I must be cursed!

[Fritz]

I was so excited to see that my betta Rufio had made his first bubble nest that I was jumping up and down. I was finally doing everything right. He must be happy and healthy if he is building a huge bubble nest right? Well when I sat down after doing his water change and rejoicing over my finned friends apparent happiness I noticed that HALF OF HIS CAUDAL FIN WAS MISSING! I have been extremely busy this week with work and school that I haven't payed much attention to him, but I didn't neglect him. Please tell me that this is tail biting and not fin rot

[Fritz]

What can I do to help him?

[Fritz]

here is a picture of him that I took just last week

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

The good news is it docent look like fin rot. Although fin rot is usually ragged fin looking, fin rot is caused by gram-rod negative bacteria that causes the end of the fins to become whitish and fuzzy, or almost black and burnt looking. Your in luck, because i am dealing with the same thing your Betta seems to have. My Betta Has the same symptoms as yours, i woke up and he was missing some of his fin too. I took some pantyhose and ran it over all the decorations to see if it would snag, and sure enough, one did. I removed the castle (any sharp decorations that the pantyhose snags on signifies a bettas fins tearing) and adding 1 tablespoon of AQUARIUM salt per 5 gallons along with water changes every day to keep him from getting any infection like fin rot. All i have to do now is to wait, as i have been told it will help his fins grow back in a couple of days.


Good Luck!

[LebronTheBetta]

If there is a C where the fins disappeared, then yes, it's tail biting.
If there is black film surrounding the place where the fins are gone, then that's Fin Rot. Clean water should do the trick.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

I agree with Lebron about the clean water. I think (if his fin disappeared that quickly) that he just snagged his fins on (betta's fins are very delicate) a sharp decoration in his tank. Do you have any sharp decorations you know about? Try the pantyhose trick!

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

Beautiful Betta by the way!

[Fritz]

Housing
What size is your tank? 6.6 (petco bookshelf)
What temperature is your tank? 74*
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta? Tetra Betta plus mini pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? every other day 2 pellets

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? twice a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API tap water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
I'm new at testing water but this is what I think it says.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5?
pH: 8
Hardness:hard (I live in Indiana and all the water is always hard)
Alkalinity: 250

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? peices missing from caudal fin, slightly lighter marbling
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no but he always flares a lot. I've tried to reduce this by adding a background but now he just flares at the front of the tank
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 20 minutes ago after water change
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no I have only had him for 3 or 4 weeks though.
How old is your fish (approximately)? less than a year

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by MyRainbowBettaFish

Beautiful Betta by the way!

Thank you. I will try that pantyhose thing. It just seemed like a lot of fin to be missing for just a tear. That's why it worries me so much. However, I have never experienced a tear or any fin damage before so I have no clue what I'm looking at.

[Fritz]

here is his set up. does anything stand out to you guys?