[Elphie2983]

I've never had a half moon betta before, and I've had this one for a few months, his name is sparta (rightly so), and I really could use some help figuring out if he has fin rot, or if he's attacking his tail, or if the plants are shredding his tail...we noticed his fins start to become very jagged, and today i noticed a bottom piece of it that looked kind of bloody. I'm going to attach some pictures, I'm sorry they are kind of blurry, he won't sit still! He's eating just fine for the time being...









can anyone tell what is going on with his fins?
I'll give the housing details in the next post...thank you so much in advance for any information you can provide!

-Lara

 

[Elphie2983]

Housing
What size is your tank?
2.5 Gallon
What temperature is your tank?
78-82
Does your tank have a filter?
Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
No
Is your tank heated?
Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?
None
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
hikari Betta Pellets, Bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish?
Twice a day
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
Every friday
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?50% water change, we add in warm water from the tap that we treat, if that makes a difference
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?
10 drops amquel, 10 drops novequa, 1/2 tsp aquarium salt

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
pH: pretty high, but we haven't been able to lower it

I should mention that the nitrates might be kind of high as we have a really big algae problem.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
We started to notice his fins getting jagged/shredded.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No real behavior change
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
About a month ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Haven't started treating yet, not sure what the problem is :-/

Does your fish have any history of being ill? I don't think so.

How old is your fish (approximately)? Unknown... I bought him from petco.

 

[Silverfang]

Hi Lara, you mentioned the edges of his fins and tail look bloody? I'd say you have a fin biter, who's tail and find may be infected, or at least irritated.

The good news is its treatable, at least the rot. Clean water is his best bet. Normally daily water changes are required. You shouldn't need medication. However, I did notice you mention adding salt. Aquarium salt should only be used while treating a fish, and even then, at a dosage of 1 - 3 tsp a gal. In your case 1 trap a gal should be sufficient to start.

I would also ask, is that grass plant plastic? The leaves look rather spikey. They may be tearing his fins as well.

 

[Elphie2983]

He is pretty aggressive...The plants are all plastic and kind of spikey, we will replace them with silk ASAP. Thank you very much for your reply!

 

[Luimeril]

that's tail biting. :V it's a difficult fix for some. i find it easy to stop.

do 3 water changes a week to stop the infection. at every water change, rearrange where his plants and other decor are located. that'll keep him busy exploring, and stop the tail biting. that's what i'm doing with my HMDT, who's previous owner really couldn't stop his tail biting(he came to me with almost a stump of a tail. :B it's now growing back beautifully~!).