My betta’s fins are slowly thinning...

Hello! My poor betta fish seems to be having thinning fins. I’ve noticed a gradual thinning in his pectoral fins, but recently they seem to be getting worse. His dorsal and caudal fin seem to be thinning now, too.

Here are some photos I took during his tank cleaning yesterday. You can see how the pectoral and dorsal fins are becoming more translucent. The thinning of the pectoral fin is more subtle.




Here’s a picture I took a couple months ago to give an idea of the tank set up.


I’ll list all the info I can think of that might give a clue as to why this is happening. Here are the results from a test I ran this morning:
pH: 7.8
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Tank size: 3.5 gal
Cleaning routine: quarter water change every week to every other week
Water source: tap water that’s been aerated for a week or more
Temperature: ranges from 72 to 76 degrees farenheit
Tankmates: two nerite snails that were added just over a week ago
Decor: two live anubias plants attached to driftwood
Filter: Topfin element filter
Heater: Cobalt Aquatics submersible aquarium heater (5W)
Food: Aqueon betta food
Time since I got my fish: almost a year!

If anyone has any questions, please ask. I appreciate all the advice I can get!

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do you use a dechlorinator (something to break down chlorine/ chloramine) at all, or do you only let the tap water aerate for a week?

If you live in the US or UK there is a possability you have chloramine in the tap water and this needs a dechlorinator to get rid of it. If you live in Australia you probably have chlorine but might have chloramine, depending on where you live.

If you contact your water supply company, (via website or telephone), they should be able to tell you if they use chlorine or chloramine. Chlorine will come out of tap water with aeration but chloramine doesn't.

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The fish has clamped fins that can be caused by poor water quality, bacteria or protozoan infections.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least a week. Then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate at least once a week after that. If there is no improvement after 1 week of daily water changes, post another picture and we can look into it more.

The following link has some info on what to do if your fish gets sick. It's pretty long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/#post-3804819

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You can try offering the fish a few different types of food. If you have roses in the garden you can collect aphids from them and feed the aphids to the fish. Small flies, moths and mosquitoes and mozzie larvae can be fed to him.
*NB* Make sure any insects you use are free of chemicals and have not been sprayed with anything.

You can buy frozen fish food (daphnia, brineshrimp, bloodworms, marine mix) at most pet shops. You keep them in the freezer and break a small amount off each day, defrost it and offer the fish a little bit of food. let him eat it and offer a little bit more. With the bloodworms and marine mix you can cut it up with a pr of scissors so it is small enough for him to eat.

If you can't get frozen food from a pet shop you can feed raw or cooked fish or prawn. Remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body) from the prawn and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bits and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat what he can and then remove uneaten food and throw the remaining prawn away. Wash hands and scissors with soapy water and feed him something else tomorrow.

Thank you so much for taking the time to type all that out. Somehow, I hadn’t heard of clamped fins before...I started reading about it and now I’m really stressed for my fish...I’m hoping it’s not too severe because he’s not displaying all the symptoms, like sitting vertically. Do you think the lower temperature might be contributing to it? I guess we’ll rule the water quality out first. I will go to the store today and buy some Prime water conditioner (that is what my friend says they use). Then I will start the daily water changes and gravel vac and keep this updated.

I just noticed there is a new hole in his tail now, too...It’s hard to photograph because he hardly stops moving, but I’ll take that as a good sign at least. I’m so worried for my fish baby. Is there really nothing more I can do? Do you think it would be helpful to start a thread in the emergency section? Thank you again

The temperature is at the bottom end of the fish's range but if it has been there for a while and the fish is swimming about and eating then that is not an issue.

The hole in the tail is probably caused by bacteria. Do the water changes for a few days and see if it gets worse. If it does then you will need to treat him with something. But try the water changes first.

There is no point starting another thread in the emergency section because I will answer it there and we will go through this all over again. Just continue using this thread because the information is already here.

Some will disagree with me but you can add a little aquarium salt too. I have found that it aids in healing. I agree with the daily water changes too. With tank being small, I’dgo with 1/2 tsp of aquarium salt. Not table salt! Be sure to stir the salt in a small cup of tank water first to dissolve it before adding to tank. You want to dissolve it so it doesn’t sting the fish. Very safe, natural remedy.