Tail biting! oh my!

[otter]

I have a 2 year old halfmoon rose tail named moon who just wont quit tailbiting!

He had come down with a case of fin rot after being in a tank with another fish that had septicemia, so I put him in a ~.75 gallon jar (heated) and did a salt treatment on him, unfortunately, he did not like his little bowl, even though there was a little toy for him in there, he started tail biting, so I cleaned out a tank for him (barebottom) and he is now in a filtered heated 10 gallon tank

He has about 3 gallons to himself and then I have a divider that has 3 guppies because i had nowhere else to put them.
But hes still biting his tail!
I have a little fake plant and a cave for him, but he is still biting.
I have been using stress coat+ in the tank as well. I'm not really sure what to do with him because
he is being rehomed soon--and the person I am giving him too doesn't know much about betta and I am worried that, if he gets an infection that something bad will happen.
eek


Here is a picture of his tail, as you can see his tail fin has new growth, but his dorsal and anal fins are pretty torn up :c

[txbettaowner]

I don't believe that males can get to their anal and dorsal fins. Do you have a filter in the tank with him? He could be getting it caught. It sounds like he is under stress. I have a male and he doesn't bite his anal or dorsal fins. He is in a 1.5 gallon temporarily until I get a 10 gallon tank or smaller for him. Your boy sounds like he is really stressing for some reason. Do you have a light that you keep on day and night in/above the tank?

[sainthogan]

What about that rock at the bottom? Is it sharp? It could be tearing up his fins instead of him biting them. Have you seen him biting lately?

[otter]

He is in the side of the tank without the filter, so it couldnt be that...
But His rocks aren't sharp, and before when he was tailbiting in the quarantine, I had something else for him to play with that definitely wasn't sharp :c

I haven't seen him biting, but I can tell they are bite marks because when I first had my sorority, my female's tails got nipped at and some of the bites were on the fin rays, and it wasn't a clean bite, so you could see little pieces of fin still stuck to the fin rays, and thats what hes got. It definitely looks like bites.

There is no light, but the tank is by a window, so there is natural light.

[Myates]

Males can get all of their fins.. very easily.

Unfortunately his tailbiting seems to of been a result to stress (the treatment) which is common... but tends to start being a habit that is hard, if not impossible, to get them to quit.

Only advice I can give for you and the new owner would be to make sure to keep up on the recommended weekly water changes that suit the set up (top of this section there is a thread about recommended changes by Oldfishlady). Keeping up on the water changes will help prevent the bacteria to grow that causes fin rot (damaged fins along with low quality water conditions). And make sure he is mentally stimulated with lots of plants/decor..

Lots of us end up having fin biters at one point in time or another when we have these heavy finned varieties.. I have an old male that started biting when he was left alone for a bit of time and he still will gobble his fins from time to time now.

The new growth is a good sign, and he may eventually stop biting once he feels secure in his new home.. otherwise just gotta let him do his thing unfortunately, which by the way, it's rare to witness, normally they do it at night when they don't see anyone.

[Silverfang]

I've seen them nom everything but pecs. That includes ventrals.

My boy was a real brat *nod*.

Clean warm water, good foods, and trying to figure out why he bites are about all you can do. If it's stress, try to limit it. If it's boredom, give him new play toys/decor.

However if he just doesn't like big heavy fins... you just kinda have to live with it until they develop fishy shrinks.

[Fishybusiness]

Try having the new owner add a live plant. There are lots that are easy to maintain and do wonders for them.
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[otter]

Thank you all!
I think that he may add some other fish into the 10 gallon with him-probably cory cats or something, so maybe that will pre occupy him- but it could also stress him out more!

In a few weeks, he will go to a new home, and I will be sure to tell his new owner about this.

Thanks guys c: