Torn fin and blood

[Hikari]

I was doing a partial water change today, and my betta swam to the bottom and hid behind a plant. The plants are made of fabric, not plastic. When I finished the water change, I noticed a spot of blood on a small part of his tail, just a little at the edge. I don't think it's fin rot since it just happened. I looked at him before I cleaned the water and it wasn't there. It's an injury, probably from cutting it on the gravel at the bottom, and I'm worried about it. Is there something I should do other than keeping his water clean and warm? Will the blood spot go away?

[tf1265]

You can add a bit of aquarium salt to his water to help it heal and keep it from getting infected. 1tsp/gallon should do the trick for a couple days. He'll probably be fine though, bettas heal quickly.

[Hikari]

I'm the most concerned about the red edging of the wound. It's just a tiny bit, but still worrisome. When I was changing the water, he had freaked out and hit the gravel, and I saw a little piece of fin come off. It's a tiny tear which I'm sure would heal with clean water, but I really hate that it still looks bloody.

His tail fin has always been in bad shape. I had an accident with him when I first got him which involved him falling onto the table when I was doing a 100% water change. I had to grab him with my hands to put him back, and there were huge tears in his fins. The holes healed, but ever since then he's had a split tail that never healed, and the ends look tattered. He's an extremely aggressive fish, always flaring, which probably doesn't help his tail fin. He's recently been getting quite a few tears on his tail because of the gravel, so I think I'll take it out and maybe using marbles instead.

[purplemuffin]

:) That might be a good idea! Just keep him in clean water for now, add AQ salt to prevent an infection(make sure you don't have live plants in there though, they don't do well with salt) and just let it heal. Softer marbles will be easier on his fins if he has a habit of scratching them

[Hikari]

I won't be able to get aquarium salt today since the pet stores close early. If the redness is still there tomorrow, I'll pick some up. But I kind of don't want to put anything in his water at the moment. The tear is quite tiny and would be considered a very minor injury which he's had many times before, but the tears never looked bloody like that. Well, maybe they did and I didn't notice. I had to look pretty closely to notice this one since his fins are a natural darker orange at the ends. But the tiny area of bright red where the tear is does stand out.

[purplemuffin]

Just keep it clean then! Like a sore on yourself, you don't want it to be dirty or it will get infected

[Hikari]

But I wouldn't have to do an extra 100% water change, would I? I really don't want to add any extra stress to him now. I was thinking of cleaning only small amounts for the next 3 days, like maybe 20% since that small amount won't disturb him so much, then do a 100% water change on Monday.