Betta Keeps splitting tail

[Sashy]

I've had my veiltail betta for a few months now. As soon as I got him I noticed that he loved to burrow in the gravel and swim through the plants in his tank. Unfortunately his fins look terrible as a result. They are constantly tattered but yesterday for the first time I noticed that he split his tail all they way up to his body. I removed everything sharp from his tank weeks ago(the only plants are bamboo and two mossballs) but it hasn't helped. Any suggestions?

[DragonFish]

Often bettas with longer, flowy fins like VTs its very easy for them to split their tails by flaring or just swimming a little too much. A simple clean split should heal up within a day or two, its nothing to worry about.

As for the other damage, if you've removed any and all sharp/plastic decorations and plants he could be biting his tail. Could you provide a picture?

[Sashy]

Here is a picture of my betta with fin damage

[DragonFish]

Oh wow, that is a pretty big split.....looks like he might have flared/bit his tail, split it, and just been super active afterwards and opened it up a little more. Or he may have turned around and just managed to get a HUGE mouthful of fin and taken a nice chunk out of himself.

It should heal just fine though with clean, warm water. Just keep an eye on it.

[Sashy]

I've never noticed him biting his fins but maybe that is what is happening. It makes me sad because he used to have amazing fins and now they look awful most of the time. Oh well... I just hope it doesn't get infected or anything

[DragonFish]

Unless you're there watching him 24/7, its very likely you may never see him do it. Besides that big split, he otherwise doesn't look like a really bad chronic biter.....a fish like that will usually practically turn himself into a PK, so hes probably not a BAD biter. Just got a huge chunk of his tail one time, I had a fish that did that once.

A lot of things can cause biting, so if you really suspect that hes been nipping then its time to take a look at everything you're doing. Feeding schedule, tank size, amount of decorations, temperature, water change schedule, lighting and lighting schedule...everything. It could be the smallest most insignificant thing setting it off......or he could just be getting tired of his big, heavy fins. But you won't know until you look at every possible cause.

To me, what stands out the most is that just a stock of bamboo and a couple of moss balls is pretty sparse for a betta tank....they prefer a decent amount of cover to swim around/rest on. Did you notice the tattering of his tail in general getting worse/not better at all since you removed his other decorations?