Betta Is Shredding His Own Tail

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

My Betta seems to enjoy shredding his tail fin.

The first week I got him, he shredded his tail fin the first night in the tank. I just tacked this down to the stress of moving from a tiny cup to a 5 gallon heated/filtered tank. My water stats are fine, and I'm certain that it isn't fin rot. I've been treating the tank with 1/2 doses of melafix daily to try to help heal that original shredding. The fin had finally been looking back to normal, and then I saw that he'd shredded it all again last night.

The water stats are good. Tested on October 12th. Can't find the post-its I used to write the stats on, but I know that nitrites was undetectable and nitrates was 20pm, my pH is always about neutral and I know I have fairly hard water (which I can't really do much about).

He gets weekly 15% water changes.

Heated with an Elite heater to 78-80 degrees (depending on the time of day.. temperature in my room fluctuates a lot due to a broken thermostat in a university residence, but the tank stays fairly uniform in temperature). Filtered with an Elite Stingray 5 filter. His tank lights are on from about 9:30-10:30am to 10:30-11:00pm (is this too long?).

The Betta is the only inhabitant in the tank.

Is there anything I can do to prevent this behaviour? What is causing it?

Rezatii · Oct 16, 2009

How big is the tank? Can you test the water and give us exact stats?

Generally if a betta is shredding his own tail it means that he is bored or stressed. If it isn't already, try giving him more plants, perhaps cave/s and popping a ping-pong ball to float on the water, the plants and caves will make him feel more secure, the ping pong ball is for if he gets bored

-Rezz

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

Rezatii said:
How big is the tank? Can you test the water and give us exact stats?

Generally if a betta is shredding his own tail it means that he is bored or stressed. If it isn't already, try giving him more plants, perhaps cave/s and popping a ping-pong ball to float on the water, the plants and caves will make him feel more secure, the ping pong ball is for if he gets bored

-Rezz

Tank is a 5 gallon tank. Heated and filtered, as put in my original post.

pH is neutral
nitrites is undetectable
nitrates is 20ppm

That's all I can test for.

He's got three long-leafed high-quality plastic plants, and a cave already.

Rezatii · Oct 16, 2009

oops, sorry missed about the size of the tank in origional post ^^;;

Something that really jumped out at me was plastic plants these are notorious for shredding bettas fins! You might wanna try running a thing pair of tights all along plastic plants, if the tights snag, then your bettas fins DEFINITLY will, most of us here recomend live plants or silk, generally advise against plastic, sorry!

-Rezz

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

I've watched Alpha shred his own fins.
I know he's doing it, and not the plants, becasue I had another Betta in this tank a month before i got Alpha, and he didn't tear his fins on the plants at all and because I've witnessed it.

I've done the tights-test on my plants.

I'm new to betta-keeping, not fish keeping.

NOTE:
I can only test for those 3 things because I'm at university, and I left my test kit and my two main tanks back at home. A test kit retails for $50.00 here. Which is way more than my unemployed university budget can handle. And I know my water stats are fine.

Rezatii · Oct 16, 2009

Testing is fine, your water changes seem fine to me seeing as it's filtered.

And as you previously hadn't stated that you'd actually witnessed it, I just wanted to check that it wasn't anything like the decor.

As he seems to have plenty of hidey spots and he's definitly doing it to himself, as yuo clearly stated, I'd suggest he's bored, try the ping-pong ball thing, never had to use it myself but I know that it works for some people here, also, if you don't already, try doing mirror excersizes to see if he lets out and pent up aggresion.

Rezatii.

jasminekiddell · Oct 16, 2009

Rezz is right hes obviosuly bored, you need to occupy him. You can try the ping pong ball idea but thats never worked out for me, hold up a mirror againt your bettas tank for 10 mintues a day to elt him excerise his fins and body. But, if you filled his tank with more plants and alot more to do im sure he'd love you for it, or maybe buy him an airstone see if he likes to play in the bubbles, its all about exploring your bettas personality.

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

I'm headed to the pet store this week. I'll see what they've got. Maybe add a few more plants and see if I can find something that will float (the tank lid is too close fitting to allow a ping pong ball to sit on the surface of the water.)

