Betta With Broken Rays

Hello fellow fishlorians again... My my, today is just full of fun fishy surprises. First, my tank had to be evacuated from silicone seepage (made a separate post about that lol), and now...

I believe my betta has broken a few rays on his caudal fin. He is a crowntail, so it becomes obvious when something is wrong with his rays. But, before I ask how to treat it and if it even is treatable, here is how it happened:

While frantically taking Reggie (the betta) out of the tank, I may have been a bit too rough with the net (keep in mind that there was white liquid seeping into my tank near him so I was trying to get him the heck AWAY from that chemical)... oopsies.

Upon putting him in a little container that stores sell bettas in, I just thought that his caudal fin was clamped. After cleaning his tank and putting him back in, I decided to leave the lights off for the rest of the day and let him de-stress from the very eventful morning. He ate fine (rather ravenously), and seemed to swim fine, but the bottom half of his caudal fin was STILL clamped.

I thought it was really odd that only the bottom half was clamped, so I took a closer look, and sure enough, about halfway down his tail I could see where 2-3 rays were bent at the base. It suddenly all made sense.

They are broken at the base of the rays, so he can’t really control them. This leads to them lying stiffly and pushing down the other good rays beneath them, making the clamped effect.

So here is where my question comes in: Will he be able to fix his rays on his own? I am aware that they can regrow, so it would only make sense for them to fix themselves, but would they heal up in the proper position? Will his fins ever look normal again? I sure hope so, he had such pretty fins.

Is there anything I can do to help speed up the recovery process? He is resting a bit more than normal and doesn’t seem very comfortable. I’ll post pictures tomorrow when I turn the light on again.

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, and sorry about all that you've had to go through, that sounds really rough.
I had a goldfish snap ~70% of the rays in her pectoral fin, and I mean snap. The fin was split more than in half and seemed like it would tear off at any moment, since the broken part would flap 90° one way and 40° the other.
Seems like it would have been impossible to heal, but her fin is perfectly fine now. Not sure why or how, but there are only some slight bumps at the parts where it snapped.
The fin may not heal at the best angle, but it should heal. The most important part is keeping the water clean, as open wounds are at risk for infection and fungus. There isn't much you can do to speed up the healing process, but you should be able to tell if it will heal at the right angle in about a week.

 

Hi, and sorry about all that you've had to go through, that sounds really rough.
I had a goldfish snap ~70% of the rays in her pectoral fin, and I mean snap. The fin was split more than in half and seemed like it would tear off at any moment, since the broken part would flap 90° one way and 40° the other.
Seems like it would have been impossible to heal, but her fin is perfectly fine now. Not sure why or how, but there are only some slight bumps at the parts where it snapped.
The fin may not heal at the best angle, but it should heal. The most important part is keeping the water clean, as open wounds are at risk for infection and fungus. There isn't much you can do to speed up the healing process, but you should be able to tell if it will heal at the right angle in about a week.

Thank you so much for the response! I’m glad to hear that he will be okay. Did her fin heal pointed upwards or is it bent?

If his fin grows at the broken angle then it’s definitely not the end of the world and I still love him, but it will be sad because he had such beautiful flowy fins.

 

Went digging and found some old pics, the first two are pretty nasty, so heads up.
Second two are from 3-4 days later, and the two after that are like 2 days after the previous two, I think.
Last one is of her today, though it's the crummiest, but she only has a very slight bend in the fin.
Honestly, if this crazy break can recover so well, I wouldn't worry too much about your boy. Do you mind posting some pictures of him to make sure it's broken rays?

 

For sure broken rays. Click on the pictures, they don’t show it too well in thumbnail version. You can see the marks where the rays are broken in both. It’s all being held together nicely, though. You can see how the broken rays are pushing down onto the lower rays and makes it look clamped together. It isn’t as prominent in the pictures but in person it’s very obvious

This is what his tail used to look like...

Reggie new light #1

• aquafrogg
• Dec 25, 2018

Reggie new light #2

• aquafrogg
• Dec 25, 2018
• 4

 

Bubbles_and_Fins Oh my I am so sorry! Okay, I think you definitely need to get the leaves I mentioned for sure. This is gonna be a healing process now. Catappa also helps with preventing fungus and overall will also relax him. I've read a comment by Demeter on an old post on here that.. "I've read somewhere that the effects of the leaves helped reverse the fin curl and strengthen/thicken the rays." Here is the forum post from fishlore Betta Fins Curling | Betta Fish 258312 How's Reggie's behavior today?

 

I'd love to see where Demeter read that, cause that seems super interesting. I'll order those leaves today!

