Beta with sudden fin damage

[kuter]

Dennis the beta was in a large fancy brandy sniffer and seemed to be doing ok but I then decided to move him to a 2 gal tank with heater, filter, and air stone. I realize that betas don't need an air stone but he seemed to have a good time playing in the bubbles. I also had put a piece of pottery in the tank to provide him with a hiding place. All was well for 2 days.
This morning I got up and it looked like his fins had been run through a shredder! I was watching him last night and didnt see this damage. I turn the air stone off at feeding time and leave it off through the night.
I have put him back into the brandy sniffer with a recommended dose of Anti-fungus by Aquarium Products, ( Malachite Green, Acriflavine Hydrochloride) His color which had paled is looking more normal and he is reasonalbly active. I am withholding food for 24 hours.

Should I treat Dennis with an antibactirial after the 48 hour treatment of Anti-Fungus?

Now the offending tank. I removed all filter material but left the filter running. I doubled dosed that tank with the Anti-fungus and Anti-bacterial. This tank is now fishless. At the end of 48 hours I will take down the tank, wash all gravel, the tank, etc with about 1/8tsp cholorine/gal of water solution. I will then rinse rinse rinse rinse! I have a personal well and there is no chlorine in it. I will then fill the tank and put in a double dose of Stress-Coat and let the tank run with a new filter cartridge for a couple of days. I do not think I will put the airstone back in the tank as the filter is a TOP FIN 10 and rated for a 10 gal tank. I will add Cycle to the tank as I have not found a source for Bio-Spira in my area. Nor will I put the pottery peice back in the tank as it has a couple of rough edges on it. I really don't think this is the culprit but no reason to take a chance here. I will find Dennis a new house later.

I am very frustrated here as I thought I was doing the best thing for this lil feller.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions from someone.

Kuter & Krew

 

[dixaisy930]

Usually if it's some sort of fin rot or fungus, you'll see some white fuzzy stuff, or hair-like looking stuff at the edge of his fins.

If there's no signs of that sort of stuff, I might suspect the pottery. The ruff edges could have very well have done that kind of damage over night. Betta's fins are pretty delicate.

 

[kuter]

Thank you dxaisy. This happened so quickly and none of the normal signs of fungus that I am going to blame the piece of pottery, but I will still take precautions and clean the tank very well. At this time my tropical tank seems to actually be cycling and all the fish (2 mollies, 2 platies,& 1 swordtail) all appear to be healthy. If I still see no sick or ailing fish there when I set the beta tank back up, I will use some of the water from that tank to restart the beta tank.
Now in the tropical tank, I used a piece of pvc pipe, glued rocks from that tank to it with silicone rubber and am using that as a cave. It looked pretty much like a lump of $h*t to begin with but when I put it in the tank it blended in pretty well. Tank decor at the lfs can be pricey and I have read reports from a couple of readers whose fish got trapped in them. The PVC is the same diameter all the way though and has nice smooth surface.
I really am upset that I caused harm to poor lil Dennis. What are the chances of his fins growing back? He does seem to swim ok. He doesnt seem to have problems navigating. If he remains ragtag I will still love him... Heck I look a lil ragtag myself..

 

[dixaisy930]

You have a pretty good chance that his fins will grow back as long as the tank stays clean. A good way to give the regrowth a little kick-start is adding Stress Coat. It did wonders for one of my boys that had severe fin rot when I got him. I think a terra cotta pot is great though. I use it for all six of my bettas, and they love them. I got them brand new with no chips.

 

[SakuraX64]

Same thing has happened to my betta. I put him in my 5 gallon split three ways a couple of days ago. The only thing in his section is a plastic plant, but i don't think thats it. He hardly swims around it and I don't see any of those sighns of tail rot. What should I do.

 

[Inchworm]

... I am withholding food for 24 hours.

Should I treat Dennis with an antibactirial after the 48 hour treatment of Anti-Fungus?

Now the offending tank. I removed all filter material but left the filter running. I doubled dosed that tank with the Anti-fungus and Anti-bacterial. This tank is now fishless. At the end of 48 hours I will take down the tank, wash all gravel, the tank, etc with about 1/8tsp cholorine/gal of water solution. I will then rinse rinse rinse rinse! I have a personal well and there is no chlorine in it. I will then fill the tank and put in a double dose of Stress-Coat .....

kuter............get a grip..............please.

Your fish has ripped fins, but you didn't see any sign of fungus or infection, right?

Then why starve him? Why double dose the tank with medicine and destroy the beneficial bacteria in it? That took time and effort to cultivate and if you clean it with chlorine you will have a difficult time removing it and if any residue remains it will make it hard to re-establish that bacteria. (In most cases, cleaning with uniodized table salt is adequate.)

Fins will heal and a little stress coat won't hurt, but don't get carried away and medicate if you're not sure it's necessary. You could be doing more harm than good.

I know that you only want the best for you fish, but please try to stay calm. He needs you to be strong.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I agree with Inchworm,don't hold off his food,bettas love to eat and missing a meal might stress him out. And med's ,don't worry about torn fins and use so many med's,good clean cycled water will do him a world of good, if your other tank HAS finished cycling throw a handful of gravel (and the water you mentioned) from that tank in with the betta,then give him partial water changes just as you would a bigger tank & don't worry...his fins will grow back