I do the mirror thing a few times each day (I do it once, and then anyone who visits my room tends to grab the mirror and do it once or twice throughout the day). In total, I'd say he gets an average of 15 to 20 minutes of "mirror time" a day.

jasminekiddell · Oct 16, 2009

Sorry if you;ve already said this in a previous post but is the tank lighted? Can you get a picture of the tank please? Flaoting plants work brilliantly! I have alot of floating plants in my tank and my fish love resting on them! Look around on pictures in the betta photos and have a peek at some good tanks, may give you inspriation!

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

The tank is lit. yes.
I've attached a pic of the tank.

jasminekiddell · Oct 16, 2009

Wow impressive tank!

Well how about changing those plastic plants to live ones? You can get some low light plants and then if your lighting isnt strong enough then they'll survive anyway. Heres a list of some low light plants you can look out for or ask about at the pet store,
Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana)
Java Moss is a great plant for low to medium levels of lighting. Java moss can be attached to rock, wood, or even a coconut shell. To attach this plant as well as Java Fern or Bolbitis (below) just secure it onto the wood with either fishing line or thread. After 2-3 weeks the plant will adhere to the wood and the thread can be removed or you can let it disintegrate on its own. This plant can also be shoved in any type of crevice or between 2 rocks and work its own magic from there.

Java Ferns (Microsorum pteropus) and Bolbitis Ferns (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Both of these plants have rhizomes (thick, rounded, horizontal stems) that do not like to be planted into the gravel, they prefer to be attached to rock or driftwood. To get new plants, cut a healthy larger rhizome at a 45 degree angle with a sharp straight edge razor blade. Increasing the level of light to 0.8 W/L (3 WPG) can be done with Bolbitis and cause a much faster growth rate with no ill effects.

Anubias (Anubias spp.)
There are many varieties of anubias, some great for foreground planting and some for mid to back. This is another rhizome type of plant that is usually more expensive than other plants. With sufficient nutrients these plants can flower inside your tank! With too much lighting these plants will get algae on them that can usually be scraped away from the hardy leaves. These plants are almost impossible to kill.

Duckweed, Wolfia, Frogbit (Lemna spp.)
I am not going to go too in-depth on these plants besides to say they are very easy to grow and very hard to get rid of if you decide you do not want them. These plants can clog your filters and block all of the light for your other plants because they are floating plants that are very tiny. The few positive aspects of these are they can suck up excess nutrients, block light and make a great habitat for some fish. Buyer beware on this one though. A better bet would be Salvinia aka Giant Duckweed described next.

You may think whats the point between fake and real plants, but live ones keep the water in better quality and give your fish something to play with thats alive lol!
I think a brilliant floating plant is elodea, if you can get some of that then just take it out of the bunch and spread it over the surface

But the tank looks well set up, some find it easier to use sand as a substrate as its more easy to clean and looks better but that your choice.

Channti · Oct 16, 2009

jasminekiddell said:
Wow impressive tank! Well how about changing those plastic plants to live ones? You can get some low light plants and then if your lighting isnt strong enough then they'll survive anyway. Heres a list of some low light plants you can look out for or ask about at the pet store,
Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana)
Java Moss is a great plant for low to medium levels of lighting. Java moss can be attached to rock, wood, or even a coconut shell. To attach this plant as well as Java Fern or Bolbitis (below) just secure it onto the wood with either fishing line or thread. After 2-3 weeks the plant will adhere to the wood and the thread can be removed or you can let it disintegrate on its own. This plant can also be shoved in any type of crevice or between 2 rocks and work its own magic from there.

Java Ferns (Microsorum pteropus) and Bolbitis Ferns (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Both of these plants have rhizomes (thick, rounded, horizontal stems) that do not like to be planted into the gravel, they prefer to be attached to rock or driftwood. To get new plants, cut a healthy larger rhizome at a 45 degree angle with a sharp straight edge razor blade. Increasing the level of light to 0.8 W/L (3 WPG) can be done with Bolbitis and cause a much faster growth rate with no ill effects.

Anubias (Anubias spp.)
There are many varieties of anubias, some great for foreground planting and some for mid to back. This is another rhizome type of plant that is usually more expensive than other plants. With sufficient nutrients these plants can flower inside your tank! With too much lighting these plants will get algae on them that can usually be scraped away from the hardy leaves. These plants are almost impossible to kill.

