1st fish, Fin is torn! PLEASE HELP!

[Mitsufishi]

Hello everyone and anyone!
I am a fish time betta (or any fish) mommy! I really dont know much about bettas, and have been browsing this forum for awhile. We have only had our male for about 4 weeks now, and he has been doing awesome! He's a very happy fish, and even gets excited when we get up in the mornings and say hi to him! Ive never seen a fish get excited before, so this makes us really happy! Anyways LONG story short, my lovely boyfriend was at walmart the other night and saw a little female betta, felt sorry for her, and without me knowing put her in the tank with our male! Its been about 3 days and when he told me , I knew it was not going to be good. Anyways i guess she got mad and ended up nipping at his fins ( ones underneath his belly area ) and now they are town up and stringy looking! I have been reading in here, but im not quite sure how to add salt or how to use the "STRESS COAT" or if anyone has any other ideas!!! PLEASE HELP!

PS. we have already removed the female from his tank!

CLIFFS:
Male betta's fins are torn from fight, what to use to help repair of heal???

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to FishForum. I'm not sure how much salt to use, someone else can tell you the exact dosage. I think salt, some Stresscoat and keeping the water clean should help him heal. If things get worse you could try some BettaFix.

[Mitsufishi]

He is in a tank that has a filter pump thing. Should I still clean the water out?

[dramaqueen]

What size is the tank? If its less than 5 gallons, I'd do a complete water change.

[Mitsufishi]

its a 2 gallon i believe, is there a link u can direct me to to help me through the steps on how to change the water correctly. Also if anyone can tell me about adding the salt

[dramaqueen]

I would change the water in a 2 gallon once a week and I'd do a full change. You can put the fish in the cup he came in or put him in a clean gladware container while you change the water. Dump out all the old water, rinse rocks or gravel and rinse any plants or decorations in hot water. Then rinse the tank thoroughly in hot water. Then you can put clean, dechlorinated water back in the tank.Then, of course, put the fish back in. I hope this helps.

[Mitsufishi]

We live in the country, so we have well water and not city water. Are starter kit came with a conditioner should i use that as well?

[dramaqueen]

Yes, I would definitely use conditioner, no matter what kind of water you have.

[neenjar]

Always use conditioner. Your well water may not have the chlorine and chloramine that city water has, but it may have heavy metals that need to be bonded by the water treatment.

First thing is to separate the fish. Male s and females can only be kept together during breeding ans only under observation. Get her her own tank.

For his nipped fins i would mix a salt bath - 1 teaspoon aquarium salt dissolved into 1 gallon of treated water. put him in there for 5 minutes. Then move him into a mixture of 1/3 the salt bath and 2/3 fresh treated water for 10-15 minutes then back into the tank.

Do a 100% water change on his tank and add bettafix to the water, this will aid in the healing and prevent damage form turning into fin rot.

As far as adding salt to his tank, for a 2 gallon dissolve a pinch into the water every full water change. Always make sure it is dissolved first as raw salt can burn their scales or lips if they try to eat it.

Betta's are very hardy fish and if you keep up on the water changes he should bounce back very quickly.

[Mitsufishi]

You guys are total life savers! I have become fully addicted to these fish, and i hope to learn more about them, and also avoids these problems in the future! Hopefully I can get my little Earl all fixed up!!!