Please help, both of my boys have chunks of tail missing and little red dots, like where they got the bites. The two boys share a divided 10 gal with a female in the middle. She is EXTREMELY agressive and I dont know if it's her biting them through the mesh divider, or if the boys are doing it to themselves.
The blue boy has it kind of under his tummy, the white boy is the end of his tail. The female is fine.
sure looks like it, both in the white and blue butterfly HMs. most HMs bite from either boredom, or stress. best way to find out, would be to remove the female for a few days, if you can. once things start healing, you'll know if it's her doing it, or them, if it continues. whenever Dante bit his tail, the moment i saw a new chunk missing, i'd do a water change, and add Aquarium Salt and an Indian Almond Leaf(when i had them).
I have those dividers and, unless there is space at the front and back for her to grab the tails of the boys, I'd say it's tailbiting. The holes in the dividers are not big enough for tails to poke through.
I have no direct experience with tail biting, but have heard(as was said already) that it's stress or 'boredom'..add more decor, increase water changes and if it turns into fin rot, quarantine and treat with salt.
Could be stress because they can all see eachother. Try putting taller plants in front of the dividers so they can't see eachother.
I've heard mixed reviews on keeping males and females together but if they can't see eachother directly, there should be a lot less stress.
They may be stressed because they can see her; I'd try moving her (if you have another tank) and see if that helps. It could be something else stressing them, but I'd try to rule out the female as the cause first. Some bettas are just chronic tail biters, but that isn't likely to be the case for you, since you have two males who recently started tail biting at the same time...that would be a pretty big coincidence; so I'd think it's something environmental.
Ok, thanks for the info. I don't have the means to move her atm, so ill buy taller plants to block their view of her. Well I do have a 1 gal, but I'd have to get a heater and more gravel and plants etc, but no money for that now, so ill get more plants. Posted via Mobile Device
Bettas don't seem to be self aware, even when they flare at their own reflection. Maybe he thought his own tail was another betta? It is also possible that your bettas are snagging their tailfin on the plastic plants. IMO, male bettas should not be allowed to constantly see one another. Male bettas should be seperate visually and chemically from females ... unless you plan to breed them. IME, dividers almost always eventually fail unless they are glued in. Clean warm water daily will help ward off fin rot. If you have gravel, clean it daily. I hope they heal up quickly.
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