awe man...I've got a tail biter

[yayagirl1209]

Came home tonight to find my big man has all of a sudden decided to start tail biting. Was his normal self when I fed him this morning. When I went to feed him this evening, my heart sank. He had taken pretty big chunks out of his caudal. Don't know what triggered it. Know that I may never know.
And I think he may have eaten one of the 3 cherry shrimp in his tank too! All I found was a head. Doesn't look like a molt. What a sad night!

So I'm looking for suggestions to help discourage it from recurring. I know I may never be able to completely stop it, but I wanna give it a try. I've read on here that moving some of the decor around can help....but 2 of my 6 plants are crypts. They won't take well to moving around. I've got another betta that I may be able to put on the same stand as him. Do you guys think that will stress him out more or keep him more stimulated (and thus less likely to tail bite)? Or do you think a mirror is a better way to stimulate him? I really hope I can break the tail biting cycle!

[Fabian]

Do you have a pump that has strong current? Because currents can cause tail bitting.

[Tikibirds]

Welcome to the club. My blue HM was a chronic bitter till the day he died. I think he really wanted to be a CT. SOmewhere on here is a thread deticated to tail bitters

[yayagirl1209]

Originally Posted by Fabian

Do you have a pump that has strong current? Because currents can cause tail bitting.

The current on my filter has been baffled since about a week after I got him (about 3 months ago). There's a sponge filter shoved into the intake and a sponge filter rubber banded over the outflow. I don't know that it's a problem with the current.

Originally Posted by Tikibirds

Welcome to the club. My blue HM was a chronic bitter till the day he died. I think he really wanted to be a CT. SOmewhere on here is a thread deticated to tail bitters

I thought there was a tailbiters thread...but I thought it was in the pictures section of the forum. It's been a while since I've seen it. Maybe my little man knew that I was looking at a CT on aquabid the other night. He was just trying to make me happy. I love him either way. I just don't want him to be doing because I've done something that's made him unhappy. (Not that I've changed anything lately)

Meanwhile....he made it worse overnight. More chomps to his caudal and he's decided his dorsal needed some attention. Sad betta mommy.

[earthworm88]

I know how you feel! Have been hoping and praying that mine won't be one too, but it looks like my youngest Ultra Delta/HM turns out to be one too! I have mine for 3 months now. His fin is actually very thin and light, unlike my other HM (like yours) with fuller fins, but he went and chomped on it for the past 2 days!! Ugh! I am so mad at him, I know he is a bit "psychotic", but can't believe what I saw! At first, I thought it may be due to the fact that he likes to squirrel his way into tight spots and injure himself while trying to get out, so I removed those objects. But now it's confirmed it's self inflicted abuse! *sigh* This unfortunately is the worst on-going disorder to have

Good luck with yours! Hopefully you will find a way to break his habit!

Cheers!

[Myates]

This thread is probably the one you were looking for..

Have you done any redecorating to his tank recently? I have one that if I change anything in his tank he bites his fins off so much.. silly little dalmation.

Halfmoons are notorious for fin biting.. but he may of done himself a favor, in the first picture it looks as if he had fin rot going on.. or is it a shadow? If not a shadow, you may want to do a few water changes over the next few days to try to get the water clean and the bacteria out.

[yayagirl1209]

Originally Posted by Myates

This thread is probably the one you were looking for..

Have you done any redecorating to his tank recently? I have one that if I change anything in his tank he bites his fins off so much.. silly little dalmation.

Halfmoons are notorious for fin biting.. but he may of done himself a favor, in the first picture it looks as if he had fin rot going on.. or is it a shadow? If not a shadow, you may want to do a few water changes over the next few days to try to get the water clean and the bacteria out.

No fin rot there. It was a shadow created by the lighting. I took the picture at night with just the tank light on. And I was taking it with my phone. The only problems I've had with him in the past were blown fins from flaring so much. He's always had delicate fins. I started added IAL to see if it would help "toughen" him up. LOL

He does really like to get in tight with his plants. He likes to squish himself under one of the crypts and one of the swords in the tank. The way he used to bend himself in half, I had a feeling that he'd figure out he could nip on his fins someday.

I haven't changed anything in his tank recently and I keep up with his water changes. It's a cycled 3 gallon. I know that such a small tank can crash it's cycle but the ammonia and nitrite has stayed at zero. The nitrates hang between 5 and 10 with the plants in the tank. So I don't think water chemistry is playing a part in all of it.

I did change the tank layout a bit last night with the water change to see if would help. I took out the balinese lantern and dropped in a piece of driftwood. Thinking that maybe a change would help distract him. Nope....more chompy chomp overnight.

But like I said as long as he's happy, I can deal with shredded fins. I just hope the biting isn't a sign of unhappiness from something I've done or not done.

Thanks for the link!