Fin Help

[KieranKD]

I have a betta fish in a 10 gal tank; a few months ago he began to fin nip and I'll be honest, at that time I was not cleaning his tank as much as I should and he developed fin rot. For a little over a month I have been stepping up my game and really trying to get rid of it and have been keeping his water clean and trying really hard to fix him.



I've been seeing a lot of fin growth since I've started treatment he was responding well and everything was going fine. Well today I woke up and found that he has nipped ALL of his new growth off! I'm at a loss, this is the last day of his e.m erythromonycin treatmeant, his water is good, nothing's majorily changed. I've removed everything but his substrate and felt plants this nmorning even though I know they couldn't have possibly ripped off EVERY single inch of new growth in 1 night.

I'm completely at a loss, I have no idea what to do to fix him anymore. I can't fix his fins if he keeps ripping them off. He is a long finned variety and doesn't have strong flow. Is there any possible thing I can try to stop him from nipping everything new off?

 

[Enchantress]

Unfortunately some long-finned bettas do this - it's usually caused either by boredom, stress, or pent-up aggression; it could also be hereditary. There are some things you can try to help reduce the behaviour:
1. Add Indian Almond Leaves to the tank. They help relieve stress, have mild anti-bacterial properties and lower the pH.
2. Reduce the lighting.

3. If it's because of boredom, you can try adding a tank mate to keep him occupied (only if the tank is big enough), or get him some toys (or interact with him - teach him tricks, play with him etc.), or rearrange the decor so that he has something else to focus on.

4. If it's agression, let him blow off some steam in front of a mirror every once in a while.
5. You can try adding some Stress Coat or a similar product to help soothe him.

6. If possible, you can try moving the tank to a different location or moving the betta itself to a different tank.
The most important thing is to keep the tank squeaky clean - that way even if he does occasionally tear or bite his tail, you will be able to avoid a full-blown infection.