Frayed Fins, Fin Rot?

[drewdigg]

I've been dealing with issue with my Betta's tail fin for a few weeks now. It will look like it's starting to heal and then I'll come home from work and it's a torn up again.

This week I added a light to my tank and was able to finally get a good look at his fin and noticed the ends looked black.



I did a 40-50% water change and that night. The next day when I got home from work the fin was badly frayed again and I could still see black on the tips of the fray.:



I did another 40-50% water change that night, this time with aquarium salt and have been doing one every day for the past couple of days with aquarium salt.

He is in 10 gallon tank. The PH is probably a little high about 7.4 ppm, but the ammonia and nitrite are 0 ppm, and the nitrate is 20 ppm. Before this week I was doing 1-2 40-50% water changes a week and the water parameters are also at about these levels. Temperature is 79-82 deg. F

I don't know if you tell just from pictures alone but do you think my issues have been from fin rot all along or from something in the tank. I'm using all sink plants have checked all my decorations with a pantyhose and they seemed pretty good, although I've yet to find anything that doesn't have at least one spot the briefly catches the pantyhose. The issues seemed to first start a few weeks ago when I added a new hob filter to the tank and I thought it was because the flow was to strong even at the lowest setting so I covered the outake with a sponge (the intake was already covered with a sponge) but while I did see some improvements at first it got bad again.

Besides the appearance of the fins he seems to be perfectly healthy, very active and has a great appetite. Haven't had bubble nest in a week or so but was still getting them when the tail was bad.

Should I just keep on doing water changes every 1-2 days with salt until it fully heals or should I add some other kind of medication to the tank? Should I be doing bigger water changes than 40-50%?

Thanks for your help.

[Kenny G]

The black on your betta's fins are actually a very good sign. It means your betta is healing. Continue to do 40-50% water changes daily. It should clear up in about 2 weeks. I would start to cut back on the salt personally. Not sure how many days you have been using it.

[roysmama]

I've dealt with this on an off with my own betta for months now. Betta tend to be naturally curious, that paired with the fact that they aren't very body conscious means they get themselves in some pretty sticky situations...

Honestly, your water parameters seems to be fine and since he's not showing any other signs of distress, it appears that you have a slightly troublesome fish on your hands. If you had bad water quality then I might consider fin rot, but you don't! The best thing you can do is watch out for any other signs of stress. You're already using aquarium salt and doing regular water changes, which is the best thing you can do to help the tissue heal. Water changes are great, just make sure the temperature remains stable.

Roy used to get his fins snagged on EVERYTHING, but now that I've betta-proofed his tank, the fins are growing back fine, if not just a little curled and opaque, which is normal from what I understand...

When it comes to medication, if a fish isn't sick, it's a good way to make him sick. Unless you start to see definite signs of illness like pale color, lethargy and lack of appetite, I would hang tight on medication for now :)

[Twilight Storm]

He could be a tail biter. It's hard to catch them at it. If he suddenly started biting his tail and he hasn't had any big changes in his tank or the room he is in. The onset of fin rot could be a trigger for tail biting too.

Black edges as long as they aren't his normal coloration points toward fin rot. His fins do look ragged in the pictures but it's hard for me to tell anything from them. Someone else might have a better idea. (however maybe i'm wrong, my bettas always healed with white edges)

What I don't know is if the salt treatment in your 10 gallon will kill your beneficial bacteria if you cycled it. Plus the salt is kind of a pain to get out of the 10 gallon just because there is SO much water to change out.

I always take my fish out and put them in a small hospital tank to treat them. Usually with salt treatments I do 100% water changes daily. For 10 days (1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon, unless a specific disease calls for a lot more then that.)

For what it's worth though I love your tank. 10 gallon, silk plants, heater, floating betta log, cave... what more could a fish ask for :D You should think about getting a background of some kind so you can't see the chords and the wall behind it. Backgrounds really make the aquarium pop. Maybe a shimery blue water background, or something with stones that match your gravel? I was thinking black, but with your blue betta it might wash him out. :D (just an idea anyway)

Anyway get some second and third opinions. At the time i'm writing this no one had posted yet.

[megaredize]

i would check that floating log, i had one for one of my VT and hes vins were starting to get bad so i took it out and they are fine now. I also ran my hand around that log and there are spots that are rough which is insane since its meant for bettas, im sure sanding it would work. but i was lazy and just removed it

[Twilight Storm]

one other question, megaredize brought up a good point.

If you have a filter with an intake he might be sleeping on the intake tube? Mine love to do that. Make sure the intake tubes sponge fits all the way over the intake strainer. (I'm sure you probably already checked this.)

He might be mad you put the new HOB filter on the tank? Check to see if it is maybe vibrating the tank or making a lot of noise inside the tank.

Did he sleep on your old filter or hang out on or by it a lot?

[mursey]

I deal with the same things with one of my bettas, Cornelius. I check the water's chemicals all the time, do regular water changes, keep the ph as close to 7 as I can (it's difficult with our water) . .. but his fins are still all torn up. None of my other bettas have this. I also used Maracyn Oxy and they look the same.

Hope your fish heals! I'm hoping my fish is just getting caught on the driftwood.

[aokashi]

Originally Posted by Kenny G

The black on your betta's fins are actually a very good sign. It means your betta is healing. Continue to do 40-50% water changes daily. It should clear up in about 2 weeks. I would start to cut back on the salt personally. Not sure how many days you have been using it.

Kenny, I know you mean well, but please do your research. black edges are a sign of fin rot... I'm a little tired running after you to correct you on things where you've been misinformed please take some time to read up on disease symptoms, cycling and forum rules..

but you are right on the aquarium salt, it should be used for a maximum of ten days to prevent possible damage to the betta's kidneys.

As for my own input, I've often found that sometimes what seems like black is simply an area where the fish's pigment are clumped together... not sure how to explain. if it seems like the fina are thinning out, frayed and black, then you have a case of fin rot. Some fish are sold old at lfs and as a result their diminishing immune systems render them defenseless even against finrot. It could be a possibility this is the case...