I Think He's Tailbiting

[Moldau]

On Thursday, I noticed the edge of his tail was looking kind of ragged. It was smooth and rounded before. At first, it had that sort of frayed look where the rays were still there. Now there's fairly large pieces missing. At first, I was worried there might be something on the driftwood or the silk plants it was catching on. If it was that, though, I would think his tail would be ripped, not with pieces missing. I haven't actually caught him biting, but I did see some suspicious behavior...he was sort of bending himself into a loop and for a second it was almost like he was chasing his tail. He didn't actually bite it then, but still...

The strange thing is that this started right after a water change. Also, I can't really tell if the filter is too strong, I have the Red Sea Nano filter, turned down to the lowest flow setting. If anyone else who has this filter can give an opinion on whether it should be baffled or not, I would appreciate it.

I don't really understand this. He wasn't biting his tail when he lived in a tiny cup in the store, but now it looks like he might doing that now. If he is, I don't know if there's anything I can do or if this is a habit he's developed that won't go away.

To show what's going on, here's a picture from a week ago and two from this evening:

[Reflux]

Could be a case of finrot.

[Jayy]

Yes, thats it. Welcome to the wonderful world of tail biting!!! My DT is a tail biter and I HATE it!!! He also likes to do it after a water change. Most people say they do it out of boredom,but looking at your tank I doudt it. They also say most do it because of their large heavy fins. So that may be it in our case. Then again it could be the stress of a water change.

[Hankbetta]

Funny Jay, mine usually does it after a water change too.

[Fawnleaf]

Yeah, its tail biting. :( My Casanova had one major case of it, then never did it again. His tail's almost recovered. I wonder what triggered it. Most of his tail was gone. It was so sad!

[Fawnleaf]

Ps. BEAUTIFUL fish from the petstore!!! :) I would DIE to find him!! Lucky find! :)

[Moldau]

Thanks, everyone. I went ahead and baffled the filter, so now there's practically no current. Before, there was some visible current, especially near the filter even with it turned down all the way. I'm not sure if he'll stop because of it, but it's worth a shot.