[Linziiilove]

I've had my fish for about 5 months, he is a moontail betta. His names Chester. So his fins have gradually started to look more torn on the bottom and more clearer on the top, its been slowly getting worse since I got him in Feb. I posted something maybe 2 months ago about this. I was told it was 'reduced webbing' and it was nothing to worry about and that they also change in appearance as they grow older. He has also been changing color I've noticed since I first got him, he is getting more blue streaks and red dots but I think that is normal. He doesn't look sick as far as color and scales and his eye's etc.. But I would like a second opinion, I just don't want anything to be wrong with him and do nothing about it. I thought at first it may be fin rot, but I showed pics to the people at PetCo and they said it was normal.. That that specific kind of betta just looked that way as it matured.. I also had his water checked and the PH and temp etc everything was great.
BTW I have a 3.5 gallon tank with heater and filter. I know bettas like to have plants in their tanks, in his tank there are 3 SOFT plants and regular aquarium gravel/ rocks. I also think it could possibly be from the plants tearing his fins when he swims through them, thats why I have the softest ones possible, he sems to like hiding and sitting on the plants so I haven't removed them. He always has been very active, his appetite is great he swims around just fine, he looks and seems like he is a happy fish.
His fins just worry me! Recently they look like they have been getting more raggedy and curly on the bottom fins and the top fin has been slowly growing clearer in color and the webbing looks definitely reduced..
Please if there is something I can do to help my betta, let me know!love him he is my little homie lol I really would appreciate any and all opinions and feedback so I can finally figure out what the heck is going on with him and fix it, or stop worrying about him! Thank you guys so much!


**
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 3.5
Does it have a filter? YES
Does it have a heater? YES
What temperature is your tank? 72 DEG
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? NO
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? NO

Food:
What food brand do you use? AQUEON BETTA
Do you feed flakes or pellets? PELLETS
Freeze-dried? NO
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 2X A DAY 4 OR 5 PELLETS

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 1X A WEEK
What percentage of water did you change? 3/4
What is the source of your water? TAP
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? DIP
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner?TOP FIN WATER CONDITIONER

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: .20
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.3
Hardness (GH): 150
Alkalinity (KH): 140

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 3 MONTHS AGO
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? FINS TEARING TURNING CLEAR HIS COLOR CHANGING GRADUALLY COLOR APPEARING IN NEW PLACES
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? NO
Is your Betta still eating? YES
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? NO
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? NO
How long have you owned your Betta? 5 MONTHS
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? NO
**

Here are 3 recent pics, from earlier today.
Also I am going to post some pics from a few months ago so you can see the difference in his fins.

Here are the older pics from several months ago.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Since you are still dipping out I assume you didn't get the gravel vacuum as advised?

In the bottom photo the reduced webbing is readily apparent. However, the Ammonia levels you are reporting are now doing a number on him and could lead to fin rot...which is 99% due to an unclean environment. The Ammonia you can do something about by getting that gravel vacuum and doing a thorough gravel clean. Can't remember, but believe you were given directions. If not, let us know and we can tell you how to do it. With Ammonia that high you do not want to do a large water change or you could send him into parameter shock.

He is also fin biting. He wasn't doing that when you first asked about him. That is more problematic and requires some full shots of his tank. Might be able to make a few adjustments. They do not do well in open tanks that are brightly lit. So if he doesn't have places of shade try to provide him some.

For now, use either Indian Almond Leaves or plain Rooibos Tea for their antibacterial and antifungal properties. You can float them or make a strong "tea" from either and pour into his tank. I like to do both.

Almost forgot: The temperature needs to be 78.

 

[Linziiilove]

Ok so when I'm changing the water, I use a pitcher and dip out about 1/4 of the water and keep it in the pitcher and set it aside to be poured back in the tank after I clean it. I then dip a bowl in and scoop up the fish, he doesn't even know he's being scooped.. and set him aside. I use hot tap water and rinse everything off filter and pads heater lid plants, rinse the gravel out really good use hot water to rinse the tank itself, put it all back together, then refill it halfway with slightly warm tap water that matches the temp of old water, and add the correct dose of water conditioner.. I pour the pitcher of water back in the tank and then release the fish with the rest of the water. Let me know if there is a more efficient way? The gravel is thoroughly cleaned 1x a week. I do have a gravel vaccuum actually, a hand held one that just siphons the debris from the gravel, I haven't used it yet. It seems like it wouldn't do the trick lol the other way I would assume the tank would get alot cleaner, the gravel vac just sucks the stuff off of the top, right?
BTW the ammonia level that it said on my sheet from PetCo was really low and that no action needed to be taken... and the sample I had tested was taken from when I was doing a water change, after a week..
And I've never seen him biting his own fins. Never.
I am going to try the herbal tea as well.
I have also started turning off the light on the tank at night i didn't know they were sensitive to light.. Thank you for the tips.
I appreciate you helping me out I guess I just am still skeptical that is the issue here. But what do I know lol you are the expert here after all so. Thank you & i appreciate you. 😉

 

[Linziiilove]

And i will see about fixing the water temperature as well!

 

[X skully X]

@Linziiilove
Sounds like you are cleaning your tank too well. I know... crazy talk right? The fact is that you haven’t cycled your tank. Every time you rinse your filter in hot tap water (and everything else) you are killing off all the beneficial bacteria that cycles your water. Bam! You’ve just started your ecosystem over again from the beginning.
here is a link to a thread here in the forum about cycling a tank.

CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial

Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm, or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of information packed into those...

www.bettafish.com

If you tap the three lines next to your profile pic it will take you to a list of every part of the forum. If you go into any of these you may notice the first threads have a pin next to them. These threads hold a wealth of information about fish keeping and will probably answer a ton of questions you have. If there is anything you are unsure about and have a question you can post your questions in a new thread in that part of the forum you read the pinned post from, not ON the pinned post.
I hope this article I pasted helps you out. The sooner you start cycling your tank the better off you’ll be 💜

 

[X skully X]

I’m also not saying you can’t clean your decorations. Or even the filter from time to time, just not everything at once 🤘🏻In fact don’t clean the filter at all until the only reading you get are nitrates. Get yourself a water testing kit, liquid or strips whatever you want to get. I wouldn’t rely on the pet store to tell you. People make mistakes. We are only human after all.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

I agree, you are over cleaning and disrupting the essential nitrogen cycle. Only clean out the filter media in old tank water or conditioned tap water. This way there is no need to remove your Betta.

Can you get him to flare and take a photo?

Almost forgot: Very seldom do we see our Betta bite their fins. I would also get a timer so the lights are on for eight and off for 16.