I bought 2 HMs awhile ago. One of them bit his fins down so badly that I was advised to use scissors and cut his fins down so that they didn't bother him. But he has begun to do it AGAIN - despite how short his tail is. It's half the length as before, and he's still biting it.
Now the other guy is nipping his own fins. He's not doing it as badly as the other, but he's got little chunks out of the end of his tail.
I am pretty sure it is not fin rot.
I'll take pictures later, I'm at work right now.
I am just... frustrated by this! Why do they do that? Do all HMs do that? How do people maintain their perfect finnage? Heck, even in the LPS they had perfect fins!
Mine aren't kept in very small containers - they are 3.5 gallons each. I feed them twice a day, bloodworms and betta pellets. I change their water once a week, with conditioner and aquarium salt. I don't think they are bored - they each have 3 silk plants (actually one of them is plastic in one of their tanks, but it's soft plastic) and I put a ping pong ball in.
What the heck is going on?!? The only thing I can think of is that my water is bad right out of the tap. I wouldn't be surprised if it's crap, because I live in a shack of a house with probably rusted up pipes. But in 3 weeks I'll be moving to a place in much better condition.
Do HMs do this a lot? It's so frustrating, I can't figure out why they are doing it.
And I have a testing kit, but I think it's messed. It always reports the same stats, no matter if it's week old fish water, fresh from the tap in one location or another.... it always reports extremely hard water, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, extremely high pH. No matter if I'm at my place or my parents' place, which is an hour's drive away.
Now the other guy is nipping his own fins. He's not doing it as badly as the other, but he's got little chunks out of the end of his tail.
I am pretty sure it is not fin rot.
I'll take pictures later, I'm at work right now.
I am just... frustrated by this! Why do they do that? Do all HMs do that? How do people maintain their perfect finnage? Heck, even in the LPS they had perfect fins!
Mine aren't kept in very small containers - they are 3.5 gallons each. I feed them twice a day, bloodworms and betta pellets. I change their water once a week, with conditioner and aquarium salt. I don't think they are bored - they each have 3 silk plants (actually one of them is plastic in one of their tanks, but it's soft plastic) and I put a ping pong ball in.
What the heck is going on?!? The only thing I can think of is that my water is bad right out of the tap. I wouldn't be surprised if it's crap, because I live in a shack of a house with probably rusted up pipes. But in 3 weeks I'll be moving to a place in much better condition.
Do HMs do this a lot? It's so frustrating, I can't figure out why they are doing it.
And I have a testing kit, but I think it's messed. It always reports the same stats, no matter if it's week old fish water, fresh from the tap in one location or another.... it always reports extremely hard water, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, extremely high pH. No matter if I'm at my place or my parents' place, which is an hour's drive away.