New Betta fin damage & snails

Took a a video of our new girl, Sunset. I want to document how her fins are looking and keep an eye on how she reacts to snails.

She's definitely curious, but swims away after looking at them, at least now anyway. I've seen her knock one off the glass once on the first day. She smashed her face into the shell, backed up, then swam away. The snail went down, popped back out and carried on. I'm hoping that will discourage her in the future. Like - this moving rock hurts my face and I can't bite into it, so...

Would likes others thoughts on her fins. It's day two, still active and eating, too soon to see new fin growth. I just don't want it to turn into fin rot and catch it early if it does.

She was either nipped or bit it herself during transit - at least that's what I think it looks like anyways. Otherwise healthy and happy. Thoughts greatly appreciated! I want to see this girl live a long happy life.

Attached parameters, PH about 7.5, ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, nitrate 5 ppm.

Pardon the grime on the glass. I didn't want to wipe it down yet since jump-starting the cycle with a cycled sponge and to let everything establish.

Edit: attaching more photos, tried to get a better view of her fins, she's so small though my camera is having a hard time focusing and as soon as it does she moves.

 

I am fairly sure that scalloped look to her fin edges is normal and the edges are in good condition. She might be a crowntail female perhaps, but the edges aren’t ragged and the indentations are pretty regular in size and overall shape.

So I think she’s in great shape at this point.

 

I am fairly sure that scalloped look to her fin edges is normal and the edges are in good condition. She might be a crowntail female perhaps, but the edges aren’t ragged and the indentations are pretty regular in size and overall shape.

So I think she’s in great shape at this point.

Awesome! I was getting worried. Thank you so much for taking a look! ^_^

 

Awesome! I was getting worried. Thank you so much for taking a look! ^_^

No worries. She’s a pretty little thing. Here’s hoping the marble gene doesn’t cause her any problems.

 

No worries. She’s a pretty little thing. Here’s hoping the marble gene doesn’t cause her any problems.

Oh dear! I didn't know about the marble gene being prone to issues. I just knew it caused color changes. I had to look this up and trying to learn about it. Is her being a Nemo/koi a guarantee that she is has the marble gene?

 

Oh dear! I didn't know about the marble gene being prone to issues. I just knew it caused color changes. I had to look this up and trying to learn about it. Is her being a Nemo/koi a guarantee that she is has the marble gene?

It is indeed a guarantee of having the mutation that is the marble gene, which is referred to as a jumping gene because it can change its position in the genome and that’s what leads to the colour changes you tend to get with these fish.

The marble gene puts fish at a higher risk of developing a tumour, which is thought to be due to overactivity in the iridophores (chromatophores) that produce their colouring and the same is true of the dragonscale fish. This does not mean every one of them will get tumours - it just means their risk of developing one is higher than fish without the marble gene.

But there are other risk factors - including size and colouring and whether or not the fish is metallic. The metallic colouring bears the same heightened risk for cancers originating in one or more iridophores.

Rose and Feather tails are also very prone to developing tumours, fin rots and buoyancy issues and have less than stellar health generally. They also really struggle to swim thanks to the enormous tails, which I think should be banned - the fish have no choice about being burdened by them and fin biting is really common in these fish. I’ve had one rosetail and after watching it grow up and struggle to swim I will never ever buy another or any other of the extremes in tail size.

Fish that are 90 - 100% blue, without other colours seem most prone to Graphite disease and there is some thought that the underlying cause is due to the fish being unable to process cartenoids properly and carotenoids play a role in the function of the immune system. So if they run across some mycobacteria, which are the cause of the actual disease itself, they’re not able to mount a good enough immune response to fight it off.

All-blue bettas are rather prone to illness generally too which makes sense if they’re burdened with a weakened immune system from birth.

All-red bettas are also very prone to developing tumours. To achieve an all red fish requires intense inbreeding so they have beautiful red colouring but along with it, a host of much less desirable recessive traits.

Other bettas at higher risk are the Giants, especially the ones with a white face and blue body

The Dumbo or Elephant Ear and double tails are both due to mutations and these fish have a higher risk of buoyancy problems and the double tails seem even more prone to fin rot and a short lifespan than any of the other types.

The blackest ‘Melano’ types have an excessive amount of eumelanin. They are often sterile and prone to an assortment of health issues.

If you want the best chance of a healthy fish, pick one that’s coloured orange, peach or yellow, or a tannish colour, or all white, even a dirty looking white, but avoid fish that are all blue, red or black and those with the marble gene, including all the gorgeous kois.

And pick a Veil tail.

The Veil tails are the original tail type, the cheapest to buy and the least likely to have health problems or tail bite or get fin rot. They’re not as showy, though people thought they were freaking awesome when they first showed up in North America - nobody had ever seen anything like them and they weren’t nearly as inbred, with nowhere near all the colours and no other fin types back then.

I get why people are so taken with the Kois, they are gorgeous. But like a lot of other things that come with bettas, that beauty comes at a price and it can be a pretty steep one for the fish.

 

It is indeed a guarantee of having the mutation that is the marble gene, which is referred to as a jumping gene because it can change its position in the genome and that’s what leads to the colour changes you tend to get with these fish.

