Shreaded And Red Tail Fin

[CooperS]

EDIT: The title should read "Shredded and Red Tail Fin," sorry, spelling was never my strong suit :s

Hi,

I just got back to my house from college today for Spring Break and as I put my betta back into his tank I noticed his tail fin seems to be red at the very end (like blood?) and shredded a little, with a small part of it a slightly black.

Any idea on what this could be? This is the first time I noticed it, could it be caused by moving stress?

Thanks

[veggiegirl]

It looks like fin rot to me. What size is your tank and how often do you clean it and what size water changes do you do?

[callistra]

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


Looks like maybe fin rot from biting.

[CooperS]

Okay, just to make it clear though, I have NEVER noticed this problem until I put him into his tank last night after travel, so I don't think water conditions are the problem (but I can always be wrong).

Originally Posted by callistra

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


Looks like maybe fin rot from biting.

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5g
What temperature is your tank? ~78F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? It has a grated top
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One Betta Buffer Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day, three pellets, skip Sunday

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%, 100% every couple of weeks
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Betta Complete Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Don't test

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Immediately after travel
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Immediately after travel
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? One and a half?

[callistra]

You're not doing enough water changes. A tank of this size needs twice weekly changes of 50% mid week and 100% by week's end. Doing 50% weekly and 100% every other week will breed extremely high levels of ammonia, and conceptually will cause fin rot, at the mildest case. The water changes are you are doing would be appropriate for an unfiltered 10g, to put it in perspective.

It's also really important that your changes include using a small siphon or turkey baster to remove debris from the gravel and not just sccop water off the top.

Since it was just after travel he may have bitten himself out of stress.. it's not even more important to keep his water perfectly clean. I would do 50% changes every other day and 100% weekly while he is healing. I would also add aquarium salt at 1 tsp per gallon, predissolved. Salt never breaks down or evaporates, so you only need to readd along with a water change, and only add as much salt as water you change. This is the salt you want: http://www.petmountain.com/product/freshwater-aquarium-salts/11442-502411/api-aquarium-salt.html?utm_source=googleproductads&utm_medium=c pc&utm_term={keyword}&gclid=CLuDrf3TgbYCFQWxnQodYk wAcw

You can do salt and these extra water changes for 10 days. You can also add API Stress Coat at 1 ml per 1 gallon to reduce stress and make recovery time quicker. Also vitachem at 1 drop per gallon is great with regrowing fins. Hopefully by this point you will see the red disappear and a lot of growth, if not fully regrown since it's not too bad yet

Water changes done like this will avoid shock:

The 50% changes the betta can be kept in the bowl and use a turkey baster to remove half the water and as much of the debris as possible. For the 100% you need to remove him - scoop him out with a plastic solo type cup and set aside while you thoroughly rinse the bowl and gravel to remove the debris. Then he should be acclimated to the new water by floating for an hour while you slowly add a couple tablespoons of new water to the cup every 10 minutes. When you release him, try to let as little of the old cup water back into the tank as possible. All water changes should use same temp water, matched to running tap using the in tank thermometer and the water needs to be premixed with conditioner before adding it to the betta tank. If you don't already have anything, you can use gallon water jugs from the grocery store - rinsed thoroughly in hot water but no chems.

[CooperS]

Originally Posted by callistra

You're not doing enough water changes. A tank of this size needs twice weekly changes of 50% mid week and 100% by week's end. Doing 50% weekly and 100% every other week will breed extremely high levels of ammonia, and conceptually will cause fin rot, at the mildest case. The water changes are you are doing would be appropriate for an unfiltered 10g, to put it in perspective.

It's also really important that your changes include using a small siphon or turkey baster to remove debris from the gravel and not just sccop water off the top.

Since it was just after travel he may have bitten himself out of stress.. it's not even more important to keep his water perfectly clean. I would do 50% changes every other day and 100% weekly while he is healing. I would also add aquarium salt at 1 tsp per gallon, predissolved. Salt never breaks down or evaporates, so you only need to readd along with a water change, and only add as much salt as water you change. This is the salt you want: http://www.petmountain.com/product/freshwater-aquarium-salts/11442-502411/api-aquarium-salt.html?utm_source=googleproductads&utm_medium=c pc&utm_term={keyword}&gclid=CLuDrf3TgbYCFQWxnQodYk wAcw

You can do salt and these extra water changes for 10 days. You can also add API Stress Coat at 1 ml per 1 gallon to reduce stress and make recovery time quicker. Also vitachem at 1 drop per gallon is great with regrowing fins. Hopefully by this point you will see the red disappear and a lot of growth, if not fully regrown since it's not too bad yet

Water changes done like this will avoid shock:

Thanks for the links, I will pick some up today. :)