Bettas fins brown/messed up??

[erebuseclipse]

Hye. I've had this one betta for maybe half a year or so... I have him in a vase taht's probably about half a gallon. He's been seeming fine but I have neglected his water some lately and I changed it the other day and in the light his fins went from their normal pinkish to a kind of brown color in the light- they're also looking sort of wilty, not full and colorful and healthy. This has happened to a yellow fish I had before. I'm kind of worried and it looks like he's got some kind of chemical burn or something. He is otherwise rather healthy, I have good feeding habits with him and he's decently active (although he hasnt been building bubblenests). I condition his water and give it time to condition and use a little bit of aquarium salt and a little bit of coppersafe to keep his water free of bacteria and such. Oh, also, a few months ago this fish jumped in to another bettas' tank and got his fins a little ripped up. not too bad, but a bit.

Is anyone familiar with this?

 

[platypus]

It could be that your betta has ammonia burns. Do you have any tester kits with which you could check your ammonia levels? If not, perhaps take a sample of water to your lfs and get them to check it out for you.

How often do you change the water in your tank generally?

 

[erebuseclipse]

That's probably it. I usually change his 'bowl'/vase/whatever like every week or every other but sometimes I can go a while... poor fishy

If I keep his water good, will the burns go away or will his fins always be like that?