Rescued a betta today

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi all, I rescued a betta today. His tail is split up the middle and his lips actually look swollen. His fins are clamped and it looks like he has skin hanging off his lips and chin(just a little, like his slime coat is coming off). I have him in a 1G with a few silk plants, some salt and some bettafix. I put the mini hydor heater I have in his tank to heat up the water a little bit. Is there anything else I can do to ensure he becomes happy and healthy? Also, I don't know if it is part of his color or not, but there is a little bit of red where the split in his tail ends. I will try to take some pics, but my camera isn't that good. Could this mean something? it kinda looks like blood under the skin. Thanks for your advice.

 

[BettaMomma]

Congrats on rescuing him.
I'm sure he's very happy you did.

As for the lips and chin - does it look like it's skin actually peeling off? Where did you get him from? I'm wondering if he could be a bit torn up from seeing other boys and "fighting with the glass" as I like to call it when they attack the container they're in either because of their reflection or in an attempt to get at someone next door.

As for the split in his fins - it sounds like you're doing everything just perfect for him to heal it back up. The red part could either be some finrot starting up, or it could be blood if it was torn recently. The conditions you're giving him are very condusive to him healing them very quick.

Do you plan to leave the hydor heater in the 1G tank? I was just wondering how high the temp goes in there or where it's at now, and what your base room temp is at your house - because I have (2) of the 1G aquaview tanks with no heaters, but with summer coming and the A/C being on I'll need to do something diff than what I am now.

 

[Kiarra]

Some Blackwater Extract or Indian Almond Leaves would help heal the fins pretty quick. So would colloidal silver. But neither are absolutely necessary; they'd just help.

Does the stuff hanging from his mouth look like cotton? If so, then it could be a mouth fungus.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I don't plan on leaving the heater on all the time, the temp is at 74 right now, I would like to get it to 78. He was the only betta at the store when I was there. I got him from Wal Mart. This is a relatively new store, and even though they had way too many big fish, like ID sharks with labels saying they grow 12", and kissing gouramis, their fish looked like they were in pretty good shape. He was actually in one of their display tanks. The lady there told me they put him in there because he was the only one left. He was in the tank with two or three small catfish.

The skin on his lips looks kind of like when I have chapped lips and a peice of the skin comes off. His lips are huge, but that might be normal, I have seen pics of other bettas with lips that big. The bowl he is in isn't very clear, I got it at WM when I bought him. the glass is really wavy so it is hard to get a good look.

Thanks again

 

[BettaMomma]

I think I'd give him a day or two in his new tank to let a few things heal up and then reexamine the lips. You might be pleasantly surprised to see how great they heal up with some sparkly clean water and lots of TLC.