My crowntails with "Fin Rot"...

[staredecisis]

Now, I have heard of this before, through this thread... I have a question for the experts.

Okay, I bought both of these crowntails at the same time, from the same shipment. They are almost identicle, so obviously from the same spawn.

About a week after having them, I saw what looked like tiny holes in one of the betta's tails. The next day his tail was split down the center, to about mid-point in. I started treating him for fin rot, but this looked like the weirdest case of fin rot I'd ever seen. And it seemed to get worse not progressively, but it appeared like a giant piece or tear would happen over a very short time, then nothing at all for awhile.

Then, I noticed the crowns on the OTHER one, looking a little ragged, then bit by bit they seemed to disappear. This looked closer to fin rot, but still not quite like the fin rot I've experienced in the past...

Currently I am treating them both with regular water changes, a bit of salt, and Maracyn by Mardel. But it just seems to be getting worse, despite treatment, but as I said before, not progressively, but in chunks it seems.

Now.... tonight, I caught BOTH of them chasing their tails... only briefly, but who knows how many times this goes on in a day. This is the first time I've seen it, and within an hour I saw each of them do it once.

My question is, am I dealing with fin rot? Or are they nipping their own tails off? Or both? My current suspician is they both had a mild case of fin rot, leading to them nipping at it, which probably lead to more irritation and more nipping.....

Agh, I am frustrated to the breaking point, and these guys were so amazingly beautiful before this catastrophe and I just want them to be healthy again, can anyone give me any advice at all?

edit - there were originally tiny plastic plants and gravel in their tanks, but I took both the plants and the gravel out at the first sign of fin irritation. So there has been nothing in the tanks at all for a long time, nothing to snag on.

 

[juliethegr8t]

The same thing happened to one of my veiltails. One morning I woke up to find his tail looking like it had been rubbed over a cheese grater. I took out his decoration (just a rock!) and even thermometer within a few days, as he got progressively worse. Pieces starting falling off, and I wasn't finding them. I resorted to daily water changes with salt and Melafix - didn't make a difference till almost his entire tail and part of his dorsal were gone. I know he didn't have fin rot, as there were no signs - I definitely think some bettas may chomp on their tails!! It does make sense to me that if yours were irritated already, they tried to make it better by "scratching" themselves. I've heard of this a few times before also. Unfortunately you can't do anything about it besides what you're doing (which is great). Just make sure to keep their water super clean during this period, and good luck!!

 

[wuvmybetta]

I think it's a combination of blown fin and biting themselves. I have read that bored bettas tend to chase their tails, can't say I've experienced it because my bettas live in groups and they seem to have their own soap opera-ey lives

But I HAVE dealt with blown fins, splits right down the center (only on my females though ) Usually from showing off too much,if that IS the case it should clear right up with extra partial water changes and lots of frozen food

I use a product I buy at health food stores called colloidal silver, it's a bacteria destroyer and an excellent aid in repairing torn tissue. Works wonders.