My betta is pissing me off

[Alex09]

So he's tailbiting. I put him in a hospital tank for a few days but he kept on biting so seeing there was no point, I put him back in the 10 gal. How he can possibly be "bored", "stressed", or "anxious" in a planted 10 gal is beyond me. I JUST SAW HIM BITE 2 CHUNKS OF HIS TAIL OUT! He curled around a plant and just bit it off. He actually spit out a few pieces. I am tempted to just buy a new betta (a PK or female) and give gabriel to my brother or hand him over to a LFS (although im pretty sure he's gonna suffer a slow death if I do this).

Talk me out of it...

PS: Do bettas bleed? I just noticed that on the white border of his tail this one part is a bright red color

[zelilaa]

im sure they bleed... but their tails dont. idk what the red stuff is! :[

Now heres why you shouldnt give him away! hes ur baby, and when u bought him u promised without knowing him you would do ur best to take care of him, and you should continue to do that! Sometimes bettas bite to relieve the weight when they have heavy tails.... & sometimes they do it because they sturn around quickly, think its another betta, and 'attack' I watched my betta chase his tail for about 3 seconds today while feeding XD He also might do it just because. It shouldnt hurt him, he'' just be more liable to disease or infecntion so be careful. handing him over to an lfs he'll probably die! and keep him... it sounds to me your doing a great job! just keep doing what your doing and im sure he'll be fine.

[TeenyTinyTofu]

Sorry he's going through that, poor guy.

But why so angry that you want to give him away, even possibly to a pet store? It's not his fault this is going on, and just because he's no longer the 'perfect fish', is no reason to just abandon your ownship to him, and hand him off as someone else's problem. You should still love him equally, and continue to give him the best home and life possible.

[Alex09]

Originally Posted by zelilaa

im sure they bleed... but their tails dont. idk what the red stuff is! :[

Now heres why you shouldnt give him away! hes ur baby, and when u bought him u promised without knowing him you would do ur best to take care of him, and you should continue to do that! Sometimes bettas bite to relieve the weight when they have heavy tails.... & sometimes they do it because they sturn around quickly, think its another betta, and 'attack' I watched my betta chase his tail for about 3 seconds today while feeding XD He also might do it just because. It shouldnt hurt him, he'' just be more liable to disease or infecntion so be careful. handing him over to an lfs he'll probably die! and keep him... it sounds to me your doing a great job! just keep doing what your doing and im sure he'll be fine.

I guess... I'll put him in the hospital tank for a few days (or weeks) and just hope for the best. After a week or 2. I will put him back in the tank.

[Alex09]

Originally Posted by TeenyTinyTofu

Sorry he's going through that, poor guy.

But why so angry that you want to give him away, even possibly to a pet store? It's not his fault this is going on, and just because he's no longer the 'perfect fish', is no reason to just abandon your ownship to him, and hand him off as someone else's problem. You should still love him equally, and continue to give him the best home and life possible.

I know... I hope I didn't sound so shallow but just seeing him butcher his tail before my very eyes got me so frustrated. Ok fine I'll keep him (probably cant get myself to give him away anyways). Through better and worse right?

[nochoramet]

I know how you feel. my little Frusciante frustrated me so bad because he was stunning but he ruined his tail and never let it grow back... But don't give up on him, sometimes bettas just do that. I'm sorry he stared. And I think the red is a little bit of blood or something because when Chance bit off Zim's tail it was outlined in red.

[Alex09]

My fish when he bit his tail only a little tiny bit


I put him in a hospital tank last night. This morning I had to go to school at 7AM. I was in a hurry so I couldnt closely inspect him. I came back from school at around 5PM and there is no longer any white to his fins. he has butchered his tail even more and went on to his dorsal and anal fin. he has torn off approx 25-30% of his finnage I think Whats going on? is it the stress of moving him to the hospital tank? I do plan on leaving him there for a few days (possibly weeks) to see if he gets better.

To make matters worse, the 10 gal has been having a massive diatom bloom for approx 1 week now. I JUST cleaned it off the glass yesterday and today its back. I upgraded the bulb from 15w to 27w. Hopefully that will help the plants outcompete the algae...

[ForbiddenSecrets]

I'm sorry your boy is doing that but don't give up on him. My boy started tail biting real bad and every time he regrew some he nipped it off. Only lately does it seem he's taken a break. [Daily water changes seem to have stimulated growth as well c: ]

He might just be a little neurotic or bored. Spend a little more time with him and keep the water changed to see if he stops but even if he never does he's your silly little fishie. [Maybe he wants a rebellious 'hair cut'? XD Teenage phase haha]

[jmtriro01]

just keep his water clean and make him do his regular exercise (flaring), he will stop tail biting. try your best to reduce all sources of stress for him.