What is happening?! Help!

[SaturnGrl]

I need help! My most prized blue halfmoon is losing his tail fins! Its like they are slowly disintegrating and I've tried all sorts or treatments to get his fins to improve and heal with zero improvement.
I lost a Silver Dragon Scale with similar symptoms, and I don't want to have to lose my Big Blue boy!

I read it could be fin rot, but so far, I don't see any white tips or any kid of white growths on him. The fins on his tail just keep getting very ragged and seem to be getting eaten away by something!

I've tried changing his water about 3-times a week.
I wash all his pebbles and silk plants in hot HOT water before putting them into his tank.
I've tried smaller plants too in case the bigger ones were taking too much room.
I change his tank's filter regularly

I've tried treatments like Bettafix, PimaFix, and I've been testing and treating his water to perfection levels.
Here's a few pics of his current condition:




Please, can someone tell me what to do?! I don't want to watch my beautiful betta die like my dragon scale did! This is my best blue Halfmoon, and I don't think I could stand to lose him.

[mursey]

Hmm, there was a new fin rot thread started a couple days ago called something like "How many ways are there to treat fin rot?" you might want to look up.

[SaturnGrl]

Originally Posted by mursey

Hmm, there was a new fin rot thread started a couple days ago called something like "How many ways are there to treat fin rot?" you might want to look up.

I'd love to check it out! Do you have a link to the thread?

[BettaAngel13]

See if there are any fish experts in your area.

[Aus]

It really looks to me like he's tailbiting with those big chomp-shapes out of his fins plus that he isn't looking fungussy at all. No rot that I can see. That suggests.. a biter.

I'd leave off the -fix medications, as he isn't sick.. and they're full of eucalyptus, not great for bettas anyway. Keep up the very clean water and add some live plants if you have a good light for them, or a lot of very soft silk ones. Give him something to explore, hide in, see if that makes a difference. Also, if he's near a female, move him away - could be frustration.. there's lots of causes of finbiting. For my weedy little HM it was just that his fins are too heavy for him - once he was in low water and in a small tank with plants, he quit biting for the most part, so it was a mix of discomfort and insecurity for him. Your guy may have a different reason.

[Kenny G]

I agree with Aus from what I can see it look like he is tail-biting. Most of the time tail-biting comes from stress. It can be caused by bright lights, boredom or aggression. If you have tank decorations try re-arranging them. If you don't have any get some silk plants and also make sure your betta has a cave or place a cup in his tank so he feels he has a place where he can go and hide. My betta use to tail-bite I quickly realized it was because of bright lights. Once I started using a dimmer light and brought him a cave to call his own the tail-biting stopped.

[Silverfang]

Originally Posted by Aus

It really looks to me like he's tailbiting with those big chomp-shapes out of his fins plus that he isn't looking fungussy at all. No rot that I can see. That suggests.. a biter.

I'd leave off the -fix medications, as he isn't sick.. and they're full of eucalyptus, not great for bettas anyway. Keep up the very clean water and add some live plants if you have a good light for them, or a lot of very soft silk ones. Give him something to explore, hide in, see if that makes a difference. Also, if he's near a female, move him away - could be frustration.. there's lots of causes of finbiting. For my weedy little HM it was just that his fins are too heavy for him - once he was in low water and in a small tank with plants, he quit biting for the most part, so it was a mix of discomfort and insecurity for him. Your guy may have a different reason.

Great advice. You definitely have a fin biter

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

I would PM OFL or Sakura, as that looks to me like the "MYSTERY DISEASE" sakura was talking about. The disease targets mostly blue/green bettas and causes fin discoloration. It can be fatal. REad about it here:


http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....ystery+disease

[SaturnGrl]

Sorry to say, its definitely not fin biting. Just 48 hours after those photos were taken, his back fin deteriorated into shreds and pieces of it are falling off.
I've started incorporating Aquarium salts, and I'm not using the "-fix" treatments for a while. I'm going to check with a local aquarium shop to see what they recommend.

I just hope I'm not too late to save him. :(

[BlueBettaFlo]

seeing from your picture, i don't think your fish got fin rot...
maybe it was sucked by the filter, torn by something sharp in the tank, or tail biting.

just turn of the filter temporarily (for 1-2 days) and observe his behavior.
if he didn't bite his own tail, then he must got into something in his tank.

for healing i recommend you to do 20% water change per day, and make sure the water's warm

hope your betta get well soon!