While shopping with a friend, we popped into the petstore (yes, a chain) in the mall. I took a glance at the two betta they had from their last shipment and they both looked pretty sad. I decided to get one of them, and while we were there the next batch came in, so I got one of those, too.
The first one is obviously stressed and upset ( I had to save him :( ). His oclor is very pale, but this isn't my main concern. He has lovely long fins, not a tear, tatter or hole-... but they're curly. It's really quite pretty, but I'm not sure it's entirely healthy. Should I just wait it out with some TLC and hope that he recovers, or is this something rather common? I'm a little worried about my little Sigmund Freud...
Can you provide a picture of the fish please?
If the tips are a dark brown to black in color and curly, this is generally fin rot, which unfortunately, is extremely common in many store-bought bettas. Although there is a variant of veil tails out there that I believe are called 'ruffle tails' which I suppose could also be considered to have curls in their tail fins simple because of the amount of excess webbing that creates an effect some what like thick drapes being pulled together. There is also the matter of the pH of the water. Some bettas (although this is most noted in crown tails) will develop curls in their fin and tail rays because the water is so hard (high pH). Check your pH and see if it's high, that may also be the cause.
I have purchased several with curled fines, I figured I might have to treat them,
But I never did, Over time and good clean water the fins slowly all got better,,.. But that's not to say yours will or is even the same as mine was... a picture as Nataku suggested would be a good idea....
I've been lucky I've purchased alot of sick betta's and only ever had to treat 2 really..
All the rest cleared up on their own,,,, Can;'t stress enough just how important good clean water is to a fish and their health,,
Well, one of them jumped out of his bowl and wa found afte rI gt home from work :(
The one with the curled fins seems to be ding really well, though! His coloring is better on his body, and his fins are way mor vibrant. the lower fins have even uncurled. I think it may have just been his water, becasue with his new home he seems to be much more active than when I first got him, and something just tells me he's happier. There is no discoloration at the tips of his fins whatsoever, they were just pale.
But another concern. With his fins relaxing a little, I noticed a small hole in the top fin. It's pretty clean through, there's no tatters or discoloration around it, but should I keep an eye on this? What could this one mean?
If it's just a single small hole in the fin with no discoloration it may simply mean that they caught their fin on something and tore it. Plastic decorations and fake plastic plants are notorious for doing this. When my rescue betta came home, he had a single pin-hole in the middle of his tail, which turned out to be nothing but a hole and healed up in about a week and a half with clean water.
I'll keep a close eye on it, and keep you guys posted. I've been keeping his tank as clean as I can, and while he seems miffed that he has to go about and 'decorate' again with some bubbles, he's really looking better. Thanks for all your help :)
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