Fishie's bitten tail looks red!

[OrangeAugust]

Fishie started biting his tail last week. It's pretty chewed up but it doesn't look like he's chewed off any more since Thursday or Friday. But I just noticed that part of the tattered edges look red today. Is this a bad sign?? I put Stress Coat in his water once, but I haven't put it in again because I haven't changed his water again (he's in a cycled 5 gallon so I only change 25% of his water once a week). Can I put some in his water every day even if I'm not changing any of the water? Will that help with the redness?
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[laynisample]

If he's biting his tail you really should change the water more often. Maybe 25% every other day. Also aquarium salts will help keep it from getting infected. I'm dealing with a fin biter right now (2.5gal not cycled) and change the water 50% every other day, adding stress coat every time I change the water. I also add 1/2 tsp of Aq salt for every gallon every day; I dissolve in a little bit of his water in a separate cup before adding to his water.

Hope your guy gets better. Also, has he been stressed recently? Bored? How long have you had him? Maybe switching up the arrangement of the decorations can stop his biting. Longer finned fish tend to bite as well because their fins get extremely heavy.

[OrangeAugust]

Ok, thanks!
I'm thinking he's either biting out of boredom or just because his fins are heavy (He's the flaring HM in my avatar). I've had him for about 2 months, so I'm surprised that he started now. He seemed to be only biting his fins when I'm at work, though, which makes me think he might be bored... I dunno... he also started the day after I put a heater in his tank. So I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I got him a floating log a couple weeks ago, so that's something new, and then I added some hornwort to his tank the day after he started biting... so it might not be boredom. I think it's his fins, maybe. It's just weird that he just started now.
Ok, I just changed 25% of his water and added some Stress Coat. I'll put some aquarium salt in, too. I just bought some last week.
Thanks!

[CandiceMM]

I came home today to 2 of my HM's with chewed up tails. Made me so mad!! Good luck with yours.

[OrangeAugust]

Thanks Candice and laynisample. I hope both of your fishes stop biting their tails and heal up too!

[OrangeAugust]

Two of the hanging "threads" of Fishie's tail are still red at the tips! D:
He's in a filtered 5 gallon, so I changed about 30% of his water on Sunday night and added stress coat and AQ salt, and then I changed 30% of his water last night and added Stress Coat and AQ salt again to the water I was replacing. Should I move him to a smaller "hospital tank" so that I can do more frequent 100% water changes, or will what I'm doing now in his 5 gallon do just the same? How long should it be before the red goes away and I also see some fin regrowth?
ALSO, in his 5 gallon, as soon as I turn on the tank light he flares for like 2 hours straight. Is that stretching of his tail going to hinder regrowth between the rays in his tail or whatever? Should I leave the tank light off until his tail gets better?
Thanks!

[BettaQi]

What is his water temp?

I would leave the light off for a day.

[OrangeAugust]

His water temp has been around 80-81.

[lelei]

Ya know this is becoming a common thing..my Sammy justvstartedbtail biting too..and I know he has been strugglin in the water..they just need to lighten the load a lil..it will grow back..just super clean, warm water..sammy had shreds too..they are already healing up a lil salt does wonders..and I do the 1/2 water changes every other day:)

[OrangeAugust]

Ok, thanks leilei and BettaQi.
I noticed it too, leilei- seems that so many more people right now have bettas who just started biting their tails... I wonder if it's the change of the seasons and the shorter days and they're getting Seasonal Affective Disorder. lol. It's the only think I can think of. I know I get bummed out now that it gets dark around 7. Maybe our fish are bummed out, too. lol