Betta has curled spotted fins, ragged edges

HI there, I am new to fishlore. We have a half moon made betta fish named Ashlynne (my daughter named it and thinks it is a girl)
We have had him since April but recently he was hiding in his castle near the bottom and only coming up to eat. His fins were ragged on the ends and with lines of black spots. He would still eat but didn't go too far out of the castle. We didn't have a heater (bad advice from pet store) but I put one in the tank this week and he is doing better, coming out for a fast paced swim whenever he sees us coming. I have just finished one cycle of fin rot treatment with tetracycline (without the charcoal filter running) and added aquarium salt.
My question is, should I do another round of tetracycline. Should I continue with 25% water changes daily? When I figure out how to post a picture I will do that to help figure out what it is he has one down with.
Thanks in advance

 

Daily water changes would be the best thing and dosages of the tetracycline.

The cleaner the water, the better.

 

I agree, daily water changes are the best thing for just about everything that goes on with bettas! I would stop using the salt though. It has very few proven uses.

Is his tank filtered? Cycled? How big is his tank? I'm glad you got him a heater!

 

The tank is a 5 gallon. It has been heated to 78 F consistently since adding heater.
And success, a photo. It shows his curled fins although it doesn't do him justice as he is a very pretty aqua and royal blue. Here is a photo of him when we first brought him home
I have to admit I didn't know much about cycling the tank so I guess I will have to research that.

 

Ashlynne is beautiful! I admit I don't know much about curled fins though I have seen it. From my readings I'm not sure anyone is certain as to the cause but I do know that bettas can grow out of it. It may just be a case of wait a see!

Keep up on those water changes though

As for the cycle, these words: nitrogen cycle: should be in blue and you can click on them to take you to a page describing it. In short though the cycle refers to the bacteria you cultivate in the filter media that "eat" your fish's waste (ammonia) and turns it into nitrites which are then eaten by other bacteria and turned into nitrates. Nitrates are the end of the nitrogen cycle and are the least toxic of the 3 though at high levels they are quite toxic. Those you remove through water changes which also replenish minerals lost through the cycle and the fish's metabolic functions

 

It is filtered with a small marina charcoal filter. We had been only filtering at night as it seems to bother him. Is night time filtering enough?

 

Unfortunately, no. By turning the filter off your bacteria will be starved for food and oxygen which will interrupt the development of your cycle.

It may be that your betta has gained strength since he was released from that cup he was in, you could try turning the filter back on! There are ways to baffle them if he still can't get the hang of it.

Geez, just realized I forgot to welcome you to the forum! I'm bad for that

 

Welcome
He looks like my boy when I bought him. Has he done any colour changing? My boy turned more blue once he was happy in a tank. He's got a little curling of the lower fins, and spots....but after a couple of weeks he's not showing any sign of illness...I think the spots are a factor of the colour?

I agree on the water changes. Frequent water changes with Prime make a big difference

It's important to filter all of the time....depending on the filter type you can either put a plant/decoration in front of it to deflect the current, or raise the water level so that it reaches the lip of the "water fall"

You could also move it to a corner of the tank, so that the Betta can avoid the current

 

Sassymomma, when I zoom into the picture of when I first got him I think I can faintly see the spots ( probably just his colouring, so cute!). His head was all black when we first got him but now it has changed and has patches of blue-ish and dark grey. His lips are blue too! And he has always had a little gap in his mouth, might need braces in his future! Lol. I am looking into baffling the water somehow today so he is happier with a constant filter running.

 

Thinking back I can only remember seeing fin spots on my blue Bettas, never any other colour! Hmm...

 

Yes my boy started with a black head too, and now it's blue.

Your current picture of him looks so vibrant, he seems like he's doing quite well

How did the baffling go?

 

hI I just wanted to let you know a way I use to baffle my filter so it significantly reduces the strong current but provides excellent filtration due to the extra trickle filter running under the out flow of the aquaclear HOB. First I have to tell you that this is the last remaining tetra from a batch we rescued from a deplorable overstocked tank 2.5 years ago. Sadly because of the condition we received them in they already had devleloped colomunaris and or neon tetra disease. This little guy has not shown any stress since being by himself rather he seems very settled and happy to have a tank by himself with no threats. We had him in the 100 litre with his tank mates until only 2 were left. They were then moved to this large 50 litre tub with plenty of filtration as you can see, I also have a DIY internal filter running with an air stone which is filled with matrix and filter wool. To make the baffled HOB which is a Aquaclear 50,I added all the sponges and matrix from his previous 100 litre tank, put a pre-filter on the intake tube to lower the current going into the filter then I added a small plastic bottle and attached it to the out take flow and put holes in the bottom of it, then I made a small plastic tub and put two holes to the sides to attach suction cups to attach firmly to the wall and filled that with sponge and black (large) bio balls. The smaller ones tend to float so they won't work. I also put some of these on the bottom of the tank. Before I added the media to the small tub I put holes all the way round it so that the water would circulate and enter the tank with cycled water. My one lone tetra swims without issue in the current tub. It is baffled very well, while at the same time has excellent filter media for nitrifying bacteria to thrive and keep the tank cycled. for your Betta tank you could put in an aqua clear 20 HOB and do as above and it will provide plenty of good bacteria and large surface areas for its growth. Also you could add stability to the filter media to start the process of growing the beneficial bacteria to grow and give you little darling a well cycled tank. I am going to try and attach some photos. Many people use just a bottle under the water flow but I opt for this as it provides a trickle filter to the bio balls. Hope this helps. Ps if the photos don't show through send me your email and I will forward them to you. Please note also you just have to adjust it to sizing specific to the size of your tank.
Hope the little beautiful baby gets well










