Holes in fins.

[Yuukio]

Hate to have to post here. ):

I brought home a half-moon plakat betta about three months ago now, and for the past month, I've had trouble with him getting small holes in his fins. They start out as small pinholes, but quickly grow into larger holes. I have been able to get them to heal using Melafix diluted to BettaFix strength, but I'd like to stop these holes from coming up in the first place.

I'll provide as much info as I can.


Housing
What size is your tank? 10 Gallons.
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees.
Does your tank have a filter? Yes, a Marina Slim 10 on the lowest setting. It barely moves the water.
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? None.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari Bio-Gold. Bloodworms. Daphnia.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 6 days a week, mostly pellets. Bloodworms and/or Daphnia usually once or twice a week.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API Stress coat conditioner.

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

Tested today.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 6.8-7.0
Hardness: Don't know.
Alkalinity: Don't know.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Holes in fins. Currently a hole on his dorsal fin, and another on his anal fin.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Hasn't changed.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a month ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, as above with Melafix.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him around 3 months. I'd guess between 6 and 9 months.


I'm going to get some pictures of him tomorrow and will post them. Any idea as to what's going on here would be much appreciated. (:

[MSG]

*I have a similiar issue with one of mine.

*Post a picture of your betta so we can compete to see who can heal their betta's fins faster.

*I'm going to make them flare at each other for the next 20 mins to give them some exercise. I've been too busy to play with them this weekend.

*Are you doing test with strips or a master water test kit?

* Oh yeah, your water change % may need to be be increased to %50

[lvandert]

ok first off holes in the fin aren't threatening. If they are edged with black then yes thats fin rot but I don't think thats the case here. If he's acting fine then he's probably fine. At this point you've already medicated the tank though :( This means a 100% water change, a new filter cartridge and loosing your cycle. Also Avoid the "fixes" unless you've had previous success with them. They are known to be iffy with bettas and can cause more harm than good. His holes could be the result of a blow out from flaring or catching them on a rough plant or decoration.

[Yuukio]

The thing is, the Melafix has been working quite well. Just a day or two after adding it to the water, the holes quickly start to heal up. Problem is, the ones on his dorsal fin don't seem to heal completely. They spread and create tears, making his dorsal fin look pretty pitiful. ): (Melafix is easily removed from the water with carbon, so there's no need for me to do a 100% change...)

There is a plant in his tank that I'm a little suspicious of.... I'm gonna take it out. It's silk, but still the most likely thing in the tank to cause a problem. I doubt it's causing it, but it's worth a try.

I'm using the API Master Test Kit to test.


Anyway, here are pictures I got today. The hole on his dorsal fin spread overnight and tore through the edge of his fin. The one of the anal fin actually healed some overnight and doesn't look bad today.


Full picture:


Dorsal fin (you can see where 3 holes have formed and torn through the edge):

[lvandert]

I don't see any black edges in the rips so he is probably catching it on a plant or just flaring too much/hard. Sometimes these little guys get over enthusiastic and blow their fins. The holes and tears will actually close up all on their own with a bit of extra API stress coat and Aq salt in just a few days. The melafix doesn't really "fix" anything here, it may help but not by much. I wouldn't honestly medicate for something like this but you may feel the need to do otherwise. Outside of that you're doing everything right, as for why it's happening, who knows.

[MSG]

• Your guy looks really healthy, I like his coloration.
• How long do you flare his fins every day?

Ivan... you 100& positive black edged fins always mean finrot? These red boys arrived last month with black edged fins.

I'm not flaring them much because one has a slight tear in his fin.

• I haven't photographed the pinhole yet, but this is what the looked like over the weekend.

[Yuukio]

Black edges don't always mean fin rot, some fish just have black edging naturally. The ones you've posted look more like their natural coloration.

Thanks for the compliment, I picked this guy for his neat purple color. :3 I don't really make him flare on purpose, but he'll usually flare a little whenever I start getting his food ready.


Quick question. How much aquarium salt should I use in my 10 gallon for something like this? I'd like to try using that instead of Melafix and see if it helps. (:

[lvandert]

Yeah I've noticed a bunch of reds have black edges now a days. I'd go with "if their not acting sick, their not sick" mentality.

[MSG]

• Get a smaller container either half gallon or 1 gallon to soak him in some AQ salt.
• Salting your main tank is a bad idea.
• Your purple is the type I would pick. I like purples with red highlights.
• Blood red is always a nice accent/enhancement color.
• I don't know if you should make your betta flare more. Due to his short fins, he should be able to handle it. Lack of flaring I think can cause those tears/pinholes.

• For example when you lift weights, the day after the workout, your muscles are torn up & sore, but once rested up and healed, you get a little stronger every time, I think the same applies to betta fish.
• Not sure if there's any truth or science to back that up. but I've heard it mentioned before.

In terms of the type of damage your betta has sustained......

I would rate him a 004 on a scale of 100.

• [001] = nothing to worry about & will heal on it's own in a few days with proper WC.
• [100] = should die from this & body should be burned/buried in dirt, throw away tanks and all equipment that made contact with the victim

[Friendlyfishies]

im going thru something similair too...I got a halfmoon double tail beautiful boy, brought him home and he had some minor rips here and there but then a few days later it started looking shredded then a hole appeared...I dont think my guy has fin rot either and am blaming it on flaring and resting infront of the filter intake...it hasnt gotten better and I dont think its gotten much worse so im just sitting still for now and waiting to see what happens, but it sounds similair to what im going through if it helps.