Fin repair for a betta rescue?

[vette91]

I recently acquired a female from a friend who had kept his female with a male and she is really beat up. Her fins are all torn up and she seems to be heavily fed(huge stomach). I rescued her but I don't know if i can help get her fins back to original beauty. She has no visible signs of health issues and I've been keeping her in a quarantine tank with a bit of antibiotics to make sure.
I'm moving her to my sorority tonight. Is this a good idea? My other girls are way younger and have left each other completely alone. Should I keep her quarantined? if so how long?
Is there anything I can really do to help her grow her finnage back?
I know the picture is a horrible picture but can you see the damage?

[Sakura8]

I think I'd keep your new girl isolated for a while. She may be traumatized after what she went through with her abusive "boyfriend," poor thing. Was your friend trying to breed them or just thought males and females could live together? As for her big belly . . . is she pooping? If not, she could be constipated which could lead to bloat. Or, is there a lot of white on her belly, especially where it's bloated? She could also be very eggy from being with a male. Either way, you can fast her for a few days and see if she shrinks to normal size.

As long as her fins don't develop fin rot, they should eventually recover but with that much damage, it's doubtful if they'll ever be quite as glorious as before. To speed up the process, you can use tannins from Indian Almond Leaf, which is admittedly very hard to find, or you can find some clean dried oak leaves and crush those into the water until it is a dark amber. If you can't find either of those, you can use decaffeinated green tea that has absolutely no added flavors or ingredients, just pure decaff green tea. Soak a tea bag in the water for an hour or overnight. The tannins should help stimulate the healing process.

I don't know how long you've had her but I'd keep her quarantined for maybe a week? That will give her some time to get her belly back to a normal size and for her fins to start some new growth. If her belly hasn't shrunk in a week, I'd continue to keep her quarantined.

[vette91]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Was your friend trying to breed them or just thought males and females could live together? As for her big belly . . . is she pooping? If not, she could be constipated which could lead to bloat. Or, is there a lot of white on her belly, especially where it's bloated?

you can use decaffeinated green tea that has absolutely no added flavors or ingredients, just pure decaff green tea. Soak a tea bag in the water for an hour or overnight. The tannins should help stimulate the healing process.

I don't know how long you've had her but I'd keep her quarantined for maybe a week? That will give her some time to get her belly back to a normal size and for her fins to start some new growth. If her belly hasn't shrunk in a week, I'd continue to keep her quarantined.

The friend wasn't trying to breed them, not much attention was given to the fish though. I think they were kept in a 2.5 gallon without a filter or heater and one or two plants.

It isn't particularly white where she is bloated but i'll make sure to fast her a day or two and check for any poop just to be sure.

I will definately try the green tea or Oak Leaves to try to help.

Well I guess i'll try to keep her quarantined for a while and hope the fins will come back some

Thanks for the help though :)

[Sakura8]

Okay, if she's not particularly white then she's probably not eggy. Most likely constipated, especially if she was overfed.

[dramaqueen]

I would just keep her in warm, clean water and fast her for 2-3 dasys, then feed her some daphnia if you have any.

[KayDowson]

I would reccomend an AQ salt treatmen (1tsp/gal for 10 days) that should help with the fin regrowth, the bloatedness

[vette91]

Originally Posted by dramaqueen

I would just keep her in warm, clean water and fast her for 2-3 dasys, then feed her some daphnia if you have any.

I don't have any live daphnia... but does freeze dried help any? I do have some frozen blood worms because i know dry foods can cause constipation

[Luimeril]

freeze dried will make it worse, imo. just fast her a few days, see if that helps any.

if you can get your hands on Indian Almond Leaves, that'll help her fins grow back better, and make her more comfy. :3

[dramaqueen]

I feed mine freeze dried and haven't had any problem but if you use it you might want to rehydrate it first.

[Silverfang]

after the bloating gets taken care of, you might try a high protein food (close to 50% or better would be great). Live or frozen (freeze dried is not best for their regular diet) will help with fin regrowth.