I got him about 1 week ago. Hes been in a 10 gallon Aquarium. Im thinking it could be the water quality. I feel so bad now that I see him like that. Started noticing other female bettas that I have and two of them have their back fin slightly tattered but he's the worse. What do I have to do? Are they going to stay like that?
Please answer Nick's question, are the betta living in the same tank? Betta are notoriously aggressive and males will even harass a female to death unless he's interested in mating. If they are together they need to be separated
immediately.
Please also answer Byron's questions about your tank set up and water parameters. If we can figure out what is wrong we can instruct you on how to fix it.
First off do a 50% water change in each of your betta's tanks and make sure you siphon the gravel to remove any excess organic matter. Replace the water with conditioned water,
NOT tap water without water conditioner, and that the water is as close to the temperature as the tank water as possible. Rapid fluctuations in temperature cause a great amount of stress on a fish and stress leads to illness.
Please tell us your water parameters. Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, Ph, and alkalinity. You can purchase an API freshwater master test kit and follow the instructions. Another alternative is to go to a local pet store that offers free water testing when you bring a sample of your tank water in. Make sure you get specific numbers and that you write them all down.
Please also answer the following questions.
1) How long have you had this tank set up before you placed your betta inside? Is it properly cycled?
2) What do you feed your betta, how much food do you give him, and how often?
3) How often and at what quantity do you do water changes and gravel cleaning? You should be doing at least 30% water changes twice a week or 50% water changes once a week for an established tank. By established I mean cycled, and by cycled I mean you allowed a healthy bacteria colony to grow before placing your betta in the tank. Here is a basic guide that explains the importance of cycling. While not in great detail, it offers a bit of insight, you can find more helpful links if interested.
http://aquariuminfo.org/cycling.html.
Fish naturally secrete ammonia and their waste/decomposing food causes nitrates and nitrites to build up in the water. Without an established bacteria colony to absorb these things it causes dangerous levels of ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites to build up in the water and the water parameters spike. This means that the fish is basically being poisoned to death.
4) Is your tank heated and properly filtered?
5) Are there any other tank mates we need to know about? Betta are extremely territorial and cannot always live in community tanks, and never with other betta/flashy fish/ or territorial fish. A betta will perceive any of these as a threat and will either attack and harass the fish to death or die trying in the process. Sometimes females can be kept in a sorority, but I've never attempted it, so don't ask me how. Just know that it doesn't always work and you need to be well researched before you attempt it.