My betta has holes in his tail that turned into a rip

[dormfish]

Is there anything in the tank he could have torn his fins on? A jagged plant or edge somewhere? A betta's fins are very delicate. A nice test is to take a pair of nylons, face tissue may work too, and rub it along the plant. if it catches, that means it may be able to puncture the fins. I know I have a bad plastic plant in my tank that I need to take out as soon as the plant bulbs grow.

Good call on the StressCoat, though. It will help the fins to heal. I don't know if his tail will ever be perfect again, but even if it's not, if there's no open wounds and he seems to not be in any pain, he should be okay.

[Bettabubble3]

There is an ornament thats hard but its circular my plant is silk. i think it may be a little fin rot or ammonia burn from the algae

[dormfish]

Burns are very possible. I had an issue with brown algae in my 10 gallon community tank. A little pleco fixed it all up. You may want to try that, it's a good long-term solution, but if you're doing regular long-term water changes, some algae pellets may be needed.

Hope this helped!!

[paybackranch]

Most plecos gets too big for a 5 or 10 gallon tank. If you don't know what kind you have, you can end up with bigger problems than brown algae. Some plecos will suck on the body slime of fish and will harass a sick one, causing enough stress to kill it. Brown algae is usually a sign of a new tank and will go away on its own. A pleco produces a lot of waste and sure could raise the ammonia and nitrite levels--which should be ZERO. If you can't afford a water testing kit, then perhaps some water test strips would be more affordable. Ammonia can and will burn the gills / fins and kill the fish. Really, every fish owner should at least own test strips or ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits. What you spend in those kits will be more than saved in treating sick fish or replacing dead ones. Good luck with your betta

[paybackranch]

I forgot to mention that a better solution to brown algae is an otocinclus catfish. They LOVE brown algae! They are small fish (around 2 inches) and slender. They are a sucker mouth catfish and peaceful. They do not tolerate water temps below 70 degrees, however, but then, your betta would do better at warmer temperatures also. Do not use salt as a treatment in a tank with otocinclus cats, as they do not tolerate it well. Just some additional things that I hope will help you enjoy your fish and this hobby.

Melanie

[Sakura8]

Bettabubble, is it possible to get a pic of his fins? There could be many reasons why fins develop tears. One is if your betta is a halfmoon or other type with excessively large fins. These tend to be brittle and tear easily. Another reason could be fin biting. Ammonia burns and fin rot are only two possibilities.

With ammonia burns, you will see signs of burns on the rest of the fish as well. Their breathing may become heavier and they may develop red sores on their body.

With fin rot, the edges of the fins are blackened and they will fall off in large chunks at a time. You will sometimes see pieces of fin in the tank.

I strongly suggest you purchase an adjustable 25-50w heater. The longer your guy stays at cold temperatures, the more his immune system will be suppressed and he'll be unable to fight off disease.