Betta With Receding Fins And Blind Feedings

Hello everyone, my two year old betta has lived in a 20 gal long with a snail for the past five months, happy as could be. Well probably around the beginning of February to late January his fins began to turn black on the edges, mainly on his tail fin. I know that could be a sign of rot so I began to do water changes every day for a week or so but nothing changed. I decided maybe he was getting old so his fins were just aging. Well the more I look at him the harder it is for me to tell if it's gotten worse. It has taken such a long time to progress to where I just blamed age. Now I'm not so sure. He's also blind in one eye so I have to scoop him out of the tank in a smaller, clear container with low water level to feed him because he tires out really easy. He is also a half-moon. For the past two weeks I've had 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 0-5 Nitrate. I also added in some live plants last week, dosing Flourish once a week.

Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5

 

Pics? He may need to be moved to a smaller tank so he can reach the surface easier.

 

Can you take a pic of him?

Is there anything else in the tank with him?

 

I'll take pictures when I get home.
The only other thing in the tank is a nerite snail, I had two but one died in January. I got them at the same time, last year January.

 

Updated with pictures and parameters. This has happened before also, where the fins got black, receded, but then went away on their own and he grew his tail back. But this time it's a lot longer. He still eats and swims fine but he is usually laying in his logs at the surface.
My water changing schedule is also a bit random at the moment. Because I always have pretty much zeros for parameters, I'm trying to wait for the nitrates to go up a little but all this snail poop is getting a little gross looking lol.

 

Any ideas?

 

I can't see any pictures?

 

Pics? He may need to be moved to a smaller tank so he can reach the surface easier.

breeder box could also work

 

I can't see any pictures?

I put them as attachments, for some reason it wouldn't let me put them in the actual post.

 

Yeah... They really aren't there. Can anyone else see them?
Maybe try again Gala

 

Hi, I’ve put them as full size rather than attachments, hope you can see them ok now?

 

Hi, I’ve put them as full size rather than attachments, hope you can see them ok now?

Thank you!

 

Yes, I can see them now

 

That's some fin rot

 

Hmmm, with such clean water, it is unlikely to be fine rot, although it could still be. It does look like it. Is there sharp decorations in the tank?

 

Not that I know of, he's had the same decorations for months, I've made all of them. The only thing really new is the plants but the black edges started before I added them. I'm wondering if since he was a pet store betta his immune system is shot since he's old and maybe he's more sensitive to things.

 

it has to he a fungus

 

I don't have a ton of meds except for salt and Tetra LifeGuard all in one on hand if that could do anything. I would need to take out the snail though so that sucks lol

 

Some bettas seem prone to fin issues, even in a cycled tank.

I would continue with the daily water changes - a week isn't very long to see results. If it's not better after a few weeks or continues to get worse, you might want to try an antibiotic.

 

Really? Even with it being extremely understocked? I wouldn't imagine harmful things build up that bad in a tank like this, 20 gal with a snail and betta. I did do a water change last night though, just in case. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but could you explain why I would need to do water changes everyday on a tank like this?

 

Yes, even if it's understocked. Clean water through daily or every other day water changes can help fish heal, even if nitrates aren't high.

 

I can't tell if I'm just hopeful and seeing things or his tail is actually starting to heal. Pretty sure he bit his dorsal fin at some point, was out of town all day today so not sure when. Feeding was a pain, tried for two hours and all he ate was three bloodworms. Seemed to have zero interest in the pellets, even soaked in garlic and pushed right up to his mouth. Did a water change on Tuesday, Friday, and I'm going to do one tomorrow. I'm trying to do at least every other day but I've been a bit busy with college work, as with every week lol. Hoping he'll get better and he'll be interested in pellets tomorrow.

 

3 bloodworms is more than enough for a betta at one time, so that's not too concerning. And if the choice is between bloodworms and pellets, his choice isn't surprising!

 

And I know he just wanted bloodworms because I usually give him two and he ate those first then I tried the pellets for a long time, didn't want any of it. So I tested my theory and he ate the third bloodworm. Today he's not getting any, only pellets lol.

