[AngesRadieux]

My lovely halfmoon betta Arcturus has been a giant headache lately. Not too long ago, he started chomping his own tail. I tried putting in a new decoration to stop him, but nothing seemed to distract him from his tail. I've been doing everything I could to help his tail heal. I was doing daily water changes. I didn't have any IAL, but I used plain, caffeine free green tea to release tannins into the water, I had started an aquarium salt treatment to fight off a mild case of finrot, etc. But before any of it could do any good the stupid fish somehow managed to get his tail caught beneath a decoration in his tank and I found him dead this morning.

Rest in peace, you stupid fish. I really, really wanted you to get better and live a couple more years, though. Don't tell Lucius, but you were hands down my most handsome fish. :-(

I'm thinking of swearing off halfmoons and sticking to plakats. I adore them, but something bad has happened to ever halfmoon I've owned. Two out of three were tail biters and one ended up dying before he got a chance to nom on his tail. Though, I think there was something wrong with that one at the pet store that I just didn't notice. He wasn't eating well and he was pretty lethargic when I got him...

 

[shadowpony]

May the stupid thing rest in peace. He wont tailbite under the Rainbow Bridge though. *hugs*

 

[AngesRadieux]

True. Maybe their his tail will actually look as pretty as it did when I first got him. I just barely talked myself out of another halfmoon... But, I ended up getting a new delta tail because the petco near me apparently doesn't carry plakats.

When I asked the person in the aquatics department for suggestions for preventing tail biting, he told me to put melafix in the water, use distilled water, and take out the heater to slow the fish's metabolism and make it less active. -.- I'd rather have a healthy fish with a chewed up tail than a lethargic, half dead one with a tail that's intact.

 

[shadowpony]

The ingorance of pet store employees amusses me.

 

[Twilight Storm]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your fish.

I had success with my tail biter by moving the location of his tank down to the kitchen, because it's the busiest, (mostly) loudest place in the house. The silly thing stopped biting his tail with all the distractions and is now really beautiful again. Just an idea to try, if you can, if you get another neurotic fishie. Decorations and tannins work for some fish, location was the only thing that worked for mine. :/

My Petco doesn't sell plakats either unless you go for a giant, and SOMETIMES when they have dragonscales they are plakats.... Hope you and your delta enjoy each other for a long time to come

 

[AngesRadieux]

Changing his location didn't really do anything, either. :/ I guess both places I put him in were pretty quiet, though. I'm hoping my deltas won't start, but if they do I'll try moving them. There were a couple gorgeous halfmoons I was thinking of getting, but I just I would've gotten so upset if they decided to shred their tails... I'm really hoping I can bypass that problem with a different tail type.

I really wish they had plakats. I've never had fin problems with plakats...

 

[dramaqueen]

I'm so sorry for your loss.