Help!! Betta Fish Torn Tail, Missing And Clamped Fins

So I've had this betta for about 2 months, and up until now he's been great. He did have Fin rot when I first got him, but I fixed that pretty quickly.

Basically there was a sharp item in my tank that has started damaging his fins. His tail got a few rips but they all healed up quickly, now it's almost torn in half and hasn't improved at all for the past week. (Yes, I removed the sharp object as soon as I saw the big tear in his tail).

He also has clamped fins, hides in his cave all day and only comes out when I approach the tank. Half of his analfin is gone... He used to stay at the top with his fins completely clamped and didn't move at all. He now swims around, but only if I come over and his fins are still clamped but not as much as they were before. It hasn't been improving otherwise and I'm really worried

His tank is around 10 gals/40litres and he's on his own apart from a pair if KuhlI loaches. It's heavily planted, has a few flowerpot caves, a low-flow external filter and a heater. The temp is 25 degrees Celsius. The tank is cycled and I've never had any ammonia spikes or other issues, all the paramaters are perfect and pH is 7.5. I added Some stress coat because I've Heard it helps but it didn't His fins don't look like they have fin rot thankfully, but they are not improving which is why I'm worried. What should I do to help them grow back and to stop the fin clamping?

 

fill this out and post pics

 

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 40 litres
How long has the tank been running? About 6 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 25 degrees C
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
Betta fish
2 KuhlI loaches

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 30% - 40%
What do you use to treat your water? Aquaguard Plus
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Usually just the water but sometimes the substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? Liquid tests
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day
How much do you feed your fish? Not too much... usually just a pinch or two of food
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Betta Booster
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No, I only fed him frozen bloodworms once when I first got him.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 2 months (ish)
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Last week
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Torn fins (but like a clean Cut, not Fin rot), clamped fins
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I added stress coat but it didn't help
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? He had mild Fin rot, but I managed to cure him.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? He has clamped, torn fins. And hides all the time

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
I suddenly noticed that his fins were torn and clamped, so I realised it was the Sharp rock that was hurting him so I removed it immediately. After a few days, his Fin clamping has somewhat improved but his fins are not growing back, even though I added stress coat a day after I noticed. He has no signs of Fin rot (I think), It's just clean cuts. And his analfin is torn in half diagonally

 

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 40 litres
How long has the tank been running? About 6 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 25 degrees C
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
Betta fish
2 KuhlI loaches

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 30% - 40%
What do you use to treat your water? Aquaguard Plus
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Usually just the water but sometimes the substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? Liquid tests
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day
How much do you feed your fish? Not too much... usually just a pinch or two of food
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Betta Booster
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No, I only fed him frozen bloodworms once when I first got him.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 2 months (ish)
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Last week
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Torn fins (but like a clean Cut, not Fin rot), clamped fins
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I added stress coat but it didn't help
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? He had mild Fin rot, but I managed to cure him.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? He has clamped, torn fins. And hides all the time

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
I suddenly noticed that his fins were torn and clamped, so I realised it was the Sharp rock that was hurting him so I removed it immediately. After a few days, his Fin clamping has somewhat improved but his fins are not growing back, even though I added stress coat a day after I noticed. He has no signs of Fin rot (I think), It's just clean cuts. And his analfin is torn in half diagonally

Post some pictures?

 

Here are Some pics, the first one just shows his tail and in the Last one his tail was clamped so it doesn't look as bad.

Also here is what he used to look like. Actually, the last picture was taken a week and a half ago.

And yes, There were a few young platies there but they now have a bigger tank

 

It looks like fin rot to me. He's not flairing, but the tips of the dorsal, anal and tail fins though clamped, look like the typical raggednesd associated w/fin damage from bacterial infection. I treat him for that and do diligent weekly 50% water changes. Clean water will help him heal better than anything else.

 

do you have one of the whole tank? looks like there is plenty of cover.

 

• do you have one of the whole tank? looks like there is plenty of cover.

  
  By plenty of cover do you mean lots of plants?? It's quite heavily planted, I thought bettas like heavily planted tanks..
  
  

It looks like fin rot to me. He's not flairing, but the tips of the dorsal, anal and tail fins though clamped, look like the typical raggednesd associated w/fin damage from bacterial infection. I treat him for that and do diligent weekly 50% water changes. Clean water will help him heal better than anything else.

Ok, so how do I treat him for fin rot? Just water changes? Last time I just did daily water changes and he healed... should I use aquarium salt?? I have some meds at home but its Melafix which I've heard is dangerous

 

Ok, so how do I treat him for fin rot? Just water changes? Last time I just did daily water changes and he healed... should I use aquarium salt?? I have some meds at home but its Melafix which I've heard is dangerous

Water changes are the main thing, and. You can use aquarium salt, but only about 1 tsp for every 5-7 gallons. If you're going to use salt, start with 1.5 tsp for 10 gallons. I'd just do a 50% water change once a week and treat replacement water with Stresscoat and see how he does for the next couple weeks. If his fins continue to get worse, you could try one of the antibiotics made to treat fin rot. Don't use Melafix, there's been enough anecdotal evidence that it does not really help when there is already an infection present and may actually do some harm to labyrynth fish.

 

I just did a water change, he seems to be doing better already (his fins aren't as clamped). Since I noticed the symptoms, it hasn't gotten any worse, it just stayed the same (apart from the Fin clamping, that improved). Hopefully his fins will grow back soon

 

So I thought I might do an update on him, his tail is starting to Grow back. Yay Now I'm just waiting for his analfin to start growing too, but I thinking might have actually started to already

 

So I thought I might do an update on him, his tail is starting to Grow back. Yay Now I'm just waiting for his analfin to start growing too, but I thinking might have actually started to already

Keep up with weekly 25 to 50% water changes and hopefully he'll do great.

 

You might want to try Kanaplex. It is a heavy duty medicine that I use when I get a new betta that has fin rot, Popeye or any other kind of bacterial infection. It's about 10 US dollars and I highly recommend it and water changes like above is saying, you're water quality is the most important thing when treating a betta for fin rot. Also, bettas do like heavily planted aquariums.