 

Well I don't think he ate anything last night, today is his fasting day but I may try to feed him again. Did a water as well, gonna try to do one tonight too. I really feel like its working, maybe I just needed more motivation to keep doing water changes lol.

 

Can you not tell if he ate something last night?

Keep doing water changes if he's getting better

 

Well I was frustrated from last night's feeding so when I put him in his feeding tank I just made a small, garlic, brine shrimp ball and dropped in a few pellets as I changed the water. I know he didn't eat any pellets but I saw him lunge at the ball, so he may or may not have gotten any...

 

Why do you move him to a separate tank to feed him?

 

Because he's going blind and I can't feed him in the tank anymore, I've tried a feeding dish but he just gets too tired swimming up and down for air, so I fill a clear transportation tank halfway with water and put the food in. He gets less tired and it worked for a while until recently....like two days ago lol.

 

It may be stressful for him to move between tanks so often. You can feed him with forceps/tweezers. He can learn to come to the surface when you tap the tweezers on the surface, and then you can feed him more easily. I've fed blind fish this way.

 

I've tried it that way a few times, a turkey baster worked for a while, I just kinda pushed the food in front of his face and it would be a half chance he would eat it. He knows where he gets fed and what time but he's like near sighted or something, he'll see it, lunge, then miss. He does this a few times then rests for a while, that's why I'm using a smaller container to feed him. When I push food on his mouth he either backs up because he doesn't know what it is, or if I annoy him enough with it he'll eat it, but the pellets sink so I can't hold it to his mouth for very long.
I've tried a lot with him lol, and the container seemed like the best plan, he was faster and didn't get as tired. It used to take me up to an hour to feed him but when he was in the container it took maybe ten minutes.

 

With the tweezers, you don't push food into his mouth, but just hold the food in place while he lunges at it, until he gets it. I just think moving once or twice daily is stressful, and I'd try to avoid it if possible.

 

I'll have to try that, hopefully he will be able to get it and not try to eat the tweezers lol

 

Okay so turns out the tweezers I have, have a sharp point on the end of them. I tried using an eyedropper with a tiny opening to hold it in place but he just kept bumping into it, three pellets sank into the tank and now he's laying at the bottom all tired and stuff. He's such a princess lol the smallest things make him tired. I also don't think he's used to getting food on Mondays, since those are his fasting days, so I may try more tomorrow when he expects food. Do they make like blunt tweezers? And what if I hold it too hard to where he can't bite it out of the tweezers? I just need some tips and tricks lol.

Update:
So I placed his old feeding dish in the tank and put three little pellets on it. I'm gonna leave it in there for an hour or so and see if he notices it. I know it's not good to leave uneaten food in the tank but I want to experiment. If he doesn't eat it I'll take it out.

 

Yes, they do make blunt tweezers. Look into forceps rather than tweezers to pull hair. I released the worms when mine was biting it, or right before. It's fine to leave food in the tank for a few hours.

 

So I've been doing water changes about every other day since I started this thread and I can't tell if it's getting worse or better, looks like its slowing down though. Any ideas or should I just keep up with the water changes? I don't spend a lot of time around the tank anymore, all he does is lay in his log. He still eats well and can swim fine, he's just resting a lot.

 

I would continue with daily or every other day water changes. HI'm resting more often may have to do with being stimulated less often. You're not around as much, and he may be getting bored. Try adding more decor to his tank and rearranging the decor in there. Can you move him to a spot where he can see more activity in the house?

 

Sadly no, I moved him to my bedroom because I was spending a lot of time in there but then after a few months I began hanging out in the family room again. And mom said he's not getting moved again. I do spend time with him for a bit when I do water changes and I'm making a new piece of decor for him, sometimes I add things on the outside of his tank to give him something new to look at as well.

 

Maybe add some more plants and a snail friend or two? Something he can watch.

 

I actually do have a snail in there, used to have two but one passed in January. Last month or so I added a lot of small Java Fern because I wanted to try live plants, so those have been growing pretty good. One already has two new big leaves on it. I also use a dry erase marker and sometimes doodle on the outside of the tank and he checks it out for a few minutes then gets bored.