Broken tail? Please help

[Jennabear7]

I recently got a beta fish and I'm not the best owner I went to clean out my beta fishes tank (which hadn't been done in a while) and he was fine. But when we took him out of the tank and into a small cup he looked completely dead. It could have been shock because the water was a bit warmer than his water but we quickly poured him back into his tank. He sat at the bottom of the tank for a while but he would breath and move his front fins. While I was gone my mom cleaned his tank but he was still acting really weird. He just sat at the bottom of the tank and barely moved. I took his tank back upstairs and he would swim a little when I put in food but he looked like he was about to die. Finally today he was almost back to his old self but he used to have those beautiful back tail strings all sprayed out but now they are closed and he swims really weird. His back end kinda try's to wiggle but its obvious its hard he mostly uses his front fins now. Is his back tail broken maybe from the net?

[moonsand0wls]

Originally Posted by Jennabear7

I recently got a beta fish and I'm not the best owner I went to clean out my beta fishes tank (which hadn't been done in a while) and he was fine. But when we took him out of the tank and into a small cup he looked completely dead. It could have been shock because the water was a bit warmer than his water but we quickly poured him back into his tank. He sat at the bottom of the tank for a while but he would breath and move his front fins. While I was gone my mom cleaned his tank but he was still acting really weird. He just sat at the bottom of the tank and barely moved. I took his tank back upstairs and he would swim a little when I put in food but he looked like he was about to die. Finally today he was almost back to his old self but he used to have those beautiful back tail strings all sprayed out but now they are closed and he swims really weird. His back end kinda try's to wiggle but its obvious its hard he mostly uses his front fins now. Is his back tail broken maybe from the net?

Can you answer these please?

What are his water levels? (Ammonia, PH, nitRIte, nitRAte etc..)
What is the temperature in his water?
What treatments do you use in the water? (conditioner etc)
What do you feed him? How often?
How big is his tank? Did you cycle it before you put him in?
Does he have any "tank mates"?
How old is he? Does he have a history of being sick?

[Jennabear7]

I don't know the water levels, the temp is just room temp but he's never had a problem with it before, we use nutrafin beta plus conditioner, I feed him about once a day, I used to feed him twice but I learned feeding him too much would be bad for him. (He still eats pretty furiously), he has a fairly small tank and I don't know what cycling the water is but we used distilled water. He has no other fish friends and we have only had him for a few months, I don't think he's ever been sick before. I mean he's used to a pretty dirty tank but he seems back to normal except for his tail. It's still not expanded and when he try's to swim down it kinda just floats behind him.

[deso]

Stop using distilled water and switch to bottled spring drinking water or conditioned tap water. Distilled hasn't got the minerals or nutrients that a betta needs to survive and develop healthy fins. You say that he's swimming a bit funny - this could be because he's cold, and he'll get sick in the future (if he isn't already) if he continues to be kept at room temperature. A betta's tail can't "get broken", but they do close it up when they're cold or feeling under the weather. He needs a heater and thermometer as well, one that can heat the water to 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

Do you have an exact measurement of how many gallons of water the tank holds? If not, give us the dimensions of the tank and we'll figure it out from there.

[moonsand0wls]

It sounds like he's getting sick because of the temperature of the water, the dirty tank and because (I'm gathering) you hadn't cycled your tank previously. When you put the Betta into the tank you would've cycled it using him which would've put mega stress on him which may be why he is getting sick. Also, I recommend getting a water test kit, and testing the pH of the water, nitRIte, nitRAte, ammonia etc because if the levels are way off and bad it will become toxic for your fish and will be one of the reasons your fish is sick.

As Deso said, I recommend you get a thermometer and a heater. A filter is preferred, too, and it will help you keep the water and tank clean. A water test kit is a must, especially as you'll need to know if the water levels are the reason your fish is getting sick.

If you need anymore help, feel free to message me. :)