[ao]

Hi all, I wish to ask about what physical indications there are when a betta is healing from fin rot, ammonia burns etc and how long it takes.

My royal blue vt pops his fins from time to time from over flaring but usually the pinholes will be gone the next day. This to me is an amazing healing speed as opposed to his tail which I treated for fin rot 3 weeks back. It is still healing. His tail is now have clear spikes at rhe end with some semi transparent grey blue webbing near the end. is that normal? will his blue color fill in the grey areas when they fully heal or is there something wrong with the tail fin?

Said betta also has some grey under his chin and shiny edges to his gills, these are shiny under the light and I thought it was velvet for the longest time. but now I am wondering whether it could simply be skin healing from ammonia poisoning. My friend bought him from a local perland discount where he was in a tiny tiny bowl and his comarades were either dead or dying. I went to the same store and asked how often they changed the water to which they replied to be around once every two days. That water is definately an septic ammonia tank. That leads me to think that he could have previously had ammonia burns.

I recently got him a friend (a red and blie vt)from a local pet store which kept their bettas in just enough water to keep them submerged (again most were dying). They were all placed stacked on top of each other in these small cubes in a giant card board box (not even on the shelves!). Not being confident in my fish doctor skills I chose the healthiest one. They are now next to each other and have these crazy bubble nest building competitions. Both living in a gallon tank (ive heard thy can live pretty long in 1 gallons if done right - plants and water changes and stuff) when the flaring gets too intense I move one to the other side of my bedroom. They actually seem to miss each other if separated for too long, LOL.

champion bubble nest for the day.

 

[Myates]

Woohoo for bubble nests

Clear to light coloration at the edges of fins is actual fin growth- that is the new growth you are seeing. So it is a good sign when they are healing from a bout of rot or biting. Warm water, a high protein diet will help speed up the process. They tend to grow their fins continuous for the first 7 months of their lives- normally it is slowed down the closer they get to the 7 months, but since he is replacing lost fin you will see a decent burst of growth for a while.
Sometimes the color comes back fully, and sometimes not.. it should get some color to it over time, but it may not be 100%.

Ammonia burns on the gills tend to be red in color- anything else you are most likely just seeing his gill plate coloration. I have some that go from green to orange and black and blue, etc.. the grey is just him, and have yet to ever link it to an illness or injury. I've also seen the grey come and go on fish as they age.

Yes, a 1 gallon can easily be a suitable home for a betta provided there is a small heater, proper water changes (usually recommended 1 50% and 1 100% per week) with conditioner, and a good quality diet.

I have a boy who is very aggressive, but when I block him from sight of any of my others, he will become upset and take out a chunk or two of his fins and will continue until I remove the cover. Silly fish.. they are quite funny when it comes to things like that.

 

[ao]

Woah someone replied, I wont why I wasnt sent an email... sorry for the super late response and thanks for the helpful informatipn. he's super admant about having a bubble next in that one corner. I cleaned out the tank and he remade another one the next day, twice as thick! my other fish seems to have a little coloring on the tips of his long thin front fins, Im keeping a shar eye out for rot.