I’m realitively new to the fish world, however I’ve done extensive research on Bettas over the past month before making the commitment to own a betta fish. Before adopting my little guy I acquired a 5.5 gallon filtered tank and a 50 watt heater. Right now I’m only treating the water with nutrafin betta plus and do not have any live plants. The water temperature is 76° and pristine. The water tests have checked out and everything is as it should be.
As for my betta who I’ve named Guthrie, he is a bit of a rescue fish. I’ve seen posts of Bettas in a lot worse condition, but this little guy was far from healthy when I found him at the store. He was being held in a communal tank with other Bettas only separated by a grid of plexi glass. It didn’t feel right to take home one of the show stopper Bettas on display when he looked so distressed and defeated so I made the decision to adopt him instead. I’m not sure what kind of betta he is as he is missing a fair amount of his fins, and what fins he has are fairly shredded. The employee at the store didn’t know either, guessing he was either a crown tail, half moon or moon tail betta. (Perhaps someone can help identify what kind of betta he is?) She thought he was crown tail because of his shredded fins but I’m pretty sure they’re shredded due to distress/disease.
I’ve had him for one week and he’s really come to life! He’s extremely active and loves to speed swim. He’s very social and gets so excited when I come up to his tank! I’m also happy to report that there’s a significant amount of new fin growth on his top and bottom fins. What I’m worried about most at this point is the shredding of his rear fin, it seems to have gotten a lot worse since bringing him home. I’m thinking he may have fin rot but not 100% sure. Could he be bitting his tail? Or, if he really is a crowntail betta, is that what his fin is supposed to look like?
I’ve also thought about getting a slew of API products (stress coat, bettafix, zyme etc) however I was told by a pro betta owner that the betta plus solution along with warm, clean water was the best plan of attack and that adding all these chemicals and solutions could do more harm than good. Any suggestions or opinions on this? ...the nutrafin betta plus I’m using contains tropical almond leaf extract and says it protects scales and fins, and makes water safe. Im feeding him north fin betta bits. Should I be adding an antibiotic to his tank?
One other thing I may have done that may not have been a good idea, was that I have a few soft plastic plants in the tank. I’m not overly concerned as he completely avoids them (they’re bunched in the corner hidding the filter intake and water heater) and he prefers the other half of the tank where it’s empty and he can swim in circles at full speed.
In conclusion, if anyone has any tips or suggestions on what more I can do to help this guy regrow his fins and stop the shredding, or if anyone can identity what the problem/cause of his shredded and missing fins are, or are able to identify what kind of betta he is, that would be much appreciated!
