Hello, everyone:
First-time poster, longtime reader. Thanks in advance to those who take the time to read my post and to those who offer advice.
We have a male crown tail betta in a 10 gallon, fully cycled tank (0,0, 10. pH 7.6). We've had him for one week, and he's been doing apparently well in the tank throughout that time. Yesterday (Friday), I noticed his dorsal fin appeared folded over and stuck to itself. The fish otherwise shows no signs of illness. He's active, curious and hungry. He swims throughout the tank, exploring all the plants, rocks, etc. Today, after adding salt, Stress Coat+ and raising the aquarium temperature, he built a large bubble nest. Upon close inspection, I see no signs of ick or other visible abnormalities with the fish. These photos attempt to illustrate the problem:
Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life
Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life
I have the following questions:
1) Is this a case of clamped fin? It does not appear as though he is pulling his fins close to his body. The dorsal fin appears to flex/move/flow as I would expect when watching the fish swim, but for the portion that is folded over and stuck to the base portion of the dorsal fin.
2) Could this be a case of the longer tendrils (for lack of a better word) of the dorsal fin being tangled among themselves? I haven't tried to manipulate the fin (or touch the fish in any way). I'm not proposing that I touch the fin. Seems too fragile to mess with.
3) What to do (if its clamped fin or something else)?
Last night, I added 1.5 TB of aquarium salt and a dose of Stress Coat+ upon discovering the issue. I also raised the temperature in the tank to 82 F. As noted above, he built a bubble nest today.
Below are the answers to the forum questionnaire:
1) What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
Please refer to the narrative above.
2) What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Please refer to the narrative above.
3) How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
10 gallon rectangle. I don't recall how long the tank has been running. It was in a fishless cycle. The betta was added one week ago, which came a few days after I started getting 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite readings using the API freshwater master test kit. Today's test readings are noted in the narrative above.
4. What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Tetra Whisper 10i. I've read the filter cycles 90 gallons per hour.
5. How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
The one male betta and a single ghost shrimp.
6. When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
I performed a 50 percent water change on Thursday. I test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates daily. The figures above represent today's test results.
7. How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
We've had the fish one week. He was acclimated using a syringe with gradual addition of tank water to the cup the fish came in, about 1/2 teaspoon at a time.
8. Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
During the Thursday water change noted above, I used Seachem Prime to dechlorinate the water. This was the first time using this product in this tank and with this fish. I used Stress Coat+ before using Prime.
9. What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
The fish receives betta pellets twice daily. I feed one at a time until he stops eating. He gets a small pinch of blood worms every other day. As far as I have observed, the betta and shrimp consume all of the worms as I watch.
Thank you, again, for reading. I look forward to any advice you may offer, and I hope to participate in the forum more often.
First-time poster, longtime reader. Thanks in advance to those who take the time to read my post and to those who offer advice.
We have a male crown tail betta in a 10 gallon, fully cycled tank (0,0, 10. pH 7.6). We've had him for one week, and he's been doing apparently well in the tank throughout that time. Yesterday (Friday), I noticed his dorsal fin appeared folded over and stuck to itself. The fish otherwise shows no signs of illness. He's active, curious and hungry. He swims throughout the tank, exploring all the plants, rocks, etc. Today, after adding salt, Stress Coat+ and raising the aquarium temperature, he built a large bubble nest. Upon close inspection, I see no signs of ick or other visible abnormalities with the fish. These photos attempt to illustrate the problem:
Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life
Dropbox - Error - Simplify your life
I have the following questions:
1) Is this a case of clamped fin? It does not appear as though he is pulling his fins close to his body. The dorsal fin appears to flex/move/flow as I would expect when watching the fish swim, but for the portion that is folded over and stuck to the base portion of the dorsal fin.
2) Could this be a case of the longer tendrils (for lack of a better word) of the dorsal fin being tangled among themselves? I haven't tried to manipulate the fin (or touch the fish in any way). I'm not proposing that I touch the fin. Seems too fragile to mess with.
3) What to do (if its clamped fin or something else)?
Last night, I added 1.5 TB of aquarium salt and a dose of Stress Coat+ upon discovering the issue. I also raised the temperature in the tank to 82 F. As noted above, he built a bubble nest today.
Below are the answers to the forum questionnaire:
1) What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
Please refer to the narrative above.
2) What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Please refer to the narrative above.
3) How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
10 gallon rectangle. I don't recall how long the tank has been running. It was in a fishless cycle. The betta was added one week ago, which came a few days after I started getting 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite readings using the API freshwater master test kit. Today's test readings are noted in the narrative above.
4. What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Tetra Whisper 10i. I've read the filter cycles 90 gallons per hour.
5. How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
The one male betta and a single ghost shrimp.
6. When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
I performed a 50 percent water change on Thursday. I test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates daily. The figures above represent today's test results.
7. How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
We've had the fish one week. He was acclimated using a syringe with gradual addition of tank water to the cup the fish came in, about 1/2 teaspoon at a time.
8. Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
During the Thursday water change noted above, I used Seachem Prime to dechlorinate the water. This was the first time using this product in this tank and with this fish. I used Stress Coat+ before using Prime.
9. What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
The fish receives betta pellets twice daily. I feed one at a time until he stops eating. He gets a small pinch of blood worms every other day. As far as I have observed, the betta and shrimp consume all of the worms as I watch.
Thank you, again, for reading. I look forward to any advice you may offer, and I hope to participate in the forum more often.
