Permanent Clamping of Fins?

[onefiveoneone]

Hi everyone :)
Recently, I've had one of my fish jump out of their bowl during a water change. Miraculously, she survived with minimal damage. However, her fins seem to be permanently clamped and only expand slightly when swimming. Apart from that, she's still very active, eats like a pig and seems otherwise okay. Is this going to be the case for the rest of her life? And is there anything I can do to help?

Thank you in advance!

EDIT:



Here's a picture of my girl! Sorry for the horrible quality.

[onefiveoneone]

http://tinypic.com/r/68zrm0/5
Here's a link to the larger picture since I know that is really tiny. I just didn't want to annoy people with large images.

[Myates]

Aww poor little girl :(

What size tank, and how often and % are you changing the water? As well as are you using water conditioner?
What is the temp of the tank?
How often is she eating?

Just ruling out the possibility that there is an underlying issue elsewhere..

For now, just keep up on the water changes, keep her warm.. she may just be a little stressed still from her close call. If she starts to lose color, become lethargic, etc let us know. But otherwise, there isn't anything you can do, medicine-wise, to help. Just clean, warm water.

[OliverTheBetta]

onefiveoneone,

Let me share with you what I did to help my Oliver get unclamped. This good information came from OFL (OldFishLady) and it has worked great!

First, collect some Oak Leaves that have fallen to the ground. About 10-12 will do. They need to be free of pesticides. Rinse them in cool water, then steep them in warm water. That just means putting the heat on low and letting the leaves "simmer" for a while. I used a large saucepan so I could get about a gallon of water from it, and I let mine simmer for an hour or more.

Allow the water to come to room temperature. (I put mine in the freezer for a short time to help cool it down). Making sure you have one gallon of water, add 2 teaspoons of EPSOM salt. NOT aquarium salt. That's very important. Stir or shake until the salt is dissolved.

Now using a QT (quarantine containter - I use the cup I brought him home from the store in) scoop your fish into the cup or QT container. Only fill the cup about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Now scoop about 2 ounces of your "treatment water" (the oakleaf water) into the QT cup with your fish. Every 15 minutes, add another 2 ounces of water. You will have to pour some of the water out of his QT cup in order to continue filling the cup. Do this 4-5 times and by then, he should be used to the change.

Now you can dump 3/4 of his QT water out and add all "treatment water". He will need a water change 2 times a day using this special Tx water (Oak Leaf & EPSOM salt) and do this for 10 days ONLY or less. After 10 days, he will need to come off the salt treatment.

I did this for about a week and he made SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. Enough that I stopped the treatment and put him back into his 1/2 gallon tank in "regular" water. He is doing really well now.

I suggest trying that and see if it doesn't help. When you add the oak leaf water, you may notice your fish "stretching" out... I swear, my Oliver LOVED IT! And every time I add new Oak Leaf water to his QT, he was like a new fish!!! So watch and see...

I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.

[onefiveoneone]

Oh dear. Sorry! I forgot to include the check list of information.

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? A steady 26 degrees C (Approx 78 F)
Does your tank have a filter? Yes it does
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes, with a 25W Submersible heater
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? A variety of flakes, pellets and frozen bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day in small amounts. 2-3 pellets each meal

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Always once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Normally 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I use VitaPet Water Ager and sometimes Stress Coat

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

Ammonia: n/a
Nitrite: n/a
Nitrate: n/a
pH: n/a
Hardness: n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

I haven't yet tested my water.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Clamped fins
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? It hasn't really. She's been eating like a pig, swimming around everywhere
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Right after she jumped out of water and fell
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I have used stress coat just to help her repair her slime coat after she fell
Does your fish have any history of being ill? She has had dropsy before
But thankfully, a little bit of epsom salt and super clean water got her through it :D
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had her for a year exactly and I'm going to assume that she was about 6 months when I bought her.
1 year, 6 months.


@Myates
Thank you for you concern, :)
I really do think it was because of her close call because she doesn't seem stressed at all, her appetite is still the same as always and she's very active.
And of course, I will keep you posted. Thanks a bunch.

@OliverTheBetta
I'm so glad your Betta recovered! I'll look into getting some oak leaves. There aren't any around my area so is it possible to buy them off of Ebay or any other online store?
I'm very sceptical about things I find on the internet. Especially in this case since I intend to put them in with my fish ..
But thank you for the suggestion! I will definitely try it out once I get my hands on some oak leaves.