Recently adopted a tail biting betta - please help if you can...

[MoonShadow]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Hikari Pellets are great.

They used to be great. But they pretty recently changed their formula and they're not so good anymore! The best brands are Omega One, New Life Spectrum and attisons

[ChoclateBetta]

The formula did not change here fish meal is still the first ingredant.

[DoctorWhoLuver]

Fish meal is not the best ingredient. New Life Spectrum lists Whole Antarctic Krill Meal and Whole Herring Meal first, which are good ingredients. Fish meal is vague, and could contain the unwanted parts of the fish, such as fins and guts.

[ChoclateBetta]

I still say there great I feed Carter Hikari, Omega one, FFF, and Freeze Dried Bloodworms.

[MoonShadow]

Omega one is great, the first ingredient is whole salmon. Hikari is pretty generic IMHO, there are much better foods out there

[ChoclateBetta]

There one of the first foods reccomended by our petsmart and they are great with Bettas he said there are only two brands in the entire store good for Bettas he said protiein is good and unlike the other food it fits in there mouth he is really good with the Bettas there always very healthy.

[Onbu]

8.11.12

Dear members,

Just wanted to touch base and let you know Sinatra seems okay since moving in with me.

I’ve copied the observation notes below that I have been keeping (if you’re interested)


1) Does anyone know a reliable/trusted supplier online who will ship me the food products mentioned in the notes at a reasonable price and who accepts pay pal?

2) Can anyone tell me if it is safe to use an artificial ‘Fluval Moss Ball’ (the fake version of the live Marimo Balls) inside a 3 gallon tank? I am asking because the product specs on the Fluval Ball say it treats tanks from 10-20 gallons, so am wondering if it would be ‘too strong’ in however it is supposed to work or harmful at all to put it inside a 3 gallon tank. (Just looking at it for entertainment purposes really – but if it does help with the water then that is a bonus).

3) Can anyone suggest the most likely reason for the sudden change of ‘frantic/aggressive’ personality I saw on the night of Wednesday 7.11.12 – Could it have had something to do with the Seachem Stress liquid I added to his bowl – and from your experience, can you tell me if it does actually sound like it was a negative or positive behaviour change?


Behaviour/General Observation notes on SINATRA:

*SINATRA came into my home on Friday 2nd of Nov 2012.
* He had been living with his previous owner since January 2012.
* She had purchased him as a beautiful half moon betta with zero tail damage, in Asia (Hong Kong or Bangkok, I can’t remember) and brought him back to the United Arab Emirates packed inside her suitcase.
*After he moved into her home, he has routinely chomped off over half his natural tail length. Owner reports that his tail does try to grow back, but once it does he always eats it back down to his ‘preferred size’.

Fri 2.11.12 owner brought him over to my house so this is the first day with me. Bowl, products, food, bowl decorations all exactly the same as he has always had. We set up his bowl together and I learned all I could from her about her ‘routine’ with him. Previous owner says he looks very calm, doesn’t seem stressed by move – eating normally – enthusiastic to greet us at waters surface when we move near his tank.

Tuesday 6.11.12 My lounge room now reporting at 26 degrees. This is the first day of blood worm feeding with me – seems like he absolutely loves them. Grabs them at the surface and even swims down to get them as they start to sink. Then later this night was his first water change with me. Used the Seachem Prime from his old owner, and did not put his green elephant house back into his bowl because the space inside it is really small and I have read about tail biters who do it when they are inside their ‘cave’ or ‘house’ and removing that object can stop the tail biting trigger. I am going to buy him another house but one that has a much bigger space inside so perhaps his fins feel less squashed or irritated when he tries to sleep inside it. After I changed the water I put him back into his bowl and he seems very happy and calm.

Wednesday 7.11.12 Today I added some Seachem Stress Coat to his bowl (because my order for it arrived today). He didn’t really react at all after I added it BUT later in the evening when I went over to talk to him he flared at me – which his owner says he never does and which I had never seen him do to us. So I watched him for a while from a distance. He actually seemed agitated. He was swimming all around, up and down, but his swimming seemed a bit frantic, not his usual cruising calmly swimming around. I was quite worried but did not know if perhaps this was him ‘at his best’, or not feeling hungry, or maybe with warmer water than he was use to so just acting ‘natural’….not sure if it was a good thing or bad thing….worried he was reacting negatively to the Seachem Stress I had added to his water earlier because I know that product has never been used with him in the past. Later on he did seem to settled down a little and go to rest/sleep on the bottom of his bowl like he usually does when the lights are turned off.

