Maimed betta

[Blackknight]

I had a crayfish in my tank and it attacked some of my fish. My betta lost it's tail and the top fin. Will the fins grow back? The injuries look pretty bad, would it be better to put him down?

I moved the crayfish to another tank, but I wish I would have known before I bought it.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Blackknight and welcome to Aquariumadvice!

Depends on how far the damage is; if the crayfish destroyed the base of the fins then no, they won't. Its likely it didn't get that far down, so they should grow back. You might want to look into something called Bettafix; its a product similar to Melafix and contains teatree oil which seems to help with fin growth and mild bacterial infectins. Don't use Melafix tho - the levels of teatree oil in it seem to be bad for bettas. As long as the fish doesn't seem to be suffering, I'd give Bettafix a go.

 

[Blackknight]

Thanks.

There is a small chunk missing from his tail, but most of the fin is still there. I guess I'll just have to call him Stubby for a while. lol

I'll take a pic of the betta tonight so you can see how bad the damage is.