what happened to his tail?!?!?

[maui]

ahhh! so my bro comes over to check out my fish, takes one look at my boy Zeek and asks "Why do you like him so much? He's got a demented tail."
Well he didnt have a "demented tail" this morning.
Something horrible has happened to Zeek's tail, it looks like its been shredded!
I dont know what coulda happened to him, there isnt anything sharp in his tank -he has a snail buddy, filter and smooth rocks. There is a big chunk of his lovely tail missing - i'm sooo sad
I'm going to do a water change and add some melafix tonight. Any thing else i could do for him?
Any suggestions on what may have caused this would be awesome, i really want to avoid it ever happening again.

Zeek before:

 

[maui]

zeek after:
i've heard of betta biting their own tails, could this be a case of that?
edit: his colours look so different as the first pic was taken in the afternoon on a very sunny day and the second was taken tonight with the flash.

 

[leck85]

it could be tail rot.. i would definately treat him

 

[maui]

ewwww! rot?!?! that fast?! it was only like... 10hours... oh man oh man!
*stressing!*

 

[JoKeR]

Betta Max.....

SALT BATH!

FAST!

 

[maui]

eee! betta max? is that for rot? i have maracyn 1 and 2, tetracycline and JEF... would one of those be better?
how about increasing the temp of his tank as well?
edit: i'm really unsure about calling it fin rot thou - here are some more pics, maybe they'll help.
i'll start getting read to give him a salt bath.

 

[maui]

another pic:
sorry bout the flash in these

 

[JoKeR]

Thats defitnetly fin-rot

Try marcine but careful...Dont overdose...

 

[juliethegr8t]

Actually doesn't look like fin rot to me. Looks like he had too much fun overnight. My fish do this all the time, in fact, they rarely are up to their full finnage. Anyways, keep his water extra clean, even changing some everyday or every other, and it should heal great. You can add aquarium salt too, or bettamax. Even melafix may help.

 

[maui]

hummm *kinda confused now*
he does have a buddy in the tank next to him, they always flare and look at each other... maybe he got a little toooo in to it this afternoon?

i think i'll give him a salt bath... do any of you folks have some good instructions for that, i've got some but they are rather vague... heat the water to 80, use one tablespoon for 1gal, place him in a cup in the water, release him for 15min then float him in a cup again before releasing him to his tank.... how long do i float him to get him used to the change in temp?

i'll do a full tank cleaning and wate change tonite, plus salt and melafix.

 

[cutecotton]

well, i agree wtih julie, it doesnt' look like finrot to me, it just looks like he decdied to chew his own tail off

i had a betta like that. What i would do is raise teh temperatuer up to 80, put in some finrot medication or something to PREVENT it (becuase wounded tails would lead to fin rot if left untreated). Also, read the packaging on your salt, it should tell you how much to put in. Mine is 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons. I would put the appropiate amount in there.

Personally i wouldn't put him in a bath, i woudl just put the right amoutn of slat into his tank. This prevents him from having to switch tanks all the time.

Also, if you think he may be stressd, i would keep a cloth over his tank to stop him from seeing his neighbor, and give him more time to rest rather than try to flare wtih his tail.

Another thing, keep up with the water changes right now, finrot is mostly cuased by bad water quality. If his tank has no filtration, i would change the water every other day to prevent bacteria build up

HTH

 

[Synirr]

It looks like he just shredded it, but it could be fin rot also.
One of my fishies shredded his tail like that once... just nibbled on it overnight, I guess. I've also had a case where I saw a little pin hole in a betta's fin and I immediately did a water change and added some maracyn, but the next day half his tail was gone!

 

[maui]

thanks for all the advice guys, its really helps.
i gave him a short salt bath while i changed his water, he is currently sitting in a cup in his new water - adjusting to the temp.
i will add the regular dose of salt to his tank plus some maracyn - can i use melafix at the same time? or is that tooo much?
he's in a 3.5gal tank with a filter, i'm not sure what i should do in the way of water changes for that...
i'm gonna "sheild him" for the others for a while, he gets pretty excited when he sees his buddies and i dont wanna stress him out too much.

 

[cutecotton]

well if you're going to use medication, remember to take out the activated carbon part of the filter! or u'll be throwing your money down the drain

i'm not sure which medication (or if you can use both at the same time), i wouldn't use both. Coudltn' tell you which one woudl work better htough

how often do you do this water changes now? once a week? i would just double (ex if you use to change it once a week i'd change it twice a week)

if he doens't continue to chew off his own tail, you should see new growth by around one or two weeks

 

[maui]

*sigh* i'm having troubles figuring out what fin rot meds to use... i've got so many from when gavin was sick
what should it be
bettamax
kanacyn
teteracycline
maracyn
maracyn 2 or combo of both maracyns
JFE

Edit:
thanks cutecotton
i usually do a water change ever 10 days for him so i'll make it every 4 days to be safe.
yeah my little filter doesnt have a carbon part, just a sponge - but thanks for the reminder - i woulda forgotten and that woulda sucked.
no worries bout not being sure which meds to use, i'll figure out something.
i hope i see new growth quickly, his fins are so pretty!