Fairly New Betta, Hole In Tail

Hi everyone, 

Three weeks ago I bought a male betta, who I have named Festus. He was in a heated 2.5 gallon tank (quarantine) for a week with full water changes every few days. He seemed to have a bit of fin rot going on so I treated him with some fin rot medication I had. After two treatments I could see a little bit of regrowth on some of his fins (I don't know it that was from the meds or if he was already healing up when I bought him) and nothing seemed to be getting worse. 
Anyways, he been sharing my (divided) 10 gallon tank with my female betta since Sunday. Last night when I looked in the tank I noticed he had a small hole in his tail. I don't think there is anything sharp in the tank, could this be fin rot, or something else? 

Tank info:
Size:10 Gallons (divided)
Inhabitants: 2 bettas
Sponge Filter (only on one side, waiting for new filters)
Heater (heated to 27C/81F)
Fishless Cycled last Summer
Live Plants
Last water change was last weekend. 
 
Ammonia: 0-.25ppm (my test tube is stained so I'm getting a slight greenish tint to the pale yellow. It is the same reading as my tap water so i beleive it to be zero)
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm
 



 

Could me fin melt, or maybe he got punctured.

Nice looking guy, BTW!

Maybe a nice gold earring?
 
Sorry to be flippant but I know zip about bettas.

 

LyraGuppi said:

Could me fin melt, or maybe he got punctured.

Nice looking guy, BTW!

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Thank you I hadn't planned to get a second betta but when I saw him I just had to have him! 

I have never even heard of fin melt before, if we assume that it is fin rot/fin melt should I put him back in the 2.5 gallon? Or should I just treat the whole tank since I have now inadvertently exposed Rainbow (my female) to it? Also what would you, or anyone else, suggest for a treatment, I have Jungle Fungus Clear fizz tabs which say they treat a few different things one of them including fin rot and I also have melafix but I had read this was actually bad for bettas. 
 
If this is just a torn fin how should I treat this also? 

Thanks for your help.
 

Munroco said:

Maybe a nice gold earring?
 
Sorry to be flippant but I know zip about bettas.

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That doesn't even make sense xD
 

It was a suggestion for what to do with the betta piercing

Fin melt in another form of fin rot, or it could be pinhole fin rot. (Probably that, not fin melt) Here's a article.
http/bubblesandbettas.blogspot.com/p/betta-diseases.html
A punctured fin should heal up with clean water, as should fin rot. If it persists, IAL and/or salt is AMAZING.

Munroco said:

It was a suggestion for what to do with the betta piercing

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Hahahaha, as interesting as that would look I don't know if he would like it very much. 
 

LyraGuppi said:

Fin melt in another form of fin rot, or it could be pinhole fin rot. (Probably that, not fin melt) Here's a article.
http/bubblesandbettas.blogspot.com/p/betta-diseases.html
A punctured fin should heal up with clean water, as should fin rot. If it persists, IAL and/or salt is AMAZING.

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Thanks for the info! I'll look into where to get some of the leaves. 
__________________

As of a few minutes ago I noticed that one of his scales on his side seems to be coming off I don't know what he is doing to himself. I took out the small piece of driftwood that is on his side of the tank but I didn't feel any sharp spots. 
 

Any spots on him or parasites? He could have just nicked himself.

None that I could see, he looks fine other than the hole in his tail and the scale. 

Can you get a full tank shot so we can see the setup and what all is in the tank?  That might help in determining what he might be coming across that could be doing this damage. (as one possible cause)
 
Right now I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Keep your water very clean and warm.  Stuff like scales and fins will heal with clean warm water normally.

Wildbetta said:

Can you get a full tank shot so we can see the setup and what all is in the tank?  That might help in determining what he might be coming across that could be doing this damage. (as one possible cause)
 
Right now I wouldn't worry too much about it.  Keep your water very clean and warm.  Stuff like scales and fins will heal with clean warm water normally.

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I hadn't seen this until this morning, here is a picture of the full tank. The water is a bit greenish because I added in a jungle fizz tab last night. When I had gone up to go to sleep his tail had gotten worse, I added a picture of what it looks like now, sorry it's not the best quality, I had to use my phone, I couldn't find my sister's camera. 

While I see the spot where the hole was, everything looks good.  I would not be overly concerned with that spot.  It does not look like fin rot to me at all.   I don't see anything in his side of the tank to tear it on.  However I can give you a possible explanation for the spot on his tail.  If you are using the craft mesh for the divider, there is a possibility that his tankmate is grabbing his fin through the mesh.  While this is not highly common, it does happen. 

Wildbetta said:

While I see the spot where the hole was, everything looks good.  I would not be overly concerned with that spot.  It does not look like fin rot to me at all.   I don't see anything in his side of the tank to tear it on.  However I can give you a possible explanation for the spot on his tail.  If you are using the craft mesh for the divider, there is a possibility that his tankmate is grabbing his fin through the mesh.  While this is not highly common, it does happen. 

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Since I posted the last picture there doesn't seem to be any changes, so I think you may be right about not having to worry. 

If Rainbow is somehow able to bite Festus through the mesh I'll soon be getting a more permanent divider that will keep them separated better. 

Thanks for your post