New Betta, fin rot?

[ciijae]

Hi, I've had my betta just over a week. The last few days I have noticed his fins thinning at the ends, he also has a few small holes in his fins and they are also curling up a little I have attached a picture.

When I first got him I added some ESHA 2000 to the tank as I read this is good to add when introducing new fish to your tank.

My water parameters are fine: Ammonia 0, NitrIte 0, Nitrate 10 and PH 8. It is a cycled 6 Gallon ( 24L) tank and he lives on his own.

I read that Aquarium salt is good so I added 1 teaspoon today.

What can I do to stop his fins from getting worse?

Thanks

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

no fin rot for that guy. true fin rot is when the fins are VERY shredded, and either look like they are "burnt"(black) on the edges or white fuzzy/red. He is beautiful!

if he ever appears to have cut his fin, make sure there is NOTHING plastic in the tank that can cut it. If you arent sure, run a women's pantyhose over the item, if it snags, it isnt safe for bettas.

[ciijae]

Thanks, that's a relief :)

So you think he has just caught his fins on something in the tank?
In the tank I have driftwood ( which I filed with sand paper) live plants, rocks and a little cave. I will double check it all again to make sure there is nothing sharp.

His fins are frayed and thin, so is that what happens when they rub on something sharp?

Also will the salt help with the healing?

[Tikibirds]

He might be bitting his fins or he could have slight fin rot. If there is a black outline around the torn part then you are probably dealing with rot. Clean water and some aquarium salt is recommended. You shouldn't use salt for more then say 10-14 days. Some people say it can lead to internal organ failure if used long term.

[shellieca]

Also check your filter intake arm if there is one. You can add a pre-filter or take pantyhose, cut the foot section out to fit & rubber band it on. They're fins can get sucked in & damaged.

[aemaki09]

Originally Posted by ciijae

Also will the salt help with the healing?

Yes aquarium salt should help. Recommended dose is 1tsp per gallon...if it doesn't help after a few days you can increase it to up to 3tsp per gallon. Not any more, don't jump straight from 1-3 and take time to acclimate, and not for longer than 10 days. Also make sure you are doing frequent water chAnges and only replacing the amount of salt for the amount of gallons you removed.

[ciijae]

Thanks everyone. His fins have actually gone worse since the original picture. He's beginning to look more like a crown tail than a veil tail

I have attached a few more pics, sorry they aren't very clear as my little guy is very active its hard to get a good shot of him.

Ive been adding salt as suggested. I do partial water changes twice a week at the moment. I have removed some rocks to make sure nothing sharp could be damaging his fins. All that is in the tank now is live plants and a few rounded white stones. The filter is a sponge filter powered by an air pump, there is nothing on it that his fins would get caught in.

From what I have googled it doesn't look like fin rot, but I'm fairly new to this so I may be wrong. My fish is very active, he doesn't appear stressed, he eats fine. I feed him once a day, 6 times a week ( Atison's Betta Pro and New Life Spectrum Thera A pellets ). I have never witnessed him biting his own fins, my water parameters are fine, so what am I doing wrong? Shall I dose with fin rot medication?

[resh2rei]

I'm having the same problem with my Firecracker! He's a halfmoon crowntail though, but it's the same thing. His fins were like that when I got him and it seems to be getting a tiny bit worse. I think it might be stressed out tailbiting, and that is what everyone tells me as well... Anyone else agree?

[Irishdancer]

It looks like tail biting to me,too. That probably means he's either stressed or bored.

What temperature is your tank? One of my fish bites his tail if I leave the heater off for too long and the water gets cold. If it's boredom, try adding something new to his tank. Someone on this site suggested putting hamster tunnel segments in their tanks once, and I know my fish really love them!

[ciijae]

Awesome idea, I'll give the hamster tunnel segments a go.

The temperature I keep the tank at is 26c/78.8f.

Another thing I was thinking ( I don't know if this makes any difference or not ) The oxygen is 2mgl when I tested with a test kit. I know Betta's don't like too much water movement so the bubbles the come out of the sponge filter are very mild and do not create a lot of water movement. He never gasps for air but could the lack of oxygen be causing the fin damage? ( sorry if that's a silly question)