New halfmoom dumbo betas fin problem. Don’t know what it is.

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 5 gallon
Does it have a filter? Yes tetra whisper
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank?78-80
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? 2 black racer nitrite snails

Food:
What food brand do you use? Betta bio gold
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets
Freeze-dried? No
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? Twice a day 3 pellets per feeding

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? One gallon per week.
What percentage of water did you change? 20%
What is the source of your water? Tap
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vaccum substrate
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? Stress coat plus conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.4
Hardness (GH): 75
Alkalinity (KH):not sure

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Since recieving him in the mail
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Tears or gaps in back fin
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? He’s great. Swims crazy every now and then
Is your Betta still eating? He loves to eat.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? I have not.
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? Nope
How long have you owned your Betta? 3 weeks
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? I believe so before and after pictures


Hello everyone. This is Lil Betta he is supposed to be a half moon dumbo beta. I got him in the mail from California to Georgia on April 16th exactly 3 weeks ago. His left side dumbo fin was torn in shipping as well as a few pieces off his back fin. I have kept the water clean and half an Indian almond leaf in there with him. He seems to be doing okay but more tears keep showing up on his back fin. All the plants are real. The decor O run my fingers over and make sure isn’t abrasive. Just wanted opinions on what everyone thinks. Fin rot? Fin biting? Maybe just healing from shipping? Any advice would help and be appreciated. He swims around fine and I have his filter on half flow! He eats like crazy and doesn’t appear to have clamped fins. The splits just seem to get more and more as days go by.

This is him when I first got him



This is him and his tank now

Those actually don’t look like tears... he may have a recessive Crowntail gene.

I agree it just looks like his tail shape! REALLY gorgeous betta! In case there are tears I don't see, sometimes bettas will nip their own fins when they are stressed, and being shipped in the mail can be stressful. If there are tears, to prevent disease or anything I would just keep up on water quality!

That isn't crowntail genetics, they are receding rips. Daily waterchanges of 75%, with substrate vacuuming should do the job. If after a week, it has become worse, then report back. I would also recommend that you do not use stress coat as it contains aloe vera which is harmful to the bettas labyrinth organ. You'll see improvement when the gaps between the fins start growing in transparent like what you see in the first picture. This is new fin growth. In the last picture you can see the new growth has receeded. Incase he's nipping (long finned bettas do this usually as their fins are too heavy and they struggle to reach the surface) add broad leafed plants or "betta hammocks" around the tank near the surface so that the fish can have places to rest

Beautiful betta! I would like to know how you manage 0 nitrates in your tank??

EllRog said:

That isn't crowntail genetics, they are receding rips. Daily waterchanges of 75%, with substrate vacuuming should do the job. If after a week, it has become worse, then report back. I would also recommend that you do not use stress coat as it contains aloe vera which is harmful to the bettas labyrinth organ. You'll see improvement when the gaps between the fins start growing in transparent like what you see in the first picture. This is new fin growth. In the last picture you can see the new growth has receeded. Incase he's nipping (long finned bettas do this usually as their fins are too heavy and they struggle to reach the surface) add broad leafed plants or "betta hammocks" around the tank near the surface so that the fish can have places to rest

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They really don’t look like rips to me... rips are usually a lot more straight, while these are smooth.

PheonixKingZ said:

They really don’t look like rips to me... rips are usually a lot more straight, while these are smooth.

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Have you even looked at the pictures? The fins are receding. It's fin rot.

Yes, I have. Fin rot is usually a lot more jagged than what I’m seeing here.

Fin rot looks like this:

PheonixKingZ said:

Yes, I have. Fin rot is usually a lot more jagged than what I’m seeing here.

Fin rot looks like this:
View attachment 136316

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That's how the fish will look in a matter of weeks following your advice. The OP hasn't had the fish long.

It's not a crowntail, that's early fin rot.

I'm not going to argue about it because I frankly don't care

EllRog said:

That isn't crowntail genetics, they are receding rips. Daily waterchanges of 75%, with substrate vacuuming should do the job. If after a week, it has become worse, then report back. I would also recommend that you do not use stress coat as it contains aloe vera which is harmful to the bettas labyrinth organ. You'll see improvement when the gaps between the fins start growing in transparent like what you see in the first picture. This is new fin growth. In the last picture you can see the new growth has receeded. Incase he's nipping (long finned bettas do this usually as their fins are too heavy and they struggle to reach the surface) add broad leafed plants or "betta hammocks" around the tank near the surface so that the fish can have places to rest

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The stress coat seemed well. What conditioner would you recommend? I had no idea about it hurting their organs. As far as his fins, this is what I’ve been struggling with. I’m at a loss as to what is going on. Crow tail or fin rot I watch him daily and do my best to keep everything clean and safe for his fins just incase it is fin rot. That’s my worry.

PheonixKingZ said:

Yes, I have. Fin rot is usually a lot more jagged than what I’m seeing here.

Fin rot looks like this:
View attachment 136316

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This is why I’ve been struggling to diagnose him. There is no black around his fins to indicate fin rot and i would think if he’s had it for three weeks it would be jagged. However I don’t think doing a few more water changes to keep things clean would hurt. I really appreciate the advice. The crowntail gene was one of my thoughts. I’ve personally never had a fish with fin rot. So I’m struggling to see early symptoms or what that would look like

Seachem Prime for your conditioner...water changes done properly never hurt

CaptainBarnicles said:

Beautiful betta! I would like to know how you manage 0 nitrates in your tank??

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I have a small 5 gallon with only a beta and two black racer snails. All real plants. Tank is about 1.5 months old and I do weekly water changes 20-25% every 5-7 days. I think just keeping a regular tank maintenance with little fish (also the fish has only been in there 3 weeks) is why my tank isn’t more alive. Also I only use test strips. Not the fancy water one. So the test strips turn out white or look white. Not saying if I had a master kit soem
Wouldn’t show up.

Slaphppy7 said:

Seachem Prime for your conditioner...water changes done properly never hurt

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Would you suggest every day 75% as the above or something else? Thabkyou so much on the conditioner advice. Everyone is so helpful and friendly I appreciate it. I have been struggling with his back fins since he has arrived.

Amazingkatie123 said:

Would you suggest every day 75% as the above or something else? Thabkyou so much on the conditioner advice. Everyone is so helpful and friendly I appreciate it. I have been struggling with his back fins since he has arrived.

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More than welcome....are you using a liquid test kit?...if not, you need one, the API Freshwater Master Test Kit

If you are showing any ammonia at all, the bigger the WC, the better