Several fin tears not healing

[Acalendra]

(( I hate that my first post is an emergency post I but hi ))


My super delta betta McGee has many tears in his fins (primarily caudal) that don't get better. There aren't any signs of infection and is definitely not fin rot. He's had them for too long and they don't get worse or better. I've done the usual of upping the temp and adding salt but have gotten no results. The filter is kept on the lowest setting and doesn't push him around. All decorations have no sharp edges. It just odd!

He's kept in a 6.6 gallon long/book shelf aquarium kept at 77-80 degrees. It is planted ( 3 anubias plants, 1 java fern, and 1 marimo ) and he is kept with two African dwarf frogs. The frogs aren't responsible seeing as I haven't had them long and the fin problems have been going on for weeks. He used to be kept in a 2.5 gal before this one. Other than the tears he eats fine and has normal behavior. He is a low aggression betta so it isn't caused by fin flaring seeing as he rarely does it. Any ideas why they won't heal?

[OrangeAugust]

Do you think he might be biting his fins? My betta, Fishie, is a biter but I never actually see him do it. His tail was all short and sad looking at one point last summer, and it took a long time to start growing back. I had hard water at the time (I've moved since then) and I heard that can be the cause of slower healing (do his fins curl at all?). Anyway, my betta's tail grew back longer, but every once in a while he starts biting again and gets long tears in his caudal. Maybe yours is just continually biting and you just never see him do it. Or it's taking longer to heal because you have hard water.

[Acalendra]

I've never seen him and I've heard if they bite the rips will be curved. These are straight. His fins don't curl either.
Also, I've never heard that hard water could affect that! The ph and the like are perfect but the water is hard. I recently did some research and I believe you can soften it with water softening pillows? I can't afford any of the R/O things so I think I may give the pillows a try. Thanks for bringing that up!

[Oldfishlady]

Did you buy him with the tattered fins or did it start after you got him and if so, how long after. In the 2.5gal that you started with-did it have a filter. Did the tattered fins start before or after placed in the 6.6gal filtered tank.
How much and how often are your water changes, additives used, type/amount of food/feeding. How much and how long did you use the salt.

Most Betta will adapt to your source water pH and hardness and it is best not to try and change it-especially with chemicals. Its best to avoid the sudden extreme changes and with using the pillows-you would need to have your replacement water pH and hardness matched for the water changes.

Can you post a pic...

[Acalendra]

No. I bought him as a baby with no rips. It's been like this for a few weeks or so. The 2.5 did have a filter. The fins started before he was in the 6.6. The 6.6 is recent so I'm still working out a cleaning schedule. He's fed betta pellets w/ krill and vitamin C in them. He does get a couple (frozen) bloodworms from when I feed the frogs. I usually add a little whenever I put in new water. I just follow the box directions. I think they said a tablespoon per five gal? That may be wrong. Ill try and add a reply for the pics. It's hard to get them since he rarely flares up and has large fins. One minute

[Acalendra]

A bit hard to see I'm afraid. There's a large one on top of the caudal fin and a few shorter ones below that don't show as much unless you see him moving around more. They don't get better or worse :/ also there isn't any rot at the bottom. His fins are clear there so it didn't appear fully

And thanks ton to those who reply. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here :(

EDIT- wow that is why we don't upload from our phone. Sorry.

[Oldfishlady]

What a pretty Betta....from what I can tell from the pic-It looks like he has some new growth on the tips of his fins and it almost looks like biting-but to be honest, I am having a bit of a problem seeing the large pic on my small screen.

Sometimes, the Long fin males can have fin issues due to water movement and even using the long delicate fins to swim. Kinda like the flag in the wind effect.

Since he is overall acting his normal self and he doesn't have a secondary infection and showing fin regrowth-You might try tannins to help tough the fins/scale or even turn the filter off, however, since you have ADF-It might be better to move him back to the 2.5gal without a filter and start a fresh dechlorinated water with tannin treatment. This could at least rule out the water current as a cause of the chronic fin damage-provided its not due to biting.

Premix your tannin water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water so the tannins can leach-then use this premixed water for your three weekly 50% water changes for 2 weeks-then reduce them to twice weekly.

Tannins-either IAL (Indian almond leaf) or naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf. Use 1 large crushed/gal IAL or 20 crushed Oak leaf per gallon.

Nutrition-good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals-If you have access to live mosquito larva-feed several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to support the immune response and healing/regrowth.

I wouldn't use the aquarium salt longer than 10 days and unless he has a secondary infection-I wouldn't use it at all. Its a great product to use for the right reason, dosage and duration-but not recommend long term.

Good luck and keep us posted...

[Acalendra]

Thanks bunches :) ill do some research into Tannin water

[soady]

You can try adding a few drops of any Aloe Vera bottle intended for fish. It helps heal wounds and relaxes the fish. I use that whenever there's a tear in my betta's fins.

[callistra]

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233