My beautiful betta has a large chunk of his tail missing! Everything in his tank is quite smooth it seems to have happened overnight. The rest of his fins look normal- is this fin rot or a fin injury? I am so upset!
Help! Fin rot or fin injury?
- Thread starter Beckyx
- Start date
How long has the tank been set up for?
I assume the tank has a filter and you turned that off to photograph the fish?
Have you checked the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?
How often do you do water changes and gravel cleans and how much water do you change?
How long have you had the fish?
What else is in his tank?
It doesn't look like finrot and is most likely an injury that was caused by something catching part of the tail and ripping it. If it's just an injury it should heal by itself without any medications.
Monitor the area over the next week and let us know if it goes red, or white, or more bits come off.
I assume the tank has a filter and you turned that off to photograph the fish?
Have you checked the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?
How often do you do water changes and gravel cleans and how much water do you change?
How long have you had the fish?
What else is in his tank?
It doesn't look like finrot and is most likely an injury that was caused by something catching part of the tail and ripping it. If it's just an injury it should heal by itself without any medications.
Monitor the area over the next week and let us know if it goes red, or white, or more bits come off.
Tank set up and cycled 6 weeks
It is a biube with the filter very baffled because he hates it.
Water parameters all what they should be.
I water change 30% once a week and gravel clean at the same time.
I have had the fish for 6 weeks. His tail has never been perfectly smooth but this is more of a significant chunk missing.
In his tank he has a smooth betta cave, smooth plastic plant and smooth pebbles to cover the ceramic media which is sharp. He also has a heater.
Thank you I will monitor him
It is a biube with the filter very baffled because he hates it.
Water parameters all what they should be.
I water change 30% once a week and gravel clean at the same time.
I have had the fish for 6 weeks. His tail has never been perfectly smooth but this is more of a significant chunk missing.
In his tank he has a smooth betta cave, smooth plastic plant and smooth pebbles to cover the ceramic media which is sharp. He also has a heater.
Thank you I will monitor him
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I think he is getting worse!
I’m not sure if this is a coincidence but this all happened when I went back to work from summer break (I am a teacher in the UK) there are far less people around at home- could he be bored, stressed or lonely?
I’m not sure if this is a coincidence but this all happened when I went back to work from summer break (I am a teacher in the UK) there are far less people around at home- could he be bored, stressed or lonely?
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Yes it is getting worse. If you look at the first pictures vs the new ones, he has lost most of the top of his tail since the original pictures were taken.
There have been a number of Bettas losing their fins over the last 12 months and many reports are from the UK. I believe there is a new strain of bacteria that is doing the damage and people try various medications with no success. However, we haven't tried medication yet so I am now going to suggest using a broad spectrum fish medication on him. Try to find something with Methylene Blue, Malachite Green and Formaldehyde or Acriflavine in.
This will kill most things including the filter bacteria so monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for a few weeks after treating and if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the levels stay on 0.
You should also increase the filtration during treatment because medications can do more harm than good in tanks without good filtration and aeration. I know your fish doesn't like the filter but you need some filtration.
Try to have the filter running as much as possible without causing the fish to be blown all over the tank.
*NB* Wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water after working in the tank because Malachite Green is carcinogenic.
*NB* Keep the medication away from children and animals. I keep medications and test kits in a sealed plastic container in the fridge.
-----------------------------
To work out the volume of water in a square or rectangular tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.
Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. If the filter is an undergravel filter (plastic plate that lives underneath the gravel), that will be cleaned when you do a gravel clean.
-----------------------------
It's unlikely to be stress or boredom. You could set up a video camera and film him while you go out of the room. See if he is biting his tail. It does happen sometimes but is uncommon. If he is not chewing his own tail then look for a broad spectrum medication.
There have been a number of Bettas losing their fins over the last 12 months and many reports are from the UK. I believe there is a new strain of bacteria that is doing the damage and people try various medications with no success. However, we haven't tried medication yet so I am now going to suggest using a broad spectrum fish medication on him. Try to find something with Methylene Blue, Malachite Green and Formaldehyde or Acriflavine in.
This will kill most things including the filter bacteria so monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for a few weeks after treating and if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the levels stay on 0.
You should also increase the filtration during treatment because medications can do more harm than good in tanks without good filtration and aeration. I know your fish doesn't like the filter but you need some filtration.
Try to have the filter running as much as possible without causing the fish to be blown all over the tank.
*NB* Wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water after working in the tank because Malachite Green is carcinogenic.
*NB* Keep the medication away from children and animals. I keep medications and test kits in a sealed plastic container in the fridge.
-----------------------------
To work out the volume of water in a square or rectangular tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.
Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. If the filter is an undergravel filter (plastic plate that lives underneath the gravel), that will be cleaned when you do a gravel clean.
-----------------------------
It's unlikely to be stress or boredom. You could set up a video camera and film him while you go out of the room. See if he is biting his tail. It does happen sometimes but is uncommon. If he is not chewing his own tail then look for a broad spectrum medication.
Last edited:
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