Sick betta?

[saryg101]

Hi there I am new to this site as a member but have been reading posts for a few months now. I have no clue if my betta rainbow (will post pictures) has fin rot or if he is a comb or feather tail. I and my boyfriend are really confused at this point. please help me

[Laki]

Hi and Welcome!!
Rainbow is a nice handsome fish :) I think he might be halfmoon or delta but only because I am not trained enough to differentiate the spread between HM/DeT and feathertails.

He does NOT have fin rot though he might be nipping. Some of the heavier finned bettas will nip their fins out of stress, boredom or because the filter current is too strong. What size tank is he in? Is it filtered? Heated? What kinds of decoration? And how often are water changes performed?

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Welcome to the forum! Could you please answer the questions below, so that people have more information?

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[saryg101]

Housing
What size is your tank? he is alone in a 1.8ltr
What temperature is your tank? it stays at a nice room temperature
Does your tank have a filter? no filter
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes an air stone
Is your tank heated? no however the flouresent light keeps it at room temp
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? betta pellets and frozen blood worms
How often do you feed your betta fish? 4 pellets a day and frozen blood worms every other to every couple of days

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 100% water change every other day
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? fresh water salt and water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? no
If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? tail has become more raggedy around the edges
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? not noticibly he is still an active fish and very cheeky
When did you start noticing the symptoms? when we brought him home.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? we started him on melafix as soon as we got him and have continued treatment since
Does your fish have any history of being ill? just the same raggedy tail
How old is your fish (approximately)? i would guestimate at about 4-6 months?

[LittleBlueFishlets]

A 1.8L (0.5 gal) tank is very small. As a result, ammonia and toxins build up VERY quickly in it. Even water changes of 100% every other day is not enough for a 1.8L tank. I would suggest getting a larger tank for him. A larger tank will also give him more room to swim around.

Bettas are tropical fish. Room temperature is too cool (unless you live in the tropics). They prefer temps around 26C (79F). Therefore, a heater is needed. (But 1.8L tank is too small to support a heater.)

Bettas do not require additional salt. In fact, they are very sensitive to it. You can just use regular tap water, along with water conditioner.

Also, do NOT use anything ending with '-fix.' (Melafix, etc.) They contain oils which can make it difficult for Bettas to breathe.

Is there any way you can get him a larger tank and a heater? Laki said that there doesn't appear to be any fin rot. But there are chunks missing from his tail, which could be caused by him biting at it. This can lead to the potential for infection and/or fin rot. The easiest way to avoid infections and fin rot is to keep him in clean, warm water.

[AyalaCookiejar]

I think he does look kind of like a feather tail but I'm definitely not an expert in that field, lol.

It doesn't look like fin rot to me. The chunks missing from his tail fin could be from him biting his tail due to stress or snagging it on decorations. What kind of decor do you have in your tank?

Also, 100% changes could be stressing him out, as well as the temp being too cool. The salt is probably having negative effects on him, too. I'd remove it and just use stress coat to help his fins heal up.

[saryg101]

thank you for all of your posts. correction he is in a 1 gallon tank got a little confused. unfortunatly i cannot give him a bigger tank as im living in my mothers basement with 6 tanks now.... long story.... so i did switch out his plant he had a plastic glow in the dark one from wally world and he likes to burrow in it so i gave him a smaller silk plant. and i also got him a small heater and moved him beside his friend Roe (looking like Roe is a rosetail betta yay) but this way i can keep him company more and keep him in site. he got a 50% water change today and no more salt or melafix just water conditioner. i will update you! thank you!

[AyalaCookiejar]

I hope he heals up quickly :)
I think rosetails are so neat looking, but I generally avoid them because it is actually a genetic defect. I'm not sure if it makes them less hardy or not but I do know that breeding rosetails can make the fry come out with very severe defects 0.0