Clamped Fins

[sea-potato]

Do bettas ever recover from clamped fins? My betta has been stressed out for the past two weeks, I've been having difficulty feeding him and he was hiding a lot. I moved him to a quarantine tank yesterday in hopes of finally snapping him out of it and getting him to eat. The move stressed him out more but he did finally show interest in food today and ate a bit.

The first picture is him today, the second is 3 weeks ago.

 

[Dch48]

He looks fine in both pictures to me. I don't see any clamped fins. He looks especially good in the second picture.

 

[sea-potato]

He looks fine in both pictures to me. I don't see any clamped fins. He looks especially good in the second picture.

The second picture is before the trouble started. Here's another picture I just took. It's darker because I'm covering the tank with a towel. His fins should be spread out more, and they seem stiff in real life.

 

[Dch48]

Okay I see it some now. Maybe he's just bored. If he's eating, that's always a good sign. He could have had digestive issues that he's getting over now.

 

[sea-potato]

Okay I see it some now. Maybe he's just bored. If he's eating, that's always a good sign. He could have had digestive issues that he's getting over now.

Yeah, his fins shouldn't be pointy. He was in a 5 gallon tank with a snail and two shrimp and he stuffed himself with an algae wafer and got constipated. I fasted him and fed him peas but he kept hiding and not eating normal betta food and gradually getting more lethargic and his fins were getting more clamped and stiff. I think I changed too much water at some point and stressed him out on top of everything else. Sometimes the hardest thing is to do nothing.

 

[Dch48]

Is he doing better now?

 

[sea-potato]

Is he doing better now?

I think he's improving, he finally ate a full meal today! He really likes brine shrimp. I may actually need to fast him tomorrow if he doesn't poop, and then I'll give him less food. I added like 6 different kinds of food to see what he would eat and finally the brine shrimp is what got him going. He was active today but still slow and struggling to swim with his stiff fins. He seemed barely conscious yesterday, so this makes me hopeful.

 

[sea-potato]

Update: He looks even better today. His fins are more spread out and he isn't struggling to swim but he keeps floating up to the top. He ate too much yesterday and this morning I fed him 3 bloodworms because I was excited that he was eating again. He is pooping and is alert and I think he blew some bubbles.

I'm wondering when I should try putting him back in the 5 gallon tank. I'm nervous because he was fine in the 2.5 for 3 weeks before I got the 5 and then he kept hiding and wouldn't eat. Now that he's back in the 2.5 he's recovering. But the 2.5 has no filter, a small heater, and no substrate or decorations. Everything is in the 5 with the snail and 2 shrimp. Does anyone have advice?