Raj lost some tail...

I'm not sure if my lil CT fella ripped his fin on something or what.... but he's missing some of his rays? think that's what they're called?
I'm keeping a close eye on his tail fin to make sure it doesn't get any worse.. but is this perhaps normal with CTs since their rays are so thin and delicate?

The parts that are gone haven't gotten any worse, but as I said.. I'm keeping a close eye on him and if things start looking any worse I'll be treating the entire tank.

 

I'm not sure if my lil CT fella ripped his fin on something or what.... but he's missing some of his rays? think that's what they're called?
I'm keeping a close eye on his tail fin to make sure it doesn't get any worse.. but is this perhaps normal with CTs since their rays are so thin and delicate?

The parts that are gone haven't gotten any worse, but as I said.. I'm keeping a close eye on him and if things start looking any worse I'll be treating the entire tank.

One of our VT has done some tail ripping lately and another has recently got a tear. It prompted us to take out their big rock formations, just in case those were the culprits.. everything else is definitely Betta-safe, but we may treat Aslan's tank to help his tears heal as he has a couple, but has signs of regrowth too. Is it maracyn, maracyn-2 or something else that you'd use if you're not really suspecting finrot, but just want to heal up some tears? Our bettas seem to get tears on their delicate fins so easily, only Angel doesn't have any - one of the reasons we're down to just a little wind rock and a column in the tanks with the live plants. We're going to try getting enough of those stupid bulbs to sprout to give the bettas a nice little 'forest' to swim through - they seem to enjoy the plants more than the decor anyway.

I'd do the same plan as you with him.

 

Damage to the fins or tail (rays or webbing) can result in fin rot and it is often suggested to begin treatment quickly to keep any fin rot from advancing too far. 

The first thing to do is assure good water quality (ammonia=0, nitrites=0, nitrates<20, and temp=82F).  Some would then go right on to medicate, others might take a wait-and-see approach.  If you decide to medicate, Jungle Labs Fungus Clear is what a lot of folks start with.  It's a relatively mild med but if started soon enough many have had success with it.  If you want something stronger, then try Maracyn 2.  Maracyn 2 is for treating gram negative-related disorders and the bacterias most associated with fin rot are gram negative (at least according to a lot of the literature).  Before starting any med treatment remove all carbon/charcoal filtering devices.

Absent fin rot, I don't know if there is anything on the market to help speed up the recovery of injured fins.  Some here have tried a few products, but I don't know how effective they are.  Keeping good water parameters is necessary, and if there is no infection it will take awhile for the fins to regrow, maybe months.

Our Betta has chewed on both of his pelvic fins causing injury.  Though the chewed sections eventually fell off, all it did was shorten them (fortunately they never became infected).  The fins are growing back, but it took three months before any substantial growth was visible.   

If the injury is due to something in the tank, it is best to remove the offending object.  It's been suggested here to try the "nylon test" on suspect ornaments and plants.  If passing a nylon over the object causes a run in the nylon, the object can injure the fish and should not be used in the tank.

Hope all your injured Bettas get well soon.

Mike

 

When my females were together and fought they had a lot of ripped and chewed tails. Aenara had most of her tail missing. I did not medicate. I made sure they had very clean water and the rips healed with 2 days. Bigger missing pieces took a little longer to grow back but they did grow back and none of them got finrot. I always prefer not to over-medicate. I only give meds if it's really needed. If you keep a close eye on the fins you should be able to tell within 2 days if it's healing on it's own or if finrot is starting. The more you use medication the less effective it becomes because they start to build up an immunity to it. I'd rather save it for when they REALLY need it. Not all torn fins will develop into finrot.

 

Yeah, it's been a couple of days and his tailfin hasn't gotten any worse so I'm holding off on medicating.
I don't see what he could've ripped those small chunks off on though. Maybe the rock on his side, but not really sure. There aren't any sharp edges... it does have a sorta sandpaper texture to it though.

 

Yeah, it's been a couple of days and his tailfin hasn't gotten any worse so I'm holding off on medicating.
I don't see what he could've ripped those small chunks off on though. Maybe the rock on his side, but not really sure. There aren't any sharp edges... it does have a sorta sandpaper texture to it though.

Sometimes it is hard to tell if a decoration is Betta-safe, even with the nylon test. That's why we left those big rocks in so long. Really examining every surface of it revealed some rough spots in hard to get to parts of it. The nylon test is good, just we missed a few of those hard to get to parts.

Sounds like the right plan for him & if you want to add something to help him heal, NovAqua is a product with a good reputation from a company that makes good products.

 

I'll keep that product in mind when we go to the pet store again.

His tailfin seems to be healing. It has a slight clear part where new growth is coming in.
I am getting a bit worried about his other fins though. Looks like one of them is losing some color at the tip.
Could just be uber paranoid right now.. but guess all I can do is wait and see what happens.

 

I'll keep that product in mind when we go to the pet store again.

His tailfin seems to be healing. It has a slight clear part where new growth is coming in.
I am getting a bit worried about his other fins though. Looks like one of them is losing some color at the tip.
Could just be uber paranoid right now.. but guess all I can do is wait and see what happens.

Finrot does that to you - we're always about ready to pull the trigger on the finrot panic if we see anything that might possible have a chance of being finrot.. He sounds like he's doing good and we think you'll BOTH be fine.