A kink in his dorsal fin?

I've noticed the past couple weeks, Orion has developed a little kink at the end of his dorsal fin. His fins have quite noticeably grown longer since I first got him a few weeks ago, and about 10 days ago I noticed a slight little curve at the tip of his dorsal. It seems as that fin has had a bit more growth, it has progressed into a noticeable kink at the end. Is this a sign of something wrong? He seems completely healthy in every way, is extremely active and his fins show no other signs of anything wrong. He bubblenests daily, flares at everything, including his food before he eats it. Here is a pic of it (sorry it's a bit blurry, he doesn't stop moving long enough for the camera to get a good focus on him very often!)



I just worry about it being something progressive. Can anyone clue me in what's causing this?


Oh, and for a shameless cute picture plug, here he is flaring my finger. The lighting makes my finger look really fat, but I actually have very skinny fingers

Looks like a dorsal defect of genetic cause. Attached are 2 examples of dorsal defects.

Two of my three bettas have that. I don't know what it is, either, but they all are happy and healthy, so I really haven't worried about it.

Thanks you two! I'm glad to know it's nothing to worry about. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't the start of something that would be progressive or need treatment. His fins have gotten so much longer since I got him, they are just beautiful! (Though I am biased )

Hi.
Pretty much all my boys have developed at one time or another, for some reason.
It's fin curling - and I've been told it's due to poor water quality. It's a very light and mild case of the start of finrot.

I have a hard time accepting the fact that it would be from poor water quality, because I take exceptionally good care of my boys. But, upon further investigation - the "poor water quality" could mean anything from super duper hard water, very high PH (which I have - 8.4+ all the time) or just dirty water.
It's nothing that will hurt them unless you start to notice signs of finrot starting. In that case, you will need to modify your water changing schedule and/or take steps to make sure that things like ph and temp stay steady at all times.

And just fyi - some of my boys have become so completely irritated with it that they've started chewing small hunks of their tails off. I've modified their living conditions (more frequent water changes, made sure that their temps don't fluctuate, etc) and it seems to be improving.

If you don't already do this, toss in a pinch of salt - that seems to help a tad bit.

Factors like genes, nutrition, maintenance (i.e. water condition), etc. do contribute to the development of the fins and rays. I also believe that some bettas are more sensitive to changes in water parameters than others. For example, crown tails that have more rays tend to have thinner and finner rays that are more prone to curling / damage than crown tails with less but thicker rays.

You are correct, DChia - genetics can be a part of it.
But, like in my case, when 5 out of 7 bettas have it it's something more than that.
I'm thinking that in my case, it might be the pH that's doing it - my tanks are always at pH of 8.4 or higher - it never really fluctuates, so I haven't worried about it.

Maybe they're getting perms?
lol

My Leo has had a curl at the end of all his fins since I brought him home. He has never been sick so I assume its just genetics. Since he is pink it just makes him look like more of a flower. I love your cute pic of him btw. Orion is such a little babe.

FishyLoveBug said:

I love your cute pic of him btw. Orion is such a little babe.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I just love him, although I'm admittedly biased . I did worry about water conditions and fin rot, especially since I'm trying to cycle his tank and have spikes going on here and there in the water parameters. I first noticed it about two weeks ago, and since then the dorsal has grown a bit more so it became a more pronounced last week I think. There are absolutely no other signs of anything else wrong with him though, so I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing in trying to get his tank cycled and not worry too much about it unless something else shows up. If it's purely a genetic defect there's nothing I can do anyway and it'll just always be that way. He's a total cutie regardless though!

He is very cute.
I have always thought he looks like a magical mystical little unicorn in a fish's body.