Is my betta ill?

Hiya, ive jst joyned this forum so hope Im doing this right but would like some help with my fish. he has got shredded tail for some reason and I dont know what to do about it.

Ive read the stuff on here about fin rot but it doesnt look like that. That picture looks as if the tail has been cut off, but harry looks like the bits of his fin between the spines of his tail have gone, so he is left with ling spines of tail but they are not all joyned together.

Sorry, tha is not a good description but if you think of a ducks foot and the webby bit has gone bit the bones are still there sort of explains it.

Ive had him for two months and it seems to be getting worse. Hes on his own in a 15l tank.

Can anyoone help me please?

Hiya kerryjane, have you done a water test for ammonia, nitrite etc. If you can let us know what those readings are and then I am sure we will be able to help you.

Thanx Diana. I dont know what the water tests are but I do change some of the water every week and it looks clear. I also wash the inside of the tank with a little sponge but no soap or anything like that.

I also wash the ornaments under the tap, I have aSpongebob house ornament and 2 small plastic plant and a piece of fake wood for him that he likes to sit on.

Water quality could be an issue then - hard to say, but I would do a 50% water change just in case.

Also your plastic plants might not be helping. From what I have read they are not recommended for betta tanks as the fish can easily shred their fins on them, so either live plants or silk are thoght to be best.

Is it eating and swimming round ok?

OK - it sounds like fin rot - betta have longer fins (and thus longer fin ray - the bony structures your describing)

However - a 15L tank doesnt leave too much room for error - and whilst being bacterial - finrot can be a sign of general 'stress'

We highly recommend getting a test kit - usually about £20 that will enable you to test for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate as well as water hardness and pH

the REALLY important ones tho are ammonia nad nitrite - the tinyest amounts of these will harm any fish - you water MUST have absolutely zero of these - but especially for bettas.

As suggested - changing the water (for the immediate relief of beastie - a 7liter change) making sure the water you put in is the same temperature as the tank water and dechlorinated.

In small tanks - id actually suugest changing a decent sized jugful of water everyday (about 2L) this means over the course of a week - your changing all the water - without stressing your fish and it will maintain a safety net in terms of control of ammonia and nitrite.

Now then - sadly without knowing the ammonia and nitrite of your water - things aint easy - so if we assume your fish has finrot AND the water is bad - we have to decide which to target first.

So my advice is get a test kit set or the minimal 2 I suggested - your local fish shop (LFS) may well test a sample of the water for you - there is no point in treating an illness with bad water - butrt a day or two of water changes will make a huge difference to your fish. Then once the water is ok (assuming it isnt already) you can treat the finrot

There are many products to use BUT be warned that mot all are suitable for bettas (who belong to the anatabids group) so I will suggest buying two products and use them both at the same time.

They are Melafix and Pimafix both are made by API. One treats bacteria and the other treats fungus - fish with bacterial problems (like finrot and cuts/wounds) often get a secondary fungus problem so may as well hammer the two in one hit.

BUT use HALF (or the lower amount of half) of the suggested dosage on the bottle as bettas (ime) are not too keen on water treatments. DO NOT try salt baths as suggested in boks or the web - this will kill your betta with stress etc. 1ml or 1.5ml of both of these treatments in the water for a week will be fine (you may need to get a syringe from a chemist to accuratle measure the meds)

On the offchance water quality is an issue - you could try buying something like Stress Zyme (if you dont already use it) - a product that (at least claims) to add beneficial bacteria - some people will call it snake oil (a wqaste of money with no benefit tot he water or fish) and others swear by them - you pay you money and make your choice but its worth a try.

IF you do go for the daily water change method - change any water BEFORE adding the meds (otherwise your just diluting the meds) - IF your betta looks even more unhappy after adding the meds - change some more of the water (another 5L) with fresh water (again rememebr to dechlorinate and make it the same temp as the tank)

As for ornaments - they are fine IF there are absolutly no sharp or even slightly rough edges to them - in terms of fake plants - silk are safest with bettas or those that are very soft.

On the flip side - the large fake amazon sword plants that are like rigid plastic are also ok - as they are very firm but smooth all over and actually - all my bettas have used them as a bed (curled up to rest in them ) but in a 15L tank - the average fake plant will look rather large

Please dont takew this as a criticsm but if you can - Id like to highly recommend a larger tank for the betta - even a25liter tank will make his life more comfortable and your life easier as it makes water quality easier to control.

So called Nano tanks are now considered 'experts' tanks for this reason

Old fishkeeping saying 'the solution to pollution is dilution'

You maybe interested to know that somewhere on this site (under fish profiles I think) we havbe a thread about bettas and there should be a free downloadable pdf betta book in there. Just search the site.

