[ccacti]

Hello everyone! I just got my new little buddy Boo about 2 weeks ago, and I've noticed some changes in his fins. I feel like it may be fin rot, but I'm not exactly sure, and I don't want to treat him unnecessarily if it isn't. I feel that if it is fin rot perhaps he's had it since I got him from petsmart and it may just be starting to develop. If it is I'm just trying to catch it early enough to help him;;;

What size is your tank?: 3 gallons.
What temperature is your tank?: About 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
Does your tank have a filter?: Yes.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No.
Is your tank heated? No, but I live in florida and my room is never less than like 85 degrees right now
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
Aqueon betta pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish?
About 2 pellets in the morning and 2 pellets at night.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
About every other day since the tank is cycling.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? About 20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Topfin water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Have not tested water yet recently, but I took it to the petstore last week and they said it was fine. I'm going to be getting a test kit soon though

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?:
Pelvic fins have become thinner with black edges and caudal fin has developed thin spots on each part of his double tail

How has your betta fish's behavior changed?:
Behavior has not changed, he is still very energetic and swims around a lot blowing bubbles.

When did you start noticing the symptoms?
I started noticing a few days ago that his pelvic fins have been getting thinner, and a black color appeared on the edges. I wasn't sure if it was just that he was changing colors since his color has been becoming fuller lately. I noticed today that the tip of one looks a little floppy like it might fall off, and that the other one looks like it might have a little blister(I think it's a tear? Hard to tell because he won't sit still for a second) on it, this morning.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No, not yet.

Does your fish have any history of being ill?
No, but he did a bit of a rough start as there was a bit of a mix up with the water when I first set up the tank.

How old is your fish (approximately)?
about 8-10 months?

I attached some pictures that will hopefully help identify what's wrong, thanks to everyone in advance for any advice!

 

[Percylover]

Hey! Your Boo looks very similar to my Percy. I brought him home a few weeks ago, and as you can see by my profile picture, he has some red in him as well. This has developed over the time he has been home with me. His change in color has been the result of better water quality and great color-enhancing Betta flakes. I would just watch Boo closely for any other signs of fin rot. It very well could be just because he has better overall health in his new home.

 

[ccacti]

Wow they really do look alike! But I do think that he has been changing in colors but I also think it may be something else along with that.

I just checked on him again today and his pelvic fins look even worse and over all his fins are looking a lil transparent at parts, as well as the back end of his anal fin looking a little shredded. I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could rip his fins in the tank so I am getting a little concerned. ;;

 

[ccacti]

Okay I'm pretty sure he does have finrot, there is a considerable dent on one of his back fin and same with his top fin. if anyone would have any suggestions on how to treat this it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Percylover]

Fin rot is caused by the bacteria in your tank, so once a day you should try and clean the lil guy's tank and add some water conditioner. A lot of times this can be the result of stress or pet store neglect, so don't feel guilty AT ALL. Keep his water a bit cooler (76-78 F) Add aquarium salt and keep his light off. Lights seem to slow the regrowth process. Once you've given your fish daily water changes and aquarium salt once a day for 7-10 days you should be good!

 

[Percylover]

Could you upload more pics?

 

[ccacti]

Yes I will post more pictures, it seemed like he was getting better but this morning i woke up to him with holes, and his double tail and split right down to his body! ((
I really think this is an emergency now I've been doing as you suggested so I'm not really sure what else to do. I'm gonna see about getting him a quarantine tank today, luckily his behavior hasn't changed I just hope he's okay.

 

[ccacti]

Okay, here's some pictures, it's hard to tell how bad his bad fins are because the top half are being covered by his dorsal fin but they are missing a significant amount out of them :'((
If anyone can please help I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[paperlilies]

Check out this site: http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/fin-rot-101.html
Very helpful for treating fin rot!

 

[ccacti]

Thank you I'll definitely check it out!

 

[Taeanna]

The circles you have put into your pictures are showing sites of iridescence in your boy, the red spot in his tail is a weakened area of the fin membrane, nothing to worry about. call it a stretch mark if you like.
I have a boy with the exact same coloring and as he has gotten on in years (he is five as of last month) his fins are slowly going more and more pink.
Now the ventrals you have circled, is it the white you are worried about? That is a growth of the fin spines as he gets older and shows he is a healthy boy on his way to looking gorgeous The red fins will slowly creep up the white spine over time, you might even see white bits appearing on his other fins.

Of course if you are worried you can always add AQ salt to his tank for a little while (dont go over 10-14 days) just in case. This will cleanse anything nasty on his fins we cant see.

 

[ccacti]

So after following the directions on the betta splendid website he seemed to be getting better but, but he still had big areas a grayed transparent fin from before getting him in a new smaller tank, while doing the 100% water change for the day, Boo got grumpy while waiting for me to finish in his tiny cup and threw a tantrum which caused the tips of his fins to get totally ripped up :/

So I'm just wondering is it better that the bad bits of fin are gone and will he be able to heal up okay? His tail is looking better where it split but the ends are still looking frayed..

Also he hasn't gotten darker the lighting is just bad aha

 

[ccacti]

Taeanna I do agree with you about the iridescence on his tail, but he does have fin rot I think it may have made the other colors apparent as the fins got thinner, but about the ventral fins i was worried about the black edges. They used to be so much more full and they have gotten much thinner than they were before.. I have been doing a AQ salt treatment for the past 2 days so I'm hoping he'll get better soon!

 

[Taeanna]

Ah yes the picture above certainly confirmed it, the angle of the first shots I was unsure of.

As to healing bettas bounce back from fin damage like champions, you will see clear transparent fins and white spines filling in the gaps and then slowly they will go back to his normal color.
You can supplement his diet with something protein rich during his growing stage if you like to speed up the process, frozen bloodworms are a good source.