Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Health => Topic started by: fishcake76 on September 14, 2014, 01:15:01 PM
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Hi folks,
I think stanley my betta has hurt his dorsal fin.
He is basically clamping it in to a thin point. Bit hard to describe so see attched photos. First one is of how he used to look and second of how he looks now.
Other than his fin the only other change i have noticed is that he is scratching. This has all occured since i did a water change at the start if last week.
No other visible signs of illness and hes still eating and coming for a chat.
I showed him his reflection to see if he opened his fin up when he flared but although the rest of his fins displayed normally his dorsal fin remained clamped.
Im confused!!! Any ideas folks???
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The end of his tail looks a bit ragged too, or is that just the way the photo is?
It could be fin rot. Try daily 50% water changes before using a med. That often clears up bettas' fins.
Is his decor nice and smooth? I can see a Buddha and an arch, they look OK in the photos but have you checked them for roughness?
If the fins get worse or don't clear up with water changes, try eSHa 2000 or Waterlife's myxazin.
My betta always has a ragged tail. I've had him 16 months and it's been like that since I got him. I treated the tank at first but I've stopped and it does heal up only to go ragged in a new place. I have caught him lying on the heater when it was at 45 deg (it's now vertical) but it is always possible mine is a secret tail biter. With yours having problems with his dorsal fin it won't be biting as he won't be able to reach that fin, but could he have burned himself on the heater?
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Crumbs you're right his tail is ragged!!!!
I'll do a water change tonight when my little ones gone to bed. I was careful with the decor and checked it for smoothness when i bought it as i had read in one of your previous posts that they can tear their fins on rough decor but i'll re-check this too.
How long should i do the water changes for before i treat?
Regards the heater, yes, i suppose its possible he could have burned himself on the heater although i've never seen him lie on it.
Can the minnows catch fin rot??
FC
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It depends on the cause. If it's physical damage that's causing it, the minnows shouldn't catch it. If it' stress caused by the minnows swimming to fast in front of him or even nipping his fins, they minnows will be OK. The danger time is if the betta's finrot is caused by poor water conditions as the minnows would be in the same water. I don't suspect you of poor water conditions, I just mentioned it for completion ;)
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Bless you!!!! You have every right to suspect me of bad water conditions bearing in mind my start into the world of fish keeping but i hope i've learnt something since then!!!!!! :D
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That's what I thought - you've been here long enough now to know about clean water ;D
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Hi,
I have cleaned my big tank out this morning because sadly, George, my longest term platy died over night. He looked unhappy yesterday and spent the whole day under a bridge at the bottom, so i wasn't surprised to find him this morning but still, he was a lovely lad and very chatty when he felt like it. :'(
Stanley is still fin clamping but happy in himself and I did make a startling discovery whilst eating my lunch. Those cheeky minnows have been creeping up on him and nipping his fins!!!!!!!
I was so shocked by their behaviour that i was netted them straight out and into a jug for acclimatisation for the big tank. That'll teach 'em!!!!
I'm hoping that Stanley's fins now start to grow back and that that was the cause of the ragged edges and him clamping them and that we have not got as far as developing fin rot. I've got some Esha 2000 on the way in case!!!!
FC
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I'm glad you've found the cause. Even fish that don't have a nippy reputation often just can't help themselves when faced with a betta's long flowing fins.
Try just daily water changes to start with, that should help him heal. Just taking some water out with a jug is fine so long as you do a bottom clean at least once a week.
Use the med if it starts to get worse or if a week or so of daily water changes don't help.
I've just noticed that your first pic is upside down. Don't bettas look the same the right way up and upside down ;D
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Lol!!! I had noticed the picture but couldnt be bothered to change it!!!!!! :P
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Well Stanley seems to have made a slight improvement.
He hasn't hidden at all day and has been investigating his tank with alot more fervour than usual. I think he likes having his own tank!!!!!!
He is also lifting his dorsal fin slightly, which he wasn't before. I am still observing him though as he has some small greyish patches on his pectoral fins as well as the danage to the dorsal fin and his tail.