I would also like to add that while yes Tetras are shoaling fish, I am not prepared to bring in other tetras who may or may not be sick and risk further issues to this tetra or tetrI as he is called and additionally I won't subject what could be healthy tetras to his tank due to his illness as I refused to take the chance and contaminate them. I am making him as comfortable as I possibly can until this terrible disease eventually effects him to the point where I know will have to put him humanely (clove oil) to sleep. But right now he is doing really well and seems to enjoy his safe environment without the fear of being harassed and bullied which did happen until the most recent tetra passed away the disease. I make sure I test his water parameters daily with are completely safe and without 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and < 5 nitrate and pH of 7-7.2. I have been keeping fish for many years now and feel like an old hand. But I was too once a newbie and made mistakes, we all learn from mistakes that's how we become professionals in our roles in all aspects of life by making mistakes. I wish your little finned friend the very best and hope he makes a full recovery.

 

That's great what you've done there

I tried the water bottle baffling on my tetra whisper 10 but my Betta tank went stagnant....I'm pretty sure I did it wrong lol

So I also made my own filter with an air stone.

Mine is gravel at the bottom, filter floss and carbon in the middle, topped with stones/marbles to hold the floss in.

 

The baffling went well! I ended up using the bottom of a water bottle, the flow is not impeded and barely causes a 'current'. Ashlynne seems to like this better, he comes out of his castle and will eat with the filter running now (I keep it on 24/7). I think I can see some repairing of his fins so that is good. I have been keeping up with the 25% water changes daily. He definitely has his energy back, zipping around from time to time. He still hangs out most of the time in his castle but it has a trapped air bubble inside so I guess this is okay.

 

I am so happy for you and your little bub. I hope he continues to improve and lives a long and happy life with his loving family. Can I just ask if you put holes at the bottom of the bottle so that the water and junk can be drawn in through the filter wool and exit clean water through the top.

 

No I didn't put holes in the bottom of the bottle because the filter still takes the tank water in (not affected by baffle/bottle) and then it pours out into the bottle and then it spills out into the tank I will see if I can get a picture..
.

 

Picture is rotated, sorry. So should take the tank water, it is filtered through then recycled into the tank.

 

HI again, just realised that you mention the filter as being a charcoal filter, this worries me because after a few short weeks of charcoal absorbing all the nasties and toxins it clogs and spills them all back into the water again. Charcoal is not really best to use unless for the purpose of removing medications or for other very short uses to remove bad odors etc. The best filters are those that have sponges and noodles or matrix etc, which hold lots of beneficial bacteria due to their large surface area and multiply to maintain the needs of the particular tank and stocking hold of the said tank, as long as it is not disturbed and killed back through washing in tap water or drastic medication use etc.

You could modify this filter to use a sponge, just remove the charcoal and add the sponge in its place. A small Aqua clear sponge could be cut to fit and then would only need swishing in dirty tank water every couple of weeks at water change and you could just pour a tiny bit of seachem stability straight onto the sponge after every swish clean, to replenish any BB loss. The tank looks great though. How is the little baby now? hoping all is well.

 

Sassymomma, when I zoom into the picture of when I first got him I think I can faintly see the spots ( probably just his colouring, so cute!). His head was all black when we first got him but now it has changed and has patches of blue-ish and dark grey. His lips are blue too! And he has always had a little gap in his mouth, might need braces in his future! Lol. I am looking into baffling the water somehow today so he is happier with a constant filter running.

Try using a sponge filter. I have a hob filter and had to cover the intake with a sponge filter that I cut a hole in to fit over the intake. Also will work if your outflow is too strong. I had lost my first two betas to getting sucked into the filter... on just got trapped in the intake and another got sucked all the way into the pump! Never again! Now I have two happy healthy betas and I love them both!

Ok this may sound a little silly but what the heck... I'm no expert just offering my 2cents. Ive had a betta with curled fins in a 10 gallon tank for a while now. Checked water perams everyday, nothing out of place... lots of plants no sand or dirt just simply aquarium gravel.. and way I tried repeated water changes, I tried treating for fin rot, I tried treating for bad bacteria... nothing seemed to help those curled fins... and his are pretty to say the least. Any way I noticed fred had never made a bubble nest... even though I had his heater set at a nice 76 degrees. But then I did more research and found that betas will make a bubble nest when the water is the right temperature... hmmm. I thought that was something they did when they were satisfied with their territory... hmmm so I looked around a bit more and found research that showed betas prefer a warm climate... more like 74-79. So I upped his temp setting to 79... and viola! Bubbles nest! And the second day his fins have un curled and are now flowing and bright. So maybe, just maybe betta fins are like our arms when we get cold, we get goose bumps, their fins curl up... maybe I don't know but that's what worked for fred.

 

It seems like a few of the curled fins have uncurled somewhat since I added a heater (water is 79 maybe slightly less sometimes). But about 75% of his underbelly fin towards his head is curly on the bottom. I am hoping over time he will continue to improve. I will add updates as he improves.
I will try to get some sponge material to fit in my existing filter this week as well as sea chem or something similar.
Who knew having a pet fish was so complicated! Lol...not me