Fin healing problems?

[kelseyleah343]

This isn't an emergency, so I'm not posting in the emergency/disease section. I like to leave that open to people who have serious problems and need answers within a short period of time.

I rescued two bettas on July 24th - Ratchet and Creedence. I found them both at a LFS in a tank with very aggressive fish as tankmates because some little kids had knocked over their cups, and the employees put them in those tanks (separate from each other). When I got there, Ratchet was being bullied and Creedence was actually attacking the other fish.

Needless to say, Ratchet's fins healed up very fast. But Creedence needed special attention, his fins were very ragged and looked somewhat bitten off. He had lost much of his color from the stress too. He's never been a tail biter since I got him, I treated him with AQ salt for 5 days and the ends of his tail healed up quite nicely. Still, they look a little roughed up. There are still minor holes in them, and I can't quite figure out why. I even did a treatment of Melafix.

His tank is consistently heated at 80*F. He is fed 6 Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets per day during two sittings and bloodworms every Wednesday. He is very active, he now flares as opposed to when I got him (although he's always been a bit lazy on his leaf hammock), and he eats every bit of what I give him.

I don't love him any less because of his fins, he's still my sweet little red baby.. I'd just like to see his fins in their fullness if at all possible. Will it just take time? His AQ salt treatment ended July 29th, and his Melafix treatment ended August 7th. He's been off of all medications for over a month.

Here are some pictures of Creedence:





He's just so frail looking.. :( He's been this way since I got him, it isn't anything new. I just wondered if I should treat it with anything or let it go?

[lvandert]

its sounds silly but try IAL (indian almond leaves). They are an all natural thing, you put them right in the tank and can leave them in until they start to decompose. And at that point you just add another lol. They release tannins into the water that help heal up little things like this and promotes overall good health. I would definitely find Amy's leaves on ebay, she's the best and fairest I know. You don't need the best grade of leave either, C or D will do just fine :)

[kelseyleah343]

Originally Posted by lvandert

its sounds silly but try IAL (indian almond leaves). They are an all natural thing, you put them right in the tank and can leave them in until they start to decompose. And at that point you just add another lol. They release tannins into the water that help heal up little things like this and promotes overall good health. I would definitely find Amy's leaves on ebay, she's the best and fairest I know. You don't need the best grade of leave either, C or D will do just fine :)

I've thought about doing this before, but I wasn't sure if it was right for this sort of problem. I figured the meds should have done the trick, but I don't want to stress him with any more, so I might just try this. Thanks for your recommendation!

[katydidmischief]

I agree with the IAL suggestion--since my leaves (from Amy, she's awesome!) arrived and I started using them with my boys, Milton's fins have some pretty quick regrowth of the missing portions and Michael's iridescence has really come in.