New Betta's fins not looking so swell

I just got him on Friday, and his fins looked great then. Today they do not look very good, very tatty and uneven on the ends.

He's in a tank with 6 neons, who give him a wide berth, 2 ADFs who don't even know he exists, and 2 teeny tiny yoyo loaches. I haven't seen anyone going after him, although I have seen the loaches chase the neons a little bit, but they quickly get confused and leave them alone. The betta mostly stays to the top/middle and the loaches on the bottom. The parameters are 7.6 ph, 0 amm, 0 nitrites, 10 (maybe 20? I can't figure out the difference between the colors of 10 and 20) nitrates. I just did a 30% water change yesterday.

This is really my first time keeping a betta so I don't really know what's causing it or how to fix it. Help?

 

Oh yes, and the temp is 79.

 

HI snapper
I would consider moving him.
Whether or not the neons are nipping at night is hard to tell.
Could just even be stress from being with active fish.

A nice warm 5 gallon tank with extra stress coat, vita-chem and garlic guard should help him heal.

 

I don't have an extra cycled tank sitting around. I could probably get a separate 5 gallon for him, but the only thing I have to cycle it is a big sponge filter. I would hate to move him and have it not cycle properly. Maybe I can divide the tank?

 

You can try that. If this is the 10g, that's not going to give the loaches and neons much room though.
The vita-chem and garlic guard aren't meds so they won't hurt your other fish.

It would be a good idea to get some sort of Q tank for future use.
It doesn't have to be expensive or kept set up..
Kritter Keepers or a clean tupperware container work well.
Put an extra sponge in your cycled tank. Then you can switch it over when needed.
A simple sponge filter can be set up along with a heater.

There are a few links in this sticky for suggestions on setting one up.

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/quarantine-tank-setup.69750/

 

Dividing the tank would be a nice quick, temporary fix. Just divide it of center. Like 2/3 of the tank for the Neons and Loaches, and 1/3 of the tank for the Betta.

Kritter Keepers are the BEST. They are now call "PlaHouse's," and there are Cricket Keepers. Don't get a Cricket Keeper unless you have to. More money than you need to pay lol

 

Okay, I'm heading to the LFS. What side should I put the frogs on?

 

Which ever side. They'd prob'ly like the larger side, but I'm a bit concerned about the Loaches out competing them for food.

 

I hand feed them, and the loaches clean up their leftovers.

 

Garlic Guard is hard to find in the store.
You can use the juice from Garlic in a jar. Make sure there aren't any additives.

 

Got the divider and everyone on their own sides. They didn't have vita-chem. They tried to sell me bettafix, which I declined. They also tried to tell me his tank was WAY too big and sell me a little 1.5 gallon thing.

 

Smart move. lol Saying thanks and walking away with only what you need.
Good luck, please keep us posted.

 

Thanks! How long do you think it'll take for his fins to heal?

Also I got a picture. He looks so pathetic.


Here's before and after.

 

That's some damage in less than a week!
I'd suggest looking for the above mentioned products and keeping the water pristine with frequent water changes.
Is there anything in the tank that he could have snagged his fins on?
Any signs of actual fin rot?
Doesn't look like nips from small neons though.

If you decide to medicate you will need to set up a Q tank.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/list-of-betta-meds-for-betta-disease.16170/

 

That's some damage in less than a week!

I know, right!

I'd suggest looking for the above mentioned products and keeping the water pristine with frequent water changes.
Is there anything in the tank that he could have snagged his fins on?

Just some wisteria, some anacharis, and a little cave that he does like to go in. The cave has leaves on it, but they're not plastic.

Any signs of actual fin rot?

Uhh... like what?

Doesn't look like nips from small neons though.

I wonder if it was the loaches?

If you decide to medicate you will need to set up a Q tank.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/list-of-betta-meds-for-betta-disease.16170/

Thanks.

 

I don't know enough about loaches to comment whether they would nip or not.