Thurs 8.11.12 He came up for his breakfast pellet, did not flare when he saw me and ate the pellet normally. He seems calm again today. His water is reporting colder this morning though as the sun is not coming through the window properly yet and the room is reporting at 25 degrees. Seems to be hanging out just kind of staying near the surface of the water. I am staying home today so will keep a close eye on him, The good news is – Since he arrived here on Friday – I have not seem any damage to his tail, nor have I caught him attacking or even being interested in his tail. But that could change because his owner said he only eats it once it starts to grow back past the length ‘he likes’…and at the moment, the tail is short and I can not actually see any ‘new growth’ or transparent ends that look like it is growing back, so, fingers crossed IF it tries to grow he will just leave it alone now.
On a side note: found out this week that one of the other fish from his previous owner who did have a new home to go; now does not – the family who reserved him pulled out – so I have told his owner not to worry – if she has to fly out before she finds a new home for this little guy I will take him in and either keep him if she wants me to or I will keep him safe here until I or she can find a new loving home for him to go to. His name is Captain Hook – he is also a half moon betta but has a huge full tail with no signs of damage I can see from the photos – owner reports no history of being a tail biter.
Delivery information for Sinatra’s new decorations that I ordered online looks like they will arrive on Monday which is great.
Bad news is I can not locally source either of the food pellets that were recommended (Omega One Betta Pellets & New Life Spectrum Betta Pellets) – and Amazon suppliers will not ship either of them to my location. Planning to have a look for a different source online that I can order and have them delivered from.

[ChoclateBetta]

2. Fluval balls are great but remember they do not last forever the real thing Marimo is a better idea.

[Onbu]

Saturday 10/11/12:
Amazon fish related order arrived this morning.
Completed 100% water change with Seachem Prime and Stress Coat.
Added 2 x new silk plants (one looks like a penny wort replica the other has tall long fern type leaves) and also added a small zoo-med betta floating log with feeding hole.
Put fish back into his tank with the newtoys – he was calm, seemed happy, floated around calmly-looked to be exploring his new decorations but did not seem stressed by any of it nor did he seem to be avoiding any of the pieces. Within 5 minutes of being put into his bowl he was even swimming straight through the floating betta log, inside, outside, all around – took a pellet through the feeding hole - he even used the bulb of wood on the outside to rest his nose on and seemed very happy with it.
Probably about an hour later I was watching him from the couch – he swan inside his log and then the next minute he was thrashing round in circles like Ive never seen him do before anywhere in his tank.
I moved from the couch and sat by his tank, watching and my hubby sat watching from the other end. After another few minutes he swam back inside the floating betta log – it looked like once he was inside he then relaxed and tried to settle down inside it – his fins floated/expanded/branched out – and he immediately then started thrashing round and round in circles, like he was trying to attack his fins – perhaps because they hit the inside of the log and he thought he was being attacked by something or…?
I took the floating betta log straight out if his tank.
Then put in a new floating lily pad instead. (almost exactly the same as the one he has always had in there)
It looks like there is new damage now to the longest part of his back fin and also a chunk out of his tail fin – but it is really hard to know for sure because I have not seen new damage before and his tail is pretty ragged already from past abuse).
I plan to watch him carefully over the next week – now that I have seen this new frenzied tail attack behaviour, it seems quite feasible that his little house that he had always had but that I did take out of his tank a few days after he moved in with me, was the tail biting trigger. I had removed that little house and never saw him showing any interest in his tail until I gave him the floating betta log – which once inside that it I could clearly see what was happening.
I am slightly concerned now that his new silk plants that branch out through his bowl…which I had hoped would give him new ‘hiding’ and playing and exploring stimulation could in fact trigger the same behaviour – as he swims by the leaves they could touch his fins and set him off on the circling tail attacks – but I have not seen that reaction caused by the leaves yet and he has been swimming in between them and all around the bowl today – something to watch out for though.
At present it appears the behaviour is only triggered when his fins are touched inside a ‘confined space’.
Hubby is concerned that now he does not have a ‘house’ or ‘cave/log’ he can go into whenever he wants that will not be able to get enough ‘dark time’ to sleep properly or enough when he needs to. Hubby has suggested that if he does has this specific confined space tail biting trigger and that is the reason he attacks it all the time/never lets it grow back properly – that perhaps we need to start covering his bowl with a towel/sheet or something to make it dark for him…in place of giving him a ‘cave’ to go inside. I want to do more research to see if that is necessary.

Any thoughts or suggestions from members are welcome!

Thank you :)

PS: I have Attisons betta pellets being shipped from the IBC. Still yet to find supplier who will ship here and has Omega One or New Life Spectrum pellets tho.