He seems to be feeling a lot better, as you can see in the pictures his fins are a lot more relaxed than last night. He's swimming around a ton as well and I even saw him playing in the bubbles from his filter a few times this morning. He stuffed his face with frozen bloodworms for breakfast and made a teeny tiny bubble nest overnight! I think he appreciates my replication of a natural betta habitat Although I feel needs more tannins and some botanicals!

Last night he was acting really odd. He was doing a lot of resting in the plants and not a bunch of swimming. Most likely from stress.

 

Bubbles_and_Fins well I'm super happy he seems to be back to his normal behavior and I feel that's definitely a good sign even if he has a minor injury that I know will heal up. Take it day by day. Gosh, he sure is having a good morning by the looks of it! I'm really happy for you two.

Bubbles_and_Fins I still would like to see updates on him and I'll offer among other fishlorians will offer help too.

 

He is gorgeous! And the break really doesn't look too bad, there shouldn't be much of an issue with infection or anything either. I do hope it heals at the right angle, but it's a bit too early to tell

 

Bubbles_and_Fins I still would like to see updates on him and I'll offer among other fishlorians will offer help too.

Of course! Hopefully it will heal soon! I’ll let y’all know as soon as I see improvements

He is gorgeous! And the break really doesn't look too bad, there shouldn't be much of an issue with infection or anything either. I do hope it heals at the right angle, but it's a bit too early to tell

Thank you! Yeah it’s definitely not as bad as your fish’s break. But it still scares me, especially since he’s already not a good swimmer by just being a betta. He seems to be swimming fine though! Thanks for all your help!

 

I don’t know if the rays will straighten out on their own but he should be fine either way. As for using catapa leaves, it won’t hurt to try. I’d like to find where that article is about curled fins and IAL but I can’t find it. Guess I should of book marked it

Side note: to fix permentantly damaged fins you can do “cosmetic procedures” where you cut the fins back evenly behind the injury so they can regrow and all look the same. People have done it in larger show species like arrowana and big cichlids but seems a bit much to do it for little pet fish.

 

Demeter you stated the use of Indian Almond leaves to a similar post long ago, thank you for that. Here it is Betta Fins Curling but yeah I'm sure we can find similar articles online with information how the catappa leaves are beneficial for strengthening rays.

 

I don’t know if the rays will straighten out on their own but he should be fine either way. As for using catapa leaves, it won’t hurt to try. I’d like to find where that article is about curled fins and IAL but I can’t find it. Guess I should of book marked it

Side note: to fix permentantly damaged fins you can do “cosmetic procedures” where you cut the fins back evenly behind the injury so they can regrow and all look the same. People have done it in larger show species like arrowana and big cichlids but seems a bit much to do it for little pet fish.

Haha yeah I definitely do not trust myself enough to do that procedure properly. I’ve seen people do that before for show bettas. I feel as if he can swim properly then i’ll just let him be unique!

 

Man, I would be freaking out if a procedure was an option.

 

So today reggie seems to be feeling fine still, and even expanded his bubble nest overnight (I know it’s not a very big one; once he made one that covered a quarter of the tank. But before he expanded this one it was teesy weensy)





The tannins are back as well haha. When you look from the side the water is blood red.

As for his fins, the spot where the rays are broken have separated a little bit more. The break is very obvious now. What are the rays made of? I know that a part of the caudal fin rays are bone but then it gives way to tissue, but do you think this break was in the bone? I can’t imagine how painful that must be for him

 

I wish I can provide more info to help >.< lets get some possible help Rtessy Demeter do you two have any possible ideas???

 

If worst comes to worst, you can try and glue it in place with medical grade super glue, but I don't think we're at that point yet.
With my goldfish, she got worse for several days before she started to get better, and it just kept tearing awfully. Honestly, don't expect it to start getting better for 2-3 more days
Keep an eye on him, but try not to worry too much

 

I wish I can provide more info to help >.< lets get some possible help Rtessy Demeter do you two have any possible ideas???

You’ve definitely helped already!! My almond leaves were shipped out today!

If worst comes to worst, you can try and glue it in place with medical grade super glue, but I don't think we're at that point yet.
With my goldfish, she got worse for several days before she started to get better, and it just kept tearing awfully. Honestly, don't expect it to start getting better for 2-3 more days
Keep an eye on him, but try not to worry too much

Yeah we’re definitely not at the super glue point yet, but if it does get to that point then i’ll get some clove oil to sedate him and glue it together. If your girl didn’t need glue, I’m sure he will be okay without it! (Fingers crossed)

 

Yeah we’re definitely not at the super glue point yet, but if it does get to that point then i’ll get some clove oil to sedate him and glue it together. If your girl didn’t need glue, I’m sure he will be okay without it! (Fingers crossed)

I doubt he will need it but I just wanted to mention, just in case. I'm sure he's going to be just fine