stronger med like Maracyn but then I also have been told by one of the mods here that colloidal silver takes care of ANYTHING that bettas can try to test you with health-wise.

Good luck !

 

[Raechal]

Thanks, yea the black stuff is like traveling further up his tail. I've been adding melafix in the morning and then doing a 50% water change the morning after. I also added like a tablespoon of salt. He seemed to be getting better until today when I saw his tail was split. I will finish up the 7 days with the melafix and see if that works and if it doens't I will have to buy something stronger I suppose. Should I just add a tablespoon of salt to his main tank everyday with a 50% water change, or do heavy salt baths for like 20 minutes?

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm...
that's a good question.
I'll let someone else answer that for you.
I just do pinches of salt into my tanks after water changes, but I have tiny tanks so I wouldn't be a good one to answer your question.

The splits should be fine, though - that's usually pretty easy to heal back up with the right water conditions.

 

[BettaMomma]

How's the tail looking this evening??

 

[Raechal]

Okay so I gave him a 20 minute saltbath lastnight and he kept breathing air from the surface more than usual, so I put a small airstone in the water he was taking the salt bath in. Then after 20 minutes I returned him to his tank and he started swimming everywhere! Like he was glad to be back.

The fins look the same, still split and black around the edges, but hopefully everything will heal up nicely by the end of this week.

 

[BettaMomma]

Great!
Keep us posted