betta's tail curling/fraying?

[Sahabo]

So I like to watch and study my betta a lot , and it seems to me that his caudal fin is either curling or fraying a bit. The very edges look to be a little transparent. His fins just look a bit raggedy to me, but it could just be that he has some crowntail in him with less webbing, especially in the anal fin. I could be over analyzing it all, but if it's early fin rot, I want to be proactive.

Here are some pictures of him, one with flash, three without. PLEASE don't freak out about the plastic plants you see! They all passed the pantyhose test very well and are really soft. I plan to get silk/live plants as soon as I can afford it!

You can especially see the transparent part on the last pic with the flash.

 

[Sahabo]

Ack! I messed up on the thread title and I can't figure out how to change it!!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I just edited the title as requested.

 

[Xavier_6708]

as the betta gets older his fins do that because there so long.. or he may have a lil combtail in him that causes the points to go longer than the webbing

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, Fishyfanatic!

What a beautiful betta! I think he looks fine. I really can't see any areas of concern. From your other thread about his head color, I think that looks fine as well. All my darker bettas have had dark or black heads.

I think his fins look especially beautiful. One thing to keep in mind about bettas' fins is that as the bettas age, they can lose some of the more defined fin webbing. The anal and caudal fins can begin to look a little more rounded as they lose the webbing "points". My crowntail is a year and 4 months old. He has lost some of his longer fin points but he still looks like a crowntail.

It doesn't look like your betta has any fin rot. Fin rot usually begins with a black spot on the fin edge. The black area can fall off and it can look like the fin tips are stuck together. When the healing begins, the fin edges will look white-ish as the new "skin" grown back. Those edges will gradually regain their color.

The best way to prevent fin rot is to provide a stable temperature and keep to a regular schedule of water changes. I think you're doing well with those things.

Sometimes a flash picture doesn't totally portray the fish accurately. I took a flash picture of my pleco once and when I looked at the picture in the computer, he had a lot of iridescence around his head. I was immediately convinced that he had parasites. But I looked at him again in the tank and he looked totally fine. I think the last picture that you're concerned about is nothing more than the particular angle of the flash and/or the reflection from the tank.

 

[Sahabo]

So this kind of curling is normal??

 

[Courtney8526]

One of my betta's tails is curled a little like that. He is a crowntail though. I don't know if it is normal or not though because my other 3 don't have this and that one does. But his tail has been like that for about a month now and he seems very healthy. I have read that it is genetic in some bettas. I also read that it can have to do with bad water quality but I know that is not the case with my betta and yours seems to look healthy so I would guess it's genetic.

 

[Zagz]

It is normal some bettas, I wouldn't worry as long as you are keeping up with your water changes, I'm sure he will be fine. Your betta is gorgeous and you should be very proud of how great he looks!

 

[Sahabo]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone! I am proud of him...he's so beautiful and seems healthy.

I'm sure I'm just looking everywhere for something wrong. Now that I'm educating myself about the aquarium hobby, every time I read something about an illness or a proper way to do something, I dash to my tank to see if he has that or if I did something wrong. I should probably just relax and know that I'm doing the best I can for him!