Hope this helps and welcome to TFF

to TFF

If the fin rays remain, but the coloured finnage around them is gone than that's definitely fin rot but, as mentioned, a photo would help in diagnosis. Myxazin can be an effective treatment but it depends on how far gone the disease is.

Thanx evetyone. I couldnt get myaxin but have something called Interpet for Fin rot and have put some of that in the tank.

He is just hiding all the time under a plant, and not swimming round at all. I know these fish need to breathe air, so willl he drown if he doesnt do that?

I have done a water change yesterday, and one this morning, but what do I do now I have put medicine in the tank - not do any more water change?

Unless he is really on his last legs I would imagine that he will still make it to the surface to take a bit of air now and again.

As for the meds, if your water quality is ok you will not need to do another water change for a few days so just keep an eye on that.

Bettas dont NEED to surface - they just have an adaption that enables them to 'breathe' air if the water conditions are bad.

Forgot to say if you have a carbon filter pad or media in the tank - you need to remove it or it will strip most of the meds from the water - you can use it again to remove the excess meds when beastie is better (and water changes will also do this)

Bettas do rest quite often anyway - all that finage is hard to carry about for a little fish - causes alot of drag in the water and it takes alot of energy for a male betta to just swim. He is feeling grotty too so more reason to sulk - a few days of not eating wont harm him so dont worry too much if he doesnt eat or surface.

Hope this helps (eases your mind)

Thanx for all the advice and help.

Today he is actuallt having a bit of a swim around, but I notice that he has what look like two really tiny holes in his head, as if some of the scales have fallen off. Is this all part of the sae illness or something else?

He doesnt seem to be that interested in the betta flakes I give him, is there anything that he would eat better? Sorry for all the questions.

Also, I have about £50 from Christmas that I havent spent yet. Could I get him a better tank for that much or would I need to save more?

Holes in the head? where abouts?

Could it be his nasal passages? - but there IS a fish disease called (wait for it) 'Hole In Head' disease (it took scientists 200 years to come up with that name )

It is treatable in as much as you can stop it spreading - Ive read (never experienced it myself) that fish can and do live quite happily with the holes - but as I mentioneded before - melafix and pimafix will stop it getting words and any fungus developing.

Out of interst - what type of filter do you have in your betta tank (a description of what it looks like or how it works will do )

£50 will easily buy you a nice betta tank - I wouldnt bother (for themost part) buying it online as any money you save (in comparison to LFS) will be lost in postage.

Pets at home do a good range of smaller tanks for a fair price (they buy in such bulk they can afford to discount) but as you already have a filter (or at least I hope you do) and a heater (unless its too small) you only really ned a 'box' - just swap everything over

Arcpods are quite nice and make good betta tanks (£45 with lights, heater, glass lid and filter) and are about 35liter (maybe a bit more) - but anyway - £50 easily buys a nice betta batchelor pad

I would suggest however waiting for your betta to mend and settle before moving him tho - most illnesses are stress related - so we'll takk about how to move him at a later date

kerryjane wrote:

Thanx for all the advice and help.

Today he is actuallt having a bit of a swim around, but I notice that he has what look like two really tiny holes in his head, as if some of the scales have fallen off. Is this all part of the sae illness or something else?

He doesnt seem to be that interested in the betta flakes I give him, is there anything that he would eat better? Sorry for all the questions.

Also, I have about £50 from Christmas that I havent spent yet. Could I get him a better tank for that much or would I need to save more?

Glad that he is starting to swim a bit more, maybe the treatment is starting towork on him.

try him with a variety of foods. My betta turns his nose up at anything 'live' but does love betta flakes, and also the wafers I put in for the plec he is in with. Try a little bit of crushed peas, or a different type of food to tempt him and see what he likes.

Thannx Ill do that. I forgot to say that Ive noticed today that where the fins end short he seems to be getting little whit patches. Is this new skin?

Also what should I do about water changes? I got a test kit an API Ammonia test kit and the bottle shows yellow, but a bit darker than on the paper so is that ok? If I do a water change what about the medicine thats in the tank, will it still work?

Ah - the good old interpretation of kits

Yellow is fine - its the slightest bit of green you dont want

the best way to read a test kit is in good light and hold the test tube slightly away from the card - and if you were tinte3d specs or lens this will alter your view too - sounds stupid but I had a laugh with a LFS about a guy with 'constant ammonia reading' - he wore green tinted specs (fool)

IF you want to try and see what a zero reading looks like - test some bottled water

Well he is certainly swiming round a bