What happened to his tail!?

[labloverl]

Housing
What size is your tank? 10 GAL
What temperature is your tank? 81*F
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Not currently
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Male betta separated w/divider

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? aqua culture betta pellet food
How often do you feed your betta fish? 6-7 days a week (3-4 pellets)

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
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? water conditioner (tetra aqua safe)

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: between 0 and 20 (right before a water change) (i use test strips)
pH:7.2
Hardness:25
Alkalinity:80

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Most of tail is chopped off
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? it hasn't
When did you start noticing the symptoms? today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill?no
How old is your fish (approximately)? i've had for 6 months, nad he's full sized


First, I have left the tank light off for the past 2-3 days. I was lazy, but I did feed the fish. Today was water change day, so I turned the light on and saw this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nqZkK0QK8

Please tell me what's wrong with his tail. His neighbor has been in the tank with him for close to 2 months. Does his tail look chopped as well?

[Betta Slave]

Tail-biting :/ Your tank seems like there's a lot for him to do, so it's not because of boredom... your keeping the light off for a while is probably what set him on edge, and that's why he started. As long as he's acting completely normal, there's not much you can do. Either he'll keep biting it or he'll let it grow back.

[labloverl]

Yes, there's a lot to do in the tank. On the left side, there is a glass cup that used to be in the red betta's side, but I recently moved that to the left side and put the rainbow cave in. That's the only change I've made. Do I just go on with the water change like normal? Is there any special care?

[Betta Slave]

Definitely not boredom then. And as to care, nope, just go about your regular routine :)

[Silverfang]

Your crown tail looks like he nibbled on some of his rays. As for your red boy, I'm wondering, is the filter intake on his side? The other thing I would suggest is testing his plants with a bit of nylon or pantyhose. Make sure he didn't get anything snagged on that.

It is possible he bit his tail, but I'd lean more towards a filter mishap for your Red boy.

[labloverl]

The crowntail's (Seeley) tail looked about like that when I first got him out of the cup he came in. I figured that living in the cup would cause that. I'm not sure if his is any worse though.

The VT (Sawyer) is on the filter intake side. The output pushed him around a bit, but I haven't decided on how I want to baffle the filter yet. When he had the full 10 gallons, he did purposefully wrap his body around the intake for a second or two, and then swim off. He hasn't done that in a long time though. He has ripped his dorsal fin on a plant before, but I took that one out. (fake hornwort plant) It still hasn't grown back completely. How long does it take?


Should I maybe change the water twice a week instead of weekly to help prevent an infection?

[labloverl]

bump

[Perseusmom]

To be on the safe side yes I would do the twice a week water change till his tail looks better. I think maybe having the light off for that long could have had something to do with it. Perseus my crowntail loves his light on now that I am floating some live Hornwort at the top of his home he even sleeps in it. He just seems to to be more active with the light on an explores all his 5 gallon home. Hopes their tails get better soon !

[labloverl]

Since I change 50% once a week, would I just do 25% twice a week?

I haven't had any experience with tails growing back, so would I just look for it to start growing back a little. About how long can that take?