FC
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Hi!!
Primarily a message for Sue but if anyone else can help then please do!!
Can you take a look at these photos of my Bettas tail/body and tell me if you think this could be finrot or something else nasty??
I have treated him for two days (that sounds like poor english!?) with esha 2000 as i noticed the end of his tail was all clumped up and looked like it had a white globule on the end. this has now gone and his tail has opened up. It is however about half the length it was when i got him and still shows signs of being nipped, even though he is on his own.
He has two velvety looking patches on tail which you can see in the pics and is the iridescent yellow colour on his body a result of the flash on the camera, due to the treatment colouring the water or something horrid?? He is usually pale blue/almost white where the yellow shows.
Also, where is the best place to get almond leaves on line. should i get the leaves or a liquid extract such as Easy Life Capatta x or Nutrafin Betta plus( which is a dechlorinator with capatta extract)???
Confused?? ???
FC76
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The edges of the fin look clean. I would continue the eSHa 2000 for a few days then more water changes than usual. That should stop any further rot and allow the tail to regrow. Unless he turns out to be a fin biter in which case it could disappear again as he bites it off himself.
The only thing that occurs to me about the yellow is that it could be an infection called velvet. The med you are using says it's for protozoan infections, and velvet is a protozoan infection so the med should get rid of it.
Or it could be the effect of the medication since it's brown.
I usually get my almond leaves from ebay. In my 26-ish litre tank I use half a small leaf at a time. The leaves do eventually disintegrate, especially with a snail in the tank eating it >:( , I replace the half leaf around once a month.
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I have decided to ( somewhat vainly perhaps!!) give Stanley his own thread so every time i have a question about him i can use it, instead of this one as i am not always asking about injured fins!!!!!
FC76
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I do hope Stanley's fins improve soon Fishcake.
Now that Stanley has his very own thread (and why not for such a handsome fellow?), I hope you don't mind my using this one to ask a further question about almond leaves.
When I was preparing Barquentine's tank, I originally put in some planted bogwood, but this caused the already soft-water PH to plummet overnight from 7.2 to around 6.4. I hastily removed the offending wood and did a large water change and the PH rose back up to 7.2 again.
I would like to be able to use almond leaves (and the breeder did recommend them) but I'm concerned that they might drop my PH as well.
What do you think? Would they be safe to use in my water?
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I have just checked the pH in my betta's tank and my big tank.
26 litres. Small piece of very old bogwood which should have stopped leaching tannins ages ago. Half a small IAL.
The pH is the same as the 180 litre tank at 7.6, which is the same as my tapwater that has stood for 24 hours. My KH is 3 German deg ie low.
I would try some IAL, you can always take it out if it causes problems. I use half a small leaf until it starts to look ragged (snail eats it) then put another new half in. The seller on eBay described them as nano sized leaves, they are 9cm long. They do come in several sizes but I decided to get very small ones as it's a small tank.
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Thanks Sue, I'll do that the. :)
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Hey diz,
I use almond leaves too. Stanley actually lies underneath them!!! Its quite funny as he has dug himself little hollows under them in the gravel!!!
I have got large leaves and i've broken about a third of one and then broken that in to three smaller bits and positioned them around his tank.
I found this (http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-use-Indian-Almond-Catappa-Leaves-/10000000004008374/g.html) thread which is quite useful.
FC76
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Great, thanks Fishcake. Does Stanley try to eat the leaves at all? Would they be dangerous if he did?
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I have never seen him eating them and i don't think they would hurt him if he did. To be honest they are quite hard, even after they have been in the tank for a bit so it is unlikely he could get any in his mouth. The snails like them and my otto in the other tank also likes them, so i reckon they are quite harmless.
If you think about it they are a natural part if their habitat.
FC76
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I guess so. Anyway, just ordered some off ebay, so will try them out when they arrive. I do have a nerite snail in with Barquentine at the moment, so he'll enjoy them as well. :)