Betta's tail quickly frayed? Strange tearing and hole under a week.

This all started when I did a partial water change on Monday night. He seemed completely fine except that he got a scratch on both sides of his face, which I have no idea where it came from. I must've been out of the room when it happened, but either way I took pre-caution and removed a plant (which I think) was the culprit. ((He also is blind in one eye)). The next morning, Tuesday, his tail was ripped in one area in a strange way. He's a dumbo halfmoon, but that one area looked as if he were a Crowntail. I decided to let him stay in a quarantine tank for a night with a bit of aquarium salt for the scratches on his face and the possibility of fin rot. I honestly have never seen this before in a betta. I was asleep for 6 hours and his tail was ripped. It's Friday now, he returned to his regular tank on Wednesday and I moved stuff around, and his tail seems worse. He's been acting strange too. Usually he's super friendly, but now he is crazy skittish and flares a lot. I don't know what could be stressing him. The water is fine. I've been doing regular partial water changes. Is this an infection? Stress? Fin rot? Please help. I'm worried.

Can you answer the following questions

• is the tank cycled - how did you cycle it?
• does the tank have a filter?
• does it have a heater - what temp is it set to?
• how much water do you change and how often?
• what water conditioner do you use?
• apart from the fish what else is in the tank - fake plants, live plants etc?
• apart from the new fish have you added anything else recently?
• What do you feed him?
• How much and how often do you feed him?

NickAu said:

Can you answer the following questions

• is the tank cycled - how did you cycle it?
• does the tank have a filter?
• does it have a heater - what temp is it set to?
• how much water do you change and how often?
• what water conditioner do you use?
• apart from the fish what else is in the tank - fake plants, live plants etc?
• apart from the new fish have you added anything else recently?
• What do you feed him?
• How much and how often do you feed him?

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I’ve had him for 3 months and I let the tank cycle by using some de-chlorinator/ tank starter and let it sit for a week and a half. ((It was awhile ago, I think the brand was by Tetra Smart or somethin?)) He has been completely fine in the water until this week. The tank does have a filter. The tank does not have a heater, but my room is super warm and around 72 F. (( the water is room temp)). For water conditioner, I used API Stress Coat and I do a 25% water change 1-2 times a week. There is a moss ball and a small cave hideaway for him in his tank, plus there is a betta leaf hammock. He is the only fish. I feed him National Geographic Betta pellets. ((two pellets in the morning and at night.))

Some more questions, I'm afraid -

Did you monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels after you got the betta? And do a water change if either of them were above zero?
What are the ammonia and nitrite levels now?


You really do need a heater as 72 deg F (22 deg C) is too cold for a betta. They need a temperature of 76 to 82.

I would buy a heater; do larger water changes until his tail heals; and buy some live plants. He would appreciate floating plants, and if you don't want to root plants in the substrate you can grow anubias (various species), java fern and bolbitis attached to decor. The plants will help water quality and make the betta happier.

I agree with upping the temperature, bettas require warmer water than most standard tropicals, also the patches on his face are normal betta colouration from what I can see especially if they are symetrical on both sides you may have just noticed this, he doesn't look too bad in the pics.

betta fish said:

I agree with upping the temperature, bettas require warmer water than most standard tropicals, also the patches on his face are normal betta colouration from what I can see especially if they are symetrical on both sides you may have just noticed this, he doesn't look too bad in the pics.

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He never had those patches/scratches until that day and they went away as soon as they came. If those were patches, then woah they came quick. lol. But Yes, I will invest in a heater for him.

essjay said:

Some more questions, I'm afraid -

Did you monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels after you got the betta? And do a water change if either of them were above zero?
What are the ammonia and nitrite levels now?


You really do need a heater as 72 deg F (22 deg C) is too cold for a betta. They need a temperature of 76 to 82.

I would buy a heater; do larger water changes until his tail heals; and buy some live plants. He would appreciate floating plants, and if you don't want to root plants in the substrate you can grow anubias (various species), java fern and bolbitis attached to decor. The plants will help water quality and make the betta happier.

Click to expand...

I will deffinetely buy him some plants, a reliable heater, and do some larger water changes. I’ll do a check of the water levels later today once I go to the petstore to grab what I need. The water levels were fine in the beggining and I’ve been doing a lot to keep it steady, so I’m not sure if they would be unnormal. But, I will check. Thank you so much for the advice!!

The levels should be OK after 3 months. But there may have been ammonia and/or nitrite in the water during those three months which have lasting effects on the fish. I see that you used Tetra Safe Start, one of the better bacteria products, but even this doesn't work if it has ever been stored incorrectly at any point between the factory and your tank.
Testing the water followed by a water change are always the best things to do if you notice anything odd with a fish.

essjay said:

The levels should be OK after 3 months. But there may have been ammonia and/or nitrite in the water during those three months which have lasting effects on the fish. I see that you used Tetra Safe Start, one of the better bacteria products, but even this doesn't work if it has ever been stored incorrectly at any point between the factory and your tank.
Testing the water followed by a water change are always the best things to do if you notice anything odd with a fish.

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I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you for tellin’ me. I’m still new to the hobby and have much to learn. I’ll grab a kit when I go to the pet store and test my other tanks as well.

BettaEm19 said:

He never had those patches/scratches until that day and they went away as soon as they came. If those were patches, then woah they came quick. lol. But Yes, I will invest in a heater for him.

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Bettas can and do change their colours depending on their mood, those facial flashes are normal and can come and go, here is a betta displaying them glad to hear you will be investing in a heater for him he'll be much happier with warmer water

betta fish said:

Bettas can and do change their colours depending on their mood, those facial flashes are normal and can come and go, here is a betta displaying them View attachment 86007 glad to hear you will be investing in a heater for him he'll be much happier with warmer water

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So handsome!!! Just bought a heater at the pet store and a few other things to help him out. Thank you so much for your help!!

UPDATE: I have purchased a heater, thermometer, a plant, and some API BettaFix. I also got the water tested and everything is fine except the Nitrite level which was at a 0.5.

API BettaFix.

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If you have not used it return it, Betta fix is rubbish in my opinion the only thing it fixes is API's bank balance

NickAu said:

If you have not used it return it, Betta fix is rubbish in my opinion the only thing it fixes is API's bank balance

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darn, I already opened it. I'll make sure not to invest in it again if it doesn't do it's job.

UPDATE: My Betta had calmed down a bit and his tail doesn't seem to be getting worse by what I can see. He has been hanging out near the heater and in his cave. Unfortunately, he's still super skittish of me (unusual for him). Considering this is the day after I got all the new stuff for the tank, I'm glad to see that he has improved a bit.