Grooming My Betta?

I have a HM male Betta, and his fins have grown so long to the point that it is difficult for him to swim. I am worried also about his tail getting caught in the filter, so of course I'm concerned for him drowning.. would it be applicable for me to trim his fins alittle, just to make it easier on him? His tail is 1 cm longer than his entire body length..and I have started seeing him sitting on the stones, not being nearly as active as he usually is..so groom his tail or not?

 

Nope, you shouldn't ever attempt a fin clipping on a fish this small that won't stay still for you.
It's just a natural thing for longer, heavier types of tails. Don't try to alter things.

 

I wouldnt because its natural for this type of betta to have longer fins and they won't drown unless the filter is too strong for them to get air from the surface

 

also as long as the water isn't oxygen deficient he will not drown.

 

I have a HM male Betta, and his fins have grown so long to the point that it is difficult for him to swim. I am worried also about his tail getting caught in the filter, so of course I'm concerned for him drowning.. would it be applicable for me to trim his fins alittle, just to make it easier on him? His tail is 1 cm longer than his entire body length..and I have started seeing him sitting on the stones, not being nearly as active as he usually is..so groom his tail or not?

What size tank is he in? You can move him to a bigger tank so he has more room to swim around with his beautiful fins and tail!

 

their are cases of fish needing a trim. I've only had to do it once because the bettas genetics weren't strong enough. You need to be very careful when doing so. You place the fish in some water containing clove oil. this must be highly oxegenated. After the fish goes under, cut off just a bit of the fin. Then put him in normal water and add an antI fungal or indian almond leaves. You shouldn't attemp this if you are new to bettas and you should alwasy try to avoid it. However, if it's really bad and they can't hold up the fins, it's necessary.

 

I have a HM male Betta, and his fins have grown so long to the point that it is difficult for him to swim. I am worried also about his tail getting caught in the filter, so of course I'm concerned for him drowning.. would it be applicable for me to trim his fins alittle, just to make it easier on him? His tail is 1 cm longer than his entire body length..and I have started seeing him sitting on the stones, not being nearly as active as he usually is..so groom his tail or not?

Take an old pair of panty hose and put it around the filter cage actually you can put a rubber band around the top to keep the panty hose on. My fish store told me to do this because I had babies that I didn't want to get sucked in the filter it worked! Don't wrap it thick just one layer of the panty hose, it really works perfect!

 

These are his fins, he has started nipping at them, so I know they have to bother him. They are so beautiful, but I want him to be comfortable and happy.

What size tank is he in? You can move him to a bigger tank so he has more room to swim around with his beautiful fins and tail!

He is in a 3.5 gallon bow front glass tank.

Same fish flaring at his neighbor

 

those are long, but he appears to be holding his dorsel fin well. Only when they appear to not beable to hold up their fins is it a problem.

 

He is in a 3.5 gallon bow front glass tank.

Try a bigger tank. 5 gallon minimum, but the bigger the better!

 

Try a bigger tank. 5 gallon minimum, but the bigger the better!

And he is BEAUTIFUL by the way

 

These are his fins, he has started nipping at them, so I know they have to bother him. They are so beautiful, but I want him to be comfortable and happy.


He is in a 3.5 gallon bow front glass tank.

Same fish flaring at his neighbor

If he is nipping he is taking care of his problem himself, if you want to make it quicker (they will still grow back though, so it would likely be a monthly process and making sure his water is pristine to prevent infection at the trim sites).

 

Take an old pair of panty hose and put it around the filter cage actually you can put a rubber band around the top to keep the panty hose on. My fish store told me to do this because I had babies that I didn't want to get sucked in the filter it worked! Don't wrap it thick just one layer of the panty hose, it really works perfect!

You can also use a sponge. I switched to sponges after trying panty hose when the panty hose kept getting sucked into the filter and causing to to not run properly. I did buy cheap panty hose though, so that may have been my problem.

 

Thanks everyone for the help..I will keep in touch, but for now I will leave his tail alone. I guess I am just a worry wart of a fish mom.

 

You can also use a sponge. I switched to sponges after trying panty hose when the panty hose kept getting sucked into the filter and causing to to not run properly. I did buy cheap panty hose though, so that may have been my problem.

Really ? because I had panty hose on mine, just a thin layer in fact it's funny, I had a pair of Leggs sheer toe so I just stuck the tube in to the end of the foot part cut it and put a rubber band on and it worked perfect!

 

Nope, you shouldn't ever attempt a fin clipping on a fish this small that won't stay still for you.
It's just a natural thing for longer, heavier types of tails. Don't try to alter things.

I agree plus wouldn't it be a painful task and kill your fish?

 

I agree plus wouldn't it be a painful task and kill your fish?

That's why you use anesthetic.

 

I agree plus wouldn't it be a painful task and kill your fish?

there are times when you need to do if the fishs genetics aren't strong enough to hold the weight of its fins. It's also not painful because you put them under with clove oil. The rayed parts of fins don't have pain receptors either, only the spined or meaty part of the fish has these.

 

And he is BEAUTIFUL by the way

He is beautiful, I'd do a 10 gallon tank, I had a beautiful betta in a 10 gallon tank, he loved all the room he had ! ❤️ ❤️

 

there are times when you need to do if the fishs genetics aren't strong enough to hold the weight of its fins. It's also not painful because you put them under with clove oil. The rayed parts of fins don't have pain receptors either, only the spined or meaty part of the fish has these.

That's interesting, I didn't know that a betta first would grow fins longer than he could handle.

 

That's interesting, I didn't know that a betta first would grow fins longer than he could handle.

Through selective breeding, bettas are bred for longer fins. However, everyonce in a while you get a runt that isn't strong enough to hold the fins or the fins were just bred to be too long.