Possible betta fin rot?

[Emerald27]

Hi everyone,

I'm by no means any kind of fish expert, I've had severa betta fish through my teen years, almost always just in 1.5 gallon bowls and they've always done fine and lived quite a long time. I purchased my first betta in years from Petsmart about 3 months ago maybe, he is living in the 1.5 gallon bowl I still have with a soft plastic plant and some gravel. He blows bubble tests from time to time, is very active and eager for food (he just eats pellets, I've tried feeding him blood worms and other things but he usually won't eat them.) About 2 weeks ago maybe I started noticing the edges of his fins looking a little different than usual, and now it's obvious that they have started kind of curling up a bit. I tried googling it and some people say it's normal in some bettas and other people say it could be fin rot. I don't know what I should do, I don't want to just leave it hoping it's normal and than have it get much worse. Any advice?

 

[ImACoolguy]

There's multiple things this could be. Nearly all of us here at AA, don't support the use of bowls, much less under 2.5 gallons as habitable for fish.

This could be due to the size of the bowl, water quality(most likely) or just the plastic plant and gravel as they can tear fins.


Caleb

 

[Emerald27]

Yeah I figured people would say that. I don't have a tank, don't have means to get a tank nor care for one, and as I said have had several bettas in this same bowl in the past without problems. He was in a 2 inch cube jar at the petstore so although perhaps a 1.5 gallon bowl is not the most ideal for him, it's certainly a sanctuary compared to his original conditions and he is happy enough to build bubble nests and swim actively. The plant in smooth, the gravel is smooth, so nothing is tearing at his fins, this curling is happening due to something other than them physically getting damaged through tearing. They aren't torn, they're just starting to curl at the edge.

Does it look like fin rot or does it look normal? I realize this is a forum for advanced fish folk but I am not able to go buy a big tank for him so those kinds of suggestions are unfortunately out of the question for me. I hope that fact doesn't just case a massive amount of backlask from people. Just hoping for some constructive advice other than telling me his bowl is too small. If it looks like fin rot should I try treating with aquarium salt? How much/how often, etc? Is there something else I could try? If it is water quality how could I check to find out what's wrong? I change his water once a week, and I always treat the water to remove chlorine and such before adding it back to his cleaned bowl.

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome to AA.

Yeah, somewhat tricky as I agree with above. To be honest a 5gal would be something to work towards.

I can't see fin erosion but you've obviously picked up on something and our starting guess is going to be water conditions.

As well I was thinking gee, look at that long finage - perfect place for problems developing.

Anyways - some shops will test water chemistry for free. Ammonia and ph would be ones to check.

Are you changing the entire bowl of water each time and cleaning the gravel? Not sure when you said bowl what was meant.

I'd make sure your water conditioner detoxifies ammonia as well (eg seachem prime) and try a mid-week water change (say 50%) as well (temp matched). See if any change. Also check food hasn't expired or getting old.

Edit - salt I'd try after seeing if more water changes doesn't work.

 

[bsrn2016]

I squired a rescue beta today and most Berta's at the shop had black curling edges on the fins- as did mine. So I've been researching a lot today and one common sign is black or white edges or fluff on fins. Do you see that? It's so hard to get a good pic I know!

 

[Emerald27]

It is hard to get a good pic! I do think however that the pic I posted shows what I'm talking about pretty clearly, how the edge of his tail and bottom fins are sort of curling over at the very edges. His fins were smooth all the way to the ends when I got him, now they're a bit curled or crimped at the edge. There's no black or white, but "fluff" on fins I don't know, I guess you could describe the curly edges as fluffy haha not sure!