Spazzy betta?

[SABWARNER16]

My white halfmoon betta is in a 3.5 gallon which fits him perfectly. His tank is FINALLY cycled. Water parameters look good. Temp is 77F. He’s one I was concerned about having fin rot by the looks of his fins, but I did have plastic plants at one point before I was aware of how delicate their fins were. So that may be the cause. However, he is kind of spazzy, and occasionally shakes his head like a dog as if to try to get something off. So still potentially worried about fin rot.

If I were to just try aquarium salt, if he didn’t have fin rot, would it hurt him? Like is there any harm in trying it? Also I have shrimp and a snail in there, would I need to remove them? And I’ve heard some things about Stress Coat, but I don’t know what it is. Sounds like a good situation to use it though

 

[Shiverz]

Normally the twitching is caused by an irritation, there are many different causes,

Normally it's an irritation from the water quality, such as chlorine or ammonia which irritates their skin. Do you have your water conditions on hand for us to view?

It can also be caused by extrernal parasites such as Ich or velvet. I'm not too experienced in these matters, I know ich is small white spot,s however with your betta being almost white, I can't make out if there are any. Is it possible to get a closer picture of your lil boy?

If you havent changed the plants this could also be the cause, with the sharper edges of artificial plants it could be irritating the skin of the betta as he swims past.

EDIT - it's a beautiful betta by the way, really pretty. Also I am not hugely experienced in these matters, so if anyone contradicts what I say, it's probably best to take their word over my own. I hope everything goes well

 

[SABWARNER16]

Normally the twitching is caused by an irritation, there are many different causes,

Normally it's an irritation from the water quality, such as chlorine or ammonia which irritates their skin. Do you have your water conditions on hand for us to view?

It can also be caused by extrernal parasites such as Ich or velvet. I'm not too experienced in these matters, I know ich is small white spot,s however with your betta being almost white, I can't make out if there are any. Is it possible to get a closer picture of your lil boy?

If you havent changed the plants this could also be the cause, with the sharper edges of artificial plants it could be irritating the skin of the betta as he swims past.

EDIT - it's a beautiful betta by the way, really pretty. Also I am not hugely experienced in these matters, so if anyone contradicts what I say, it's probably best to take their word over my own. I hope everything goes well

Thank you so much for your response! I use the Seachem Prime conditioner.
He has had live plants for two weeks now, so no more plastic.
And he does have some unusual spots (see picture) there’s a line that I can’t tell if it’s new growth or what. I’m posting a picture of him a couple weeks ago versus now so you can see the change.

 

[Shiverz]

@Deanasue I'm wondering if you could help seem's as I haven't seen Colin around recently.

To me, the line in the fins doesn't seem to represent anything that I know of, so unfortunatley I can't comment on that due to lack of experience/knowledge, the only thing i find odd about it, is that it's only the rear fin showing signs of "tearing", where as the others look healthy (to me).

Are you using seachem prime currently to combat water parameters? It would really help others if you could give us your current water parameters, it will help narrow down on why your lil guy is twitching, the condition of the water unravels alot of mysteries. On the twitching note, have you noticed him rubbing against items to scratch himself?

Going back to the plants, are the live plants sturdy? could he possibly be catching on them with his tail?

I try to help where I can but as I stated before I have basic knowledge. with our resident health guru absent everyones trying to help where they can, including myself. I will try everything to help you if I can

 

[FishGuest5123]

The tail is probably too heavy and he is nipping at it. Get him some tall plants to rest in so he doesn’t have to struggle to go up for air. Aquarium salt at 1 teaspoon fir every 5 gallons will help with healing but he will more than likely continue tail biting. The heavier tailed bettas are prone to it. Keep water clean. Note: I also switched from Prime to Stress Coat on my bettas. Their tails are much better in it.

 

[Shiverz]

any inclination to the twitching? it's got me stumped.

 

[SABWARNER16]

@Deanasue I'm wondering if you could help seem's as I haven't seen Colin around recently.

To me, the line in the fins doesn't seem to represent anything that I know of, so unfortunatley I can't comment on that due to lack of experience/knowledge, the only thing i find odd about it, is that it's only the rear fin showing signs of "tearing", where as the others look healthy (to me).

Are you using seachem prime currently to combat water parameters? It would really help others if you could give us your current water parameters, it will help narrow down on why your lil guy is twitching, the condition of the water unravels alot of mysteries. On the twitching note, have you noticed him rubbing against items to scratch himself?

Going back to the plants, are the live plants sturdy? could he possibly be catching on them with his tail?

I try to help where I can but as I stated before I have basic knowledge. with our resident health guru absent everyones trying to help where they can, including myself. I will try everything to help you if I can

I only use Prime when doing water changes. His tank is cycled now so I don’t Have any issues with ammonia. I just get rid of the nitrates weekly or unless they’re unusually high. So ammonia is 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate is about 5.
I have noticed sometimes he rubs up against the plants. The plants are pretty established, as well. Thanks for the help

 

[SABWARNER16]

The tail is probably too heavy and he is nipping at it. Get him some tall plants to rest in so he doesn’t have to struggle to go up for air. Aquarium salt at 1 teaspoon fir every 5 gallons will help with healing but he will more than likely continue tail biting. The heavier tailed bettas are prone to it. Keep water clean. Note: I also switched from Prime to Stress Coat on my bettas. Their tails are much better in it.

I’ve got some tall plants in there but maybe a betta hammock would help?
So is stress coat a water conditioner? And with the salt, with that harm my shrimp or snails? I can move them if needed.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I’ve got some tall plants in there but maybe a betta hammock would help?
So is stress coat a water conditioner? And with the salt, with that harm my shrimp or snails? I can move them if needed.

My snails have always been fine but I haven’t risked salt with my shrimp. They sometimes bite out of biredom too. See if a bright orange ping pong ball helps. My never like them but my friends has a blast with his. A betta hammock or a floating betta log are good foo. . Hope this helps.

 

[SABWARNER16]

My snails have always been fine but I haven’t risked salt with my shrimp. They sometimes bite out of biredom too. See if a bright orange ping pong ball helps. My never like them but my friends has a blast with his. A betta hammock or a floating betta log are good foo. . Hope this helps.

Awesome thanks so much!