Tattered fins?

[stephanier]

I've had my betta for 3 weeks and his fins are looking a little tattered. He has a small hole in one and the other has a separated piece. Is this something I should be terribly concerned about, or is it normal for this to happen? I think it might be from his filter, but I'm not sure. I tried baffling the intake of the filter, but the water got very cloudy so I had to undo it. If this is a major concern, what should I do to treat it?

[Shayebri]

I think he has fin rot. Do regular water changes, and read up about it. There should be some info about it on the Betta Care page.

[jCo72]

It could be fin rot but it could just be tattered fins from the filter. There are two good threads in the Betta Fish Diseases and Emergencies section.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=109343

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=109510

If you look at the pictures that are in those threads and your fish's fins look the same, I'd say its from the filter. If the fins are red or black around the edges, then your fish probably has fin rot. However, its really hard to say one way or the other because of the limited information given. If you post pictures and information about your tank (http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233), people could provide better help.

[stephanier]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gal.
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 1 ghost shrimp

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? tetra betta pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets 2x/day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 1x/week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? no

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? fins appear tattered
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no changes in behavior
When did you start noticing the symptoms? a few days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? not yet, I'm not sure what to do
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? no idea

[stephanier]

Here's some pics of the tank set up and a close up of Azul's fins. This is my first time trying to upload pictures, so hopefully this works.

[stephanier]

*bump*

[MadameDesu]

Hmm, yeah. That looks more like fin trauma (filter damage or tail biting) than fin rot.
Do you have the Aqueon Mini-Bow and are you using the filter that came with it? Most of the filters that come with kits are too powerful for bettas. You could try another method of baffling or get a lower flow filter. I use the Tetra Whisper3i and it's very gentle.
As for his fins, if you add stress coat to his water, it'll help them heal faster, but as long as the water is clean, they'll heal on their own.
Either way, he'll be fine. Cute tank, btw :)

[stephanier]

Yeah, it is the Aqueon Mini-Bow filter. I thought that was probably the cause because it didn't look like fin rot to me. Do you have any suggestions for methods of baffling the filter? I tried wrapping pantyhose around the intake, but the water got really cloudy as a result. I was thinking about putting another plant or two over by the filter to keep my betta away from it.

[MadameDesu]

I really don't know much about baffling as I've never had to do it. But there are several methods you can try. I know one ways to put aquarium sponge in the filter intake or media housing. And if that works, it just means more surface area for good bacteria to grow :)
Until then, you can try putting some silk plants or decorations around it. My girl was curious about it for a while antil she sorta figured out that it was dangerous lol