I'm back! Update + Caring for chronic tail biter

[Ajones108]

Hello my fishy family. So sorry to have been sparse in advice and questions. My boyfriend moved down from Utah to come be with me so I have been quite busy getting him settled. He thinks me and my betta love is adorable. Isn't he perfect already? :)

As a few of you know, I lost my first betta Shif a couple weeks back and had a burial in my back yard at home. He went quickly, didn't suffer but a day.

Unfortunately, I bear more bad news. My dear rescue Survivor passed away yesterday. It really threw me for a loop. I noticed at the beginning of this week that he wasn't as active and very bloated/constipated. So I fasted him. The next day he was still bloated, and this time at he bottom of the tank pointing upward. Swim bladder? I offered him a pellet and he ignored it. I noticed some reddish brown areas on the sides of his anal fin? It looked crusty. No other discoloration. Later on that day I checked on him again and he darted up for air then sank back down. I noticed then that he was pineconed, and knew there was nothing else I could do. He died the next day and is getting buried beside Shif this weekend. RIP.

In other news: My HM male Laki is a chronic tail biter. At first I didn't know if it was fin rot or tail biting because it looked like deteriorating. Today, his back tail is shredded. I'm freaking out a bit because I don't want him to grow in all deformed and now his fins look black on the tips anyway so I don't know whether to treat for fin rot or not. I'm QTing tonight and doing daily water changes, and moving him to the boyfriends apartment so hope for the best. If anyone has tail biting advice of bad fin rot advice please share your knowledge.

Otherwise, how is everyone else doing? >>;

[Capricorn]

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. :(

Okay, so he's probably tail biting and may be getting fin rot as a result of that.. my HM bites his when something in wrong in the water. The past time he did it it got infected (which is basically what fin rot is). I QTd him for a week or so with water changes every day (100%) and AQ salt for the first five days. It's pretty much gone now, I even moved him back into his regular tank.

After he bit it it looks shredded and there was one point that was red like it had been bleeding.. that went away after a day and a couple days later I noticed the rot. Keep an eye on it! You may want to QT him as a preventative measure.

Good luck!

[Ajones108]

I am going to QT him with fresh water daily. The problem with AQ salt is that he's already been on it for almost two weeks because when I first saw it starting I added to his tank.

[Capricorn]

Okay, so I would give him a break from the salt and see if just clean water will help take care of it, sometimes that's all it needs.

[Ajones108]

Bump. >_>