Duckweed, Wolfia, Frogbit (Lemna spp.)
I am not going to go too in-depth on these plants besides to say they are very easy to grow and very hard to get rid of if you decide you do not want them. These plants can clog your filters and block all of the light for your other plants because they are floating plants that are very tiny. The few positive aspects of these are they can suck up excess nutrients, block light and make a great habitat for some fish. Buyer beware on this one though. A better bet would be Salvinia aka Giant Duckweed described next.

You may think whats the point between fake and real plants, but live ones keep the water in better quality and give your fish something to play with thats alive lol!
I think a brilliant floating plant is elodea, if you can get some of that then just take it out of the bunch and spread it over the surface But the tank looks well set up, some find it easier to use sand as a substrate as its more easy to clean and looks better but that your choice.

I stuck with fake plants becasue there isn't a pet store close by that stocks live plants. I prefer the gravel over the sand as i find sand ends up EVERYWHERE except the bottom of the tank. I'm in university; so my budget is limited. The plants that are in there right now are leftovers from the last time I redid one of my communities at home. Plastic plants are also much more forgiving of "brown-thumbed" people

.

loraxchick · Oct 16, 2009

more plants would be good if you could swing that.i know how it is to be broke in college

been there. done that. anacharis(elodea) would be the best bet as it is fail=ry cheap, grows like crazy, and when it gets to the water leverl, you just clip off the top and replant it and it continues to grow fast! youd have a nice forest in there in a few months.
but one thing that i will say to every betta woner who bites his tail...put a mirror up on his tank permanently! not for "exercise" for 10 mins a day. hang/prop it up nest to the tank and let him flare away at himself. people think it stresses their fish out to flare all the time, but they only will continue as long as they want. your tank is large and he could go away for a rest if he sees fit. and flaring at his reflection might draw some attention away from himself and give him something constructive to do. has worked WONDERS for me. so give that a try...mirrors are chap and maybe someone you know has an extra little hand/pocket mirrorr that you could prop next to him. the whole ping pong thing (i dont KNOW when that davice was started with bettas...is more of a larger fish like oscar remedy), but none of my fish have taken interst in them ever. put a mirror up for a few weeks and see if that helps with his shredding himself. and again, some more plants (fast growing stem plants if you are on a budget...they grow like crazy and will fill in the tank in a few months) would be perfect.
cheers

jasminekiddell · Oct 17, 2009

loraxchick said:
more plants would be good if you could swing that.i know how it is to be broke in college been there. done that. anacharis(elodea) would be the best bet as it is fail=ry cheap, grows like crazy, and when it gets to the water leverl, you just clip off the top and replant it and it continues to grow fast! youd have a nice forest in there in a few months.
but one thing that i will say to every betta woner who bites his tail...put a mirror up on his tank permanently! not for "exercise" for 10 mins a day. hang/prop it up nest to the tank and let him flare away at himself. people think it stresses their fish out to flare all the time, but they only will continue as long as they want. your tank is large and he could go away for a rest if he sees fit. and flaring at his reflection might draw some attention away from himself and give him something constructive to do. has worked WONDERS for me. so give that a try...mirrors are chap and maybe someone you know has an extra little hand/pocket mirrorr that you could prop next to him. the whole ping pong thing (i dont KNOW when that davice was started with bettas...is more of a larger fish like oscar remedy), but none of my fish have taken interst in them ever. put a mirror up for a few weeks and see if that helps with his shredding himself. and again, some more plants (fast growing stem plants if you are on a budget...they grow like crazy and will fill in the tank in a few months) would be perfect.
cheers

Brilliant advice them for loraxchick, if you cant get live plants from your lfs them could you order some offline and het them delivered to your college? Elodea is brilliant, but i only have success with it when its floating lol, now my tanks like a jungle! Yep, get a mirror and leave it there permanently as sad above! How is he?

ellena · Oct 17, 2009

You need to get a kit to test ammonia. Prob. won't cause the shredding, but won't do him any good. If it's a newish filter, there won't be any nitrites to speak of, nitrates aren't harmful until they get very high so it's ammonia you need to be worrying about.

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