Betta death, missing fins

[pkt]

Hi all,

I was a new betta owner, and new fish keeper, as of last Tuesday. I purchased a beautiful little guy and gave him his own 10 gallon, filtered, heated cycled aquarium (took 6 weeks to cycle) with plants, one of those floating betta logs, and Mopani driftwood. The first night, a portion of his fin ripped getting him into the aquarium but it didn't seem to bother him as he was very active. He seemed so, so happy for the first few days and then on Friday night I found him on the substrate struggling to breathe with most of his fins ripped off. I have attached a picture of his body that will hopefully give you an idea. He died before morning. I have thoroughly searched the tank and I can't find anywhere that he might have torn his fins. I did the pantyhose test on everything I put in the tank.

I'm guessing/hoping that this was just an accident and if I get another betta he will be able to live happily. But since I can't figure out how this guy did this, I am apprehensive about subjecting another fish to this. Any tips or advice?

Housing
What size is your tank? 10g
What temperature is your tank? 80F
Does your tank have a filter? yes, sponge
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes, air pump to operate the sponge filter
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice daily


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

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: didn't test
pH: 7.0
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

[lelei]

Oh that is terrible, I feel so bad, that is strange, the sponge filter is soft? and is it under the gravel>?.. I am not familiar with those type of filters, tho I heard they are ok.

[pkt]

I know, I feel super horrible. I wanted to give him a great life but he lasted 3 days.

Here is a shot of my aquarium and of the filter. I have sand as a substrate and the sponge sits on top.

[lelei]

Love the aquarium, looks so natural..nice:)..maybe he was a tail biter, I hear for whateva reason, they do that, in his case must of been severe:(

[MollyJean]

Are there any places between a rock and a piece of wood or 2 pieces of wood or something and the wall that he would have had to squeeze through to get past? I've had to be very careful about this because one of my girls is a serious explorer and finds every pitfall in her tank.

[pkt]

Thanks all. Molly, you might be right; there is an area between the driftwood and the basket the wisteria came in that he might have squeezed through. I thought we might actually see the fin he lost in the tank somewhere and that would give us a clue, but we couldn't find it. We have removed the basket and we're going to try again.

[jeffegg2]

Do you have any young adults that might have borrowed him for a match with another male?

I doubt that anything in the tank did this.

Could be something toxic in the water, or ornamentals?

Jeff.

[pkt]

Jeff, hoodlums touching my tank is impossible unless we had a break in. :) What toxin could have done something like this? There was no ammonia or nitrite, pH = 7, and I did not test for nitrate in the first 3 days but reliably during the 6 week cycling period the plants reduced it to negligible levels. What do you mean by ornamentals?

[Cargo]

Originally Posted by pkt

Jeff, hoodlums touching my tank is impossible unless we had a break in. :) What toxin could have done something like this? There was no ammonia or nitrite, pH = 7, and I did not test for nitrate in the first 3 days but reliably during the 6 week cycling period the plants reduced it to negligible levels. What do you mean by ornamentals?

I think he meant ornaments, like decorations. You know, rocks, driftwood, etc.

[Basement Bettas]

His fins are NOT torn from an object in the tank nor is he a tail biter. He has a very bad bacterial infection. Take him out of the lovely home you created for him and get him in a hospital tank and treat with gram negative meds. Follow completely. Try to keep him eating. Leave that tank you created fishless for a bit to make sure there is nothing for that bacteria to feed on for a while. You do not want to put another fish in to fo thru same thing. If you treat that tank with gram neg meds you will wipe out your biological filtration.