The marble gene puts fish at a higher risk of developing a tumour, which is thought to be due to overactivity in the iridophores (chromatophores) that produce their colouring and the same is true of the dragonscale fish. This does not mean every one of them will get tumours - it just means their risk of developing one is higher than fish without the marble gene.

But there are other risk factors - including size and colouring and whether or not the fish is metallic. The metallic colouring bears the same heightened risk for cancers originating in one or more iridophores.

Rose and Feather tails are also very prone to developing tumours, fin rots and buoyancy issues and have less than stellar health generally. They also really struggle to swim thanks to the enormous tails, which I think should be banned - the fish have no choice about being burdened by them and fin biting is really common in these fish. I’ve had one rosetail and after watching it grow up and struggle to swim I will never ever buy another or any other of the extremes in tail size.

Fish that are 90 - 100% blue, without other colours seem most prone to Graphite disease and there is some thought that the underlying cause is due to the fish being unable to process cartenoids properly and carotenoids play a role in the function of the immune system so if they’re affected by the mycobacteria, which are the cause of the actual disease itself, they’re not able to mount a good ebnough immune response to fight it off.

Al–blue bettas are rather prone to illness generally too which makes sense if they’re burdened with a weakened immune system from birth.

All-red bettas are also very prone to developing tumours. To achieve an all red fish requires intense inbreeding so they have beautiful red colouring but along with it, a host of much less desirable recessive traits to go with it.

Other bettas at higher risk are the Giants, especially the ones with a white face and blue body

The Dumbo or Elephant Ear and double tails are both due to mutations and these fish have a higher risk of buoyancy problems and the double tails seem even more prone to fin rot and a short lifespan than any of the other types.

The blackest ‘Melano’ types have an excessive amount of eumelanin and are often sterile and prone to an assortment of health issues.

If you want the best chance of a healthy fish, pick one that’s coloured orange, peach or yellow, or a tannish colour, or all white, even a dirty looking white, but avoid fish that are all blue, red or black and those with the marble gene, including all the gorgeous kois.

And pick a Veil tail.

The Veil tails are the original tail type, the cheapest to buy and the least likely to have health problems or tail bite or get fin rot. They’re not as showy, though people thought they were freaking awesome when they first showed up in North America - nobody had ever seen anything like them and they weren’t nearly as inbred, nowhere near all the colours, no other fin types.

I get why people are so taken with the Kois, they are gorgeous but like a lot of other things that come with bettas, that beauty comes at a price and it can be a pretty steep one for the fish.

I did not know this about kois, always thought plakats were the healthiest. So sad!

Not sure if this helps her, but her body is really orange, kinda hard to see in the photos. Then again orange could change red or blue. =\ Only time will tell and I hope she's a lucky one. Going to try my best with her.

She has a few shiny scales and markings on her fins that are a bright light blue. I'm not sure if it's just the color that's bright or if they are metallic and she is nacreous (I think it's called, a mix of matte and metallic).

Another reason I was worried about the tail - the breeder that sold her was selling all plakats. She wasn't pricey by any means, but I wasn't looking for the "perfect looks" Betta that some people want from specialized breeding. Same with goldfish, I rather like the ones that move away from being "grade a" and my Thai Oranda was the first "grade a" we had gotten. We just got fed up with the low quality care at some pet stores, and then fell in love with the photo. =\

If I was ever a breeder I'd want to encourage all the wild genes. (That's just not something I'm cut out for though).

 

I did not know this about kois, always thought plakats were the healthiest. So sad!

Not sure if this helps her, but her body is really orange, kinda hard to see in the photos. Then again orange could change red or blue. =\ Only time will tell and I hope she's a lucky one. Going to try my best with her.

She has a few shiny scales and markings on her fins that are a bright light blue. I'm not sure if it's just the color that's bright or if they are metallic and she is nacreous (I think it's called, a mix of matte and metallic).

Another reason I was worried about the tail - the breeder that sold her was selling all plakats. She wasn't pricey by any means, but I wasn't looking for the "perfect looks" Betta that some people want from specialized breeding. Same with goldfish, I rather like the ones that move away from being "grade a" and my Thai Oranda was the first "grade a" we had gotten. We just got fed up with the low quality care at some pet stores, and then fell in love with the photo. =\

If I was ever a breeder I'd want to encourage all the wild genes. (That's just not something I'm cut out for though).

I wish they’d breed for longevity and health first, then colours and so on.

 

Just want to say she's gorgeous, fishywoo! I just love that little face!!!

 

Just want to say she's gorgeous, fishywoo! I just love that little face!!!

(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

 

I realized I could take better pictures of her if I angled the camera upwards. The look of her fins are still making me a little nervous, so I decided to add some seachem stressguard just in case. Otherwise she's doing well. She also loved playing in the water when I was filling her tank up. She's just an all around fun girl!
^_^

 

Thought I'd update this thread too. There's been a lot of threads on fishlore I've read where there wasn't any update or conclusion leaving me wondering, what happened next???

With her fins worrying me and looking worse I started double dosing seachem stressguard for 3 days. After that without any signs of it getting worse I cut down to one dose a day. Today I can see new fin growth. Once I see those fins fill out I'll update this again, and one final time when they regain their color, although by that time she might be a different color altogether!