Betta fin problem

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sc166

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 25, 2015
Messages
36
I'm a bit of a beginner with this forum AND the aquariums.

I have had my betta for just over a month now and a school of 6 neon tetras for about 2 weeks and have no problems up until this point.

I was out of town over night (left one evening and came back the next afternoon). I left the lights to my 5 gallon aquarium off. When I came home my Betta's fins were ripped up. I cannot tell if it's fin rot or fin ripping. His fins were in perfect condition before I left.

The tank has a filter and a heater which is kept between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius all the time (I check temperature frequently) the aquarium get a complete cleaning routine every 2 weeks. I use the gravel "vacuum" whenever the gravel starts to collect fish waste and uneaten food. I then top up whatever water has been taken out by the vacuum along with some water condition to remove any chlorine or other harmful chemicals. The filter cartridges r change simultaneously after 2 week cleaning routine. Over all the tank is kept relatively clean.

Here is my betta when I first bought him. Since he's been in my aquarium he's gained more colour and his fins have been kept in the perfect condition from which I bought him ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1435266466.745310.jpg

This is my betta now. Today I just noticed a hole in the middle of his top fin. Although he has not lost any colour. ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1435266681.114051.jpg

He's not very cooperative for photos lol. The hole is not very visible in this photo. And his colour isn't very vibrant due to lighting and my camera.

His activity level has not changed, he still eats normally and comes to the front of the tank whenever I come in the room or go by his tank.

If you have any suggestions please let me know.


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He's beautiful! It looks to me like the tetras are the culprit, although I can't be sure. Neon tetras will commonly nip the fins of other fish like bettas.
A few things I noticed about your tank:
- 5 gallons is a bit too small for a school of tetras and a betta.
- You don't need to change the filter cartridge that often. In fact, you probably shouldn't. It causes the tank to go through a sort of mini cycling process every time you change it.
Apart from those two things, it sounds like you are doing pretty well.
 
One more question: what kinds of decorations do you have? It could be that his fins are getting caught on things such as plastic plants or sharp rocks.
 
Yeah leave the filter in there. Like forever xD if it disintegrates put a piece of the old in with a new cartridge to seed your biofilter


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I have a silk fake plant and a couple of hiding spots for my fish. I had a soft plastic plants but when I saw the fins I assumed they were being torn on it so I removed it from the tank ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1435269244.876064.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1435269276.378167.jpg

Here are a couple photos.

I'm also in the process of buying a 10 gallon glass tank just because my current one is a lot of work for the size of it. Also it's plastic and round which I cannot stand.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
One more question: what kinds of decorations do you have? It could be that his fins are getting caught on things such as plastic plants or sharp rocks.



I have a silk fake plant and a couple of hiding spots for my fish. I had a soft plastic plants but when I saw the fins I assumed they were being torn on it so I removed it from the tank View attachment 274255View attachment 274256

Here are a couple photos.

I'm also in the process of buying a 10 gallon glass tank just because my current one is a lot of work for the size of it. Also it's plastic and round which I cannot stand.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice





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