Betta Fin

[sproutyrouty]

So had my betta around 3 weeks now absolutely fine, I noticed today he's lost a bit of his fin, he's in there with 2 cardinals and has been from the start.

Any ideas what could of happened as far as I'm aware cardinals aren't fin nippers.
He often sits on top on the filter not sure if it's maybe been caught in there.


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[ImACoolguy]

If you have pointy decor or plastic plants they are likely the culprit. Betta fins can tear pretty easy. I keep my Betta with sand (he sometimes drags his across the ground) and silk plants so it won't damage his fins.


Caleb

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[sproutyrouty]

It's the top of his fin which means it's not cause of gravel I have a cave he likes to go hide in however it's not sharp.


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[trennamw]

Could be the tetras or fin rot or the filter. 2 tetras isn't a very happy number. One of our local LFSes keeps bettas exclusively in community tanks but the buddies are always in larger numbers.


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[sproutyrouty]

The only reason I only have 2 cardinals is cause I lost them, I don't want to get any more until I come back from holiday


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[F.Sam]

Most likely it's due to something sharp in your tank. However tetra's are sociable fish, and in small numbers they don't feel safe and can turn to nippers.
My betta (see pic) has had some tear-ups too, I've never found the cause but they've regrown nicely Betta fins heal pretty easily, a pinch of salt might go a long way


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[sproutyrouty]

Tonight I came in and he had squeeze between the side of the tank and the filter I had to free him by pulling the filter away.
I noticed 2 things 1 is a cut just right of his eye and then 2 white dots which looks like horns either side of his head.

What should I do? I've attached a picture.

 

[ImACoolguy]

My Betta does this with the heater. It usually indicates a lack of hiding places. Try making him a cave or some cover places to chill out. I would wait a day and see what happens. The white spot could just be from the filter like the cut.


Caleb

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[sproutyrouty]

I have a cave which he loves I've just taken one of the plants out because it was plastic and replaced it with a silk one however he used to hide in the other one and this one he goes no where near, I don't think the white spots are from the filter due to it being on both sides.

 

[Toad]

Can you shoot us a pic of the whole tank? Might help us with ideas and gives us a whole perspective.

 

[sproutyrouty]

Can you shoot us a pic of the whole tank? Might help us with ideas and gives us a whole perspective.

Here is my tank

 

[Toad]

I'd say add some more plants to provide more hiding and shaded places.

 

[ImACoolguy]

If I had to guess it would be that VERY bright gravel stressing him out and making him want to hide.


Caleb

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[TMRC Exotics]

That gravel just stressed ME out... cave looks a little small for him too.

 

[dragon14]

That gravel is intense and if I looked at it much longer, it would stress ME out too. I'd recommend either sand if you can or darker colors for gravel, nothing too bright/intense.

How big is the tank?

Our male betta (and one that passed on last year) loves the floating log:
http://www.bigalspets.com/floating-aquarium-log-small.html

I think we got the small or medium, not sure which. Probably the small.

There's this too:
Amazon.com : Zoo Med Floating Betta Log : Betta Fish : Pet Supplies

You can probably find it at any pet store that has fish or your LFS. We got ours at PetCo I believe.

One of those ought to work in your tank.

 

[sproutyrouty]

So this is his face today it's quite red and I'm really concerned all plastic plants removed.

 

[lil_is_me_2001]

I would think its the tetras my personal experience with cardinals and my fighter wasn't good and eventually ( before I realised ) the tetras had taken off half my fighters top and bottom fins. Any other symptoms would be due to the fin rot that results from tered fins. In that case I would suggest hiding places and that zoo med log others were talking about.


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[sproutyrouty]

I've added melafix into the tank and the wound seems to be healing so fingers crossed I'm going to get a floating log.

Also the gravel isn't that bright I think it's just my camera.

 

[dragon14]

Melafix is not a good idea for Bettas due to their labyrinth organ.

 

[RackinRocky]

I would definitely put in a lot of floating plants. He needs more hiding spaces! He feels vulnerable, in addition to having yellow gravel. Even if it weren't bright, I imagine any shade of yellow would look bright to a fish. I would change it out for medium-dark blue or black. Seriously, he's in need of at least a couple more places to hide. The logs that were mentioned, and floating plants (even fake ones) would make him feel much safer.