gaahhhh fin rot!

[pa1ntbru5h]

GRRR i believe my fish has fin rot.. i noticed his tail had a new slit in it yesterday and now, he has like 5 slits... he looks like a zombie fish if you just look at his tail =[
so.. i just get aquarium salt and it should fix it?

[JamieTron]

Well, there are many things that could cause damage to the tail.

Do you have any sharp object like plastic plants or decorations in your tank? Bettas have very fragile tails that can get torn quite easily. Silk or live plants are normally recommended.

Check the edges of the tail:
-are they whiteish in color and sort of fuzzy then that could be fungal fin rot
-are they usually black in color? that could be bacterial fin rot
-if he is losing large chunks of his tail...he could be tail biting

Keep and eye on his tail for now. I would not use medications right away unless you know the exact cause. I would go with the salt bath to help prevent infection. You should see healing after awhile, but if it progressively gets worse then I would look towards medicinal methods of treatment.

Also keeping the water nice and clean will help prevent infections as well

[pa1ntbru5h]

alright its been 3 hours since i last posted. and he's already lost a whole lot more of his tail... tail biting?? ive never seen him bite before though =/

the only decorations i have is the gravel at the bottom of the tank. could that be the problems?

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

Could you take a picture of him? The gravel wouldn't do it. What size tank is he in? Do you have a heater? Sometimes they can be sneaky about tail bitting and some owners never catch their fish doing it. They'll do it when they're unhappy or bored, but other things can contribute. Like if he's too cold, if he's in a small tank/bowl and if he has no where to hide (plants and decorations). Bettas loving hiding and resting up against plants and they like hiding places; it makes them feel safe.

[Oldfishlady]

So true, he could be tail biting due to stress from a lack of hiding places....and/or poor water quality can cause tail biting too, the ammonia burns and they attack the pain.
Clean fresh water is one of the best preventives of secondary infection, make some 50% daily water changes with or without the aquarium salt if this is new and get something like a silk plant for him to hide/rest on too, if he is still stressed or poor water quality he may not heal up, sadly once they start to tail bite they tend to do it regardless but you can prevent secondary infection with water changes

[pa1ntbru5h]

GAHHH!!!! his fin was just growing back from his previous biting.. and HE BIT IT OFF AGAIN!!!

and yes he has plants to hide behind now. and the water is clean. why is he still biting?

[xxabc]

Tailbiting is really one of the hardest things to "cure." (IMO). I just had to be patient with mine, and he eventually stopped. Then resumed then stop. Then resumed and has now stopped...for the time being, ha. Although I don't expect any more biting.

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

My HM in my avatar bit almost his whole tail off! Now he looks like a rosetail.lol I have no idea why he does it. Tail biting usually occurs in longer finned bettas. I think it's because when they turn around, they catch a glimpse of their tail and it annoys them, but just MO.

[Oldfishlady]

One of the biggest reason that a betta starts to bite his tail IMO is from high ammonia and the burning sensation they get from the ammonia burns, tail rot, or injury and they are biting at the "pain", once the ammonia, rot or injury is gone and the pain is gone it has become a "bad habit".
I think most of this starts in the shops that provide poor care.

Boredom and stress are other reason and some I think can mistake their own tail for another betta...

I think someone needs to make one of those Elizibethan collars like for dogs for the chronic tail biters to help break their bad habit....lol.....

[pa1ntbru5h]

im going to petsmart/petco today to try to get it a cave or some kind of hiding spot. he already has a big fake plant.. but i guess thats not enough.. GREEDY! haha jk

his tail in my avatar looks so nice.. but now its ruined! ='[

but yeah.. i think im going to pick up some aquarium salt and a bottle of bloodworms while im at it.

im hoping that all these things together will help him be less bored or whatever =/

and possibly some ghost shrimp... still 50/50 about that