Do I Just Have Unrealistic Expectations For Bettas?

When I buy a fish, my hope is that with good care it will flourish and become both more healthy and more beautiful.

It seems as though the second I bring a halfmoon betta home, it's fins start curling. Doesn't matter what water I keep the fish in, Iv'e done tap (very hard, high pH), RO (very soft, low pH), and mixed RO and spring water (inbetween). My water parameters are always AM-0 NI-0 NA-0. The curling happens suddenly and dramatically. I also see thinning of the tips of the rays, like when you suck on a candy cane till it forms a point, instead of rounded and transparent ray tips that (in my experience) mean healthy expansion of the fins is underway.

I understand intellectually that curling fins aren't detrimental to a betta, but on some level I still feel it as a failure. With all the other species I've kept, smooth, growing fins have been a sign of good health, and the reward of keeping animals is watching them thrive. It's super frustrating to watch an almost show-quality specimen crumple and deform before my eyes.

I've done extensive digging on the subject, and there's no consensus on either cause or remedy for fin curl.

Lately I've been wondering whether I've just got unrealistic expectations for these guys. Do all halfmoons develop a twist at some point or other? Do show quality fish retain their perfect finnage throughout their lives?

I would love to see pics of older halfmoons with have smooth, un-warped fin-rays, or other pics that show bettas' fins improving with age.

 

I'm not sure what kind of filter you are running in your tank, or what size you tank is. If the flow is too strong they have to use their fins more which can cause them to curl. Maybe try some Plakats? They usually look good until the day they pass. I find also with all the inbreeding going on nowadays and hormones to make young fish sellable faster, their fins aren't fully developed when you buy them thus you will never know how the fins will turn out.

 

I can't help you, but I've got pretty much the same problem. It was pretty discouraging to bring home a gorgeous halfmoon betta and watch its fins deteriorate. Not fin rot, my water parameters and good and the fins still look healthy, they're just not the full, beautiful fins they started out. I wonder if mine has been nipping his tail... it is hard for him to swim with all that weight.

 

I'm not sure what kind of filter you are running in your tank, or what size you tank is. If the flow is too strong they have to use their fins more which can cause them to curl. Maybe try some Plakats? They usually look good until the day they pass.

Thanks for the reply! I use small tanks (5 gal and 2.5 gal) with sponge filters, so current is almost certainly not the issue... You're right, I've had better luck with plakats, and my crowntail is actually showing only a minimal amount of bending and does have a large quantity of growing rays...it's just such a bummer about halfmoons though

I can't help you, but I've got pretty much the same problem. It was pretty discouraging to bring home a gorgeous halfmoon betta and watch its fins deteriorate. .

I really appreciate your reply, it's good to feel like I'm not the only one! A lot of people don't even seem to notice or care about this issue, but I put a lot of care into choosing beautiful fish and I get great fulfillment from watching their progress both health and appearance wise!

 

Thanks for the reply! I use small tanks (5 gal and 2.5 gal) with sponge filters, so current is almost certainly not the issue... You're right, I've had better luck with plakats, and my crowntail is actually showing only a minimal amount of bending and does have a large quantity of growing rays...it's just such a bummer about halfmoons though

You could always look for a beautiful wild type. I keep betta smaragdina and they can live communal. You can have males and females in the same tank together and they are a pleasure to look at with emerald greens and blood reds

 

It could always be a type of fin thing - halfmoons have large fins, and may just be more prone. I would also advocate for something like a plakat - quite spunky, and short fins means much fewer problems

 

It could always be a type of fin thing - halfmoons have large fins, and may just be more prone. I would also advocate for something like a plakat - quite spunky, and short fins means much fewer problems

I adore plakats, so fiesty and also beautiful! There's just something magical about a halfmoon though, and I'm bothered that I can't seem to get to the bottom of this problem...

Surely somebody has a picture of an older halfmoon with smooth fins?

 

It sounds like you gone through all the water options, and it's not your filter. I doubt it would be their diet or the tank light. Do you use an inert substrate? There is a pretty short list of factors under your control, and it sounds like you've gone through most of them.

Have you gotten them all from the same place? Maybe it's an issue with a specific breeder.

 

Wow Jenny I'm having the same thing happen. My bettas analfin is curling at the tips his caudal is fine tho. Like you I've tried Ro and regular water for about a week each time hasn't made any changes. I've read that it could just be genetics, although others speculate it's because he sleeps on his analfin... nothing is quite definitive.

 

I just read a post that summarized all the possible causes that I've come across very succinctly, but I can't locate it for some reason. People have speculated that fin curl could be caused by:

• Vitamin D deficiency, remedied by daily periods of sun exposure (but how could a vitamin deficiency develop in a matter of days, when my fish get a more varied diet than they did at the store?)
• Hard water/high pH (though there are plenty of accounts of bettas in in soft water curling)
• Genetics (but it seems strange that the change would begin suddenly if this were the case?)
• Poor water quality (not applicable to my tanks)

Someone else posted an account of a betta curling suddenly after being upgraded to a new 10 gallon tank...this is as close as I've come to a situation which seems to parallel my own... I'm wondering whether something like a sudden change in environment (for better OR worse?) could cause the curl?

Such a baffling mystery...

 

My betta is a doubletail and has been experiencing a similar situation with fin curl for months, and I don't have a definite reason for it either. Water quality is fine, my water isn't particularly hard, good nutrition.

I've noticed with mine that it seems to occur in spurts, there will be rapid bursts of curling followed by periods of slow curling, but I don't know what it could be triggered by. Mine did go through rapid curling when transferring to a 5g, so that might be a factor.

Otherwise it seems random as well and doesn't affect all fins. Currently one lobe of his tail is getting worse, his anal and dorsal fins have stayed pretty constant, and his ventrals have even improved.

Unfortunately I'm just as lost as you

 

Any bettas that are bred to have abnormally large tails and fins are going to have a shorter life because they need to expend more energy to move. The fin curling is what happens when fish are inbred to have longer flowing fins. You will not find a nice looking 2 yr old plus Halfmoon or double tail.

 

some people say to put them to sleep with a safe an

I just read a post that summarized all the possible causes that I've come across very succinctly, but I can't locate it for some reason. People have speculated that fin curl could be caused by:

• Vitamin D deficiency, remedied by daily periods of sun exposure (but how could a vitamin deficiency develop in a matter of days, when my fish get a more varied diet than they did at the store?)
• Hard water/high pH (though there are plenty of accounts of bettas in in soft water curling)
• Genetics (but it seems strange that the change would begin suddenly if this were the case?)
• Poor water quality (not applicable to my tanks)

Someone else posted an account of a betta curling suddenly after being upgraded to a new 10 gallon tank...this is as close as I've come to a situation which seems to parallel my own... I'm wondering whether something like a sudden change in environment (for better OR worse?) could cause the curl?

Such a baffling mystery...

People say it is genetics because they breed them to have longer fins and they can not carry the weight of the fins once they are older. That's supposedly why their fins curl, and they have shorter lifespans.