Any way at all to stop tail biting?

[Irishdancer]

I have one that who will trim his tail because it's so big, and another that bites sometimes out of boredom. Giving him more decorations in his tank seemed to help a lot, so I've got extra things and I'll trade out different things whenever I do a 100% water change. So I might take out his hamster tunnel and put in a ship decoration one week, and take the ship out and put in an arch the next week.

I use AQ salt when the biting looks bad, but I've never used any other kind of medication. Once the biting stops, it doesn't take too long for the tail to grow back.

[MollyJean]

I have a black orchid named Corrin who is a tail biter, but I found the reason is his lighting. I've had to change his light 4 times now. If it's just a little too dark he'll start biting. I think maybe he doesn't realize he's a black fish.... and his tail surprises him in the dark. I don't know, but his current bright light solved the problem and his tail has grown out a lot in the last month or two.

[bettaluver14]

Originally Posted by callistra

The tetras may be biting him because they're stressed and he's probably stressed by them too. It comes back to the inappropriate set up with trying to keep your betta in a 2 gallon along with tetras.

Also since your tetras have parasite infection it may have infected him as well.

I really don't understand why you keep making thread after thread after thread about the same issues. You're not going to get a different answer than what you've already gotten from your last several threads about problems with your betta and the tetras.

okay you're seriously stressing me out! i take perfect care of all of them. i have the tetras in a seperate thing being treated and their parasites are gone now i'm just waiting a little longer. ZUko has been tail biting since before i got the tetras and i have never seen them nipping at him. AND btw, it's a 2.5gal and it's just him in there again the tetras are in a seperate tank until i upgrade to a 10gal so leave me alone.

[TheCheese909]

Can you post some photos of his tail? I just reread your first post and I would like to make sure it's tail biting and not that he's tearing it on something.

[bettaluver14]

well it's healed a lot since he bit it but sure here it is right now


it's usually shredded like "stress Strips"
his tail heals fully REAL fast now idk why lol

[TheCheese909]

That to me looks more like ripping and not biting. Biting looks much more spiky and jagged. I looked at the plant you have in that tank with him and I had this plant at one point. The plastic of the stems are close to each other towards to bottom and get pretty sharp. If you can afford to try getting him another silk plant it should stop it :)

[LadyVictorian]

Yes this isn't biting it's ripping. If you have plastic plants or something in the tank with sharp edges then his tail is likely getting caught and torn on them.

[bettaluver14]

Originally Posted by TheCheese909

That to me looks more like ripping and not biting. Biting looks much more spiky and jagged. I looked at the plant you have in that tank with him and I had this plant at one point. The plastic of the stems are close to each other towards to bottom and get pretty sharp. If you can afford to try getting him another silk plant it should stop it :)

the plant has been out for a while.... it broke -.- the things i have in theere are a neon cave(my dad smoothed ALL edges inside and out),an octopus that has a smooth no fishing sign, his filter,heater, and a leaf bed near the top of his tank. and his tail does look spiky and jagged at the beginning. it's pretty much fully healed and the pix are what it looks like during the healing. are you sure it's ripping?! i have no idea what he could be ripping it on......

[TheCheese909]

I've uploaded a few photos of what biting looks like vs ripping. The first two are biting (notice the spiky look) and the other two are ripping due to too much flaring or getting caught in decor.

[bettaluver14]

yah he difinitely tail bites v_v it looks exactly like those shreds. :(
but once it starts healing it just looks like traingles i guess cause theyre filling in.
cause im getting him a new and bigger (10gal) tank and new decor along with some more friends do you think he will stop?? i hope