[HaileyPaige94]

Hi, I have had my betta for 3 months, I have him in a 3 gallon tank with a filter and heater. I bought a suction hose to clean his gravel and tried to use it for the first time today. Turns out my tank is too tall and not wide enough for me to create the suction it needs, needless to say I was working in a small area. As I was removing the plastic hose my betta decided to swim between it and the wall and I didn't react quick enough and his top fins became trapped and a few fell off.

I am very worried as there now seems to be a bubble of blood forming where the fins came off, I will try to take some good pictures (pictures taken 15 minutes post injury) to attach. Basically, I want to know what to do to help him get better. I have done a water change, added the water conditioner, and am about to go out to buy BettaFix or MelaFix, whichever is in stock and will use that. (I know to use a lesser amount of MelaFix than the package says.) I'm just wondering if there are any other products or something else I can do to help the little guy out.

Also, the pictures are not in his regular tank, he is in his temp. tank as I was doing the water change and didn't want any more accidents.

 

[HaileyPaige94]

Update: the bubble of blood is gone he no longer appears to be bleeding, 20 minutes post injury.

 

[Tree]

I'm glad it fell off! What I would do now is either add stress coat and or make sure the tank is nice and clean so no bacteria gets on the fin. You can also add Indian almond leaves to help with the healing process, just to make sure if does not form into fin rot.
what type of vacuum did you have?
I would try to find a smaller gravel vacuum with a pump to pump the water out. It makes it easier to get the water out.

something like this one but the tube comes shorter as well. I have one half that size and it works well with small nano fish and bettas. =)

 

[HaileyPaige94]

Yes, I had a very similar vacuum, but without the hand pump, I'm going to switch to one with a hand pump as soon as I can get the one I have returned. Also my betta seems to be doing well other than being (understandably) a little more skittish than usual. He is eating, and swimming normally.

I have been able to get a better look at him since though and am concerned because there is a fin that seems to have a tear but did not fall off completely. I have attached a picture, it is hard to see, but it is the fin with the arrow pointing to it. I'm just wondering if this will make his recovery slower or increase the chances of infection?

You can also see where the missing fins are on top, looks sort of like he got a bad haircut.

 

[cakes488]

Petco sells a small one that works great for betta tanks. I think Imaginarium is the "brand"....it's cheap too and comes with the pump. If you go into the store...check the price online w/ your phone...it's usually cheaper and they'll honor the online price.

 

[Emlcloud]

I don't think having the tear on the fin will significantly affect his chances of getting an infection. Mercury often nipped his tail so that a part is dangling by just a sliver. Just keep the tank super clean! In addition to the stress coat, I would actually also add 1tsp/gal of aquarium salt to his tank to help fend off infection. Just make sure that all the salt is dissolved before putting him in it, and replace any salt loss during a water change. Don't put him in salt any more than 14 days.

I also find that high protein food speeds up healing. I've used frozen bloodworms whenever Mercury has a biting episode. 5 bloodworms 3-4 days a week worked great with him. Bloodworms are fatty though, so don't feed this much bloodworms that often.