i'm almost worse than pet stores!

[LappyGreen]

i have had 3 fish since july 12th.

two have died (Green ate Lappy and then died of Dropsy).

I cleaned that tank so good. I let it run and got Finneus. He's beautiful. Doing awesome. Had a small tear in his fin (definately from the plant) on the first day, but it healed without any problems and he was fine. He'd flare at his reflection at night, was eating well, swimming all over, etc.

I did his water change on Saturday and he freaked in the tank (i posted this previously) and when i put him back in, noticed he had torn fins. Today, they look HORRIBLE.

Is this normal? Do they look much worse before they get better? He's swimming and eating ok and flared up at his reflection tonight, but they look awful. He has no marks, no spots, nothing.

Why do I feel worse than the idiots at petco/petsmart!

[Elena]

How big is this tank and how often do you do water changes? Fish waste accumulates in water and poor water quality usually leads to diseases
like fin rot, which I think is what Finneus has. Try giving him clea water and a little salt ( about half teaspoon per gallon of water) and see how that goes. As for the other two fish you should not keep bettas together at all. They will kill each other.

[AngelicScars]

You should start him on salt baths.

[Kim]

How often do you clean the tank? What size is it? Heated, filtered?

He may have bitten his fins in the holding container if it happened all at once. I have one that I needed to move and I put him in a cup for literately 5 minutes and I caught him biting his fins. I never take them out of their tanks though because they are cycled so he isn't used to it at all.

[LappyGreen]

he's in a 2.5 gallon tank with a filter. i change water once per week. this was his first water change.

i went and got some fin rot medicine today because his fins looked worse this morning. he started swimming around a LOT after i put it in. he's also been trying to get in the little packet that is leaning against the outside of the tank. he even flared at it haha. i'm surprised he can even see it.

i wanted to put him in a smaller bowl, but the stores didn't have any. only those tiny boxes that seem cruel. so i suppose i'll have to keep an eye out for when they get one.