Transparency or whiteness around the edges, pin holes in the fins, lose of finnage (as in your case it seems).
Those sort of things.

Bettas can be prone to it. Water conditions, stress whether with you or even before you got him, looking at it the wrong way .
Sorry bad joke, but many bettas get fin rot despite good care.

Try the above mentioned products if it gets worse or doesn't improve, medicating should be considered.

There's no time table for fin regrowth. Once the underlying problem is addressed it.
can take a few weeks to months.

Hopefully others will chime in soon with additional info.

 

I have limited information on fin rot, as I've never had to deal with it *knocks on wood*.

But my two boys who've had split fins have healed fairly quickly. 3PO's tail and analfin got stuck to the filter intake and split nearly up to his body, with some nasty shredding on the end. I fixed the problem, and he healed in about three weeks, although his analfin still has one clean split in it.

Loki, on the other hand, got his tail split in half by a nasty filter current (while I was making the buffer, no less), and he's mostly healed in a week (although it's hard to tell sometimes, because the ends of his fins are clear).

So, if the water is clean and warm, fairly quickly, as long as there isn't any underlying stress issues.

 

Rips can heal over night if the conditions are right. Shredded fins can take a bit longer. I bought this stuff called Kordon Fish Protector at PetSmart, and it healed a good deal of damage to my goldfish's fin over night.

 

I don't think it's fin rot, since it's only on his tail and it looks shredded like something was chewing on it, not white or anything on the tips. So phew! The lady at the fish store showed me a betta they had that had been eating his own tail (what the heck! I had no idea they would do that!) and it looked a lot like that, only not so bad.

If that fish protector stuff isn't bad for the other inhabitants, I might get some. I think I've seen it at our Petsmart.

 

I don't think it's fin rot, since it's only on his tail and it looks shredded like something was chewing on it, not white or anything on the tips. So phew! The lady at the fish store showed me a betta they had that had been eating his own tail (what the heck! I had no idea they would do that!) and it looked a lot like that, only not so bad.

If that fish protector stuff isn't bad for the other inhabitants, I might get some. I think I've seen it at our Petsmart.

Fish Protector is all herbal and vitamins

He could very well be biting his own tail. Its usually caused by stress (such as having tank mates) or boredom.

 

Wouldn't there be some other sign of stress like top/bottom sitting or something? He seems happy as a clam, swims around, explores, lays in the plants, eats well, doesn't flare a lot... I hope it's not that.

 

It looks like he's a tailbiter to me. I think they mostly do that in shipping or at night. Out of the 400 or so adult males I have about 6 of them are tailbiters. Sometimes I move them to the front of the shelf where they can see me and they'll stop but I never see them doing it. I think you'd have to set up an infrared camera at night to catch them! I add a couple teaspoons per gallon of aquarium salt to stimulate their slime protection and prevent infections.

 

Doesn't look any worse this morning. Really most of the damage happened the night before last all at once. I'm hoping that means he wasn't self-mutilating, or if he was he's feeling better about himself now.

I think I'm going to get another 10 gallon for just him. I did some reading last night and some folks said a divided tank with a female on the other side can stop tailbiting. What do you guys think about that?

 

I would see if removing him from his current situation doesn't help first. I'm not really a fan of mixed sex divided tanks, from the stories I've heard of the females getting egg bound.

 

Thought I'd give an update. He's healing nicely with no meds, just nice clean water. Not perfect yet but I definitely see improvement. I put him in his own five gallon.

 

Neons are bad fin nippers :/

Hope he heals up some more

 

Hope he heals up. I love blue bettas...

 

Wouldn't there be some other sign of stress like top/bottom sitting or something?

Not necessarily. Stress weakens their immune system leaving them open to illness.

Thought I'd give an update. He's healing nicely with no meds, just nice clean water. Not perfect yet but I definitely see improvement. I put him in his own five gallon.

That's great!
Glad to hear he's doing better and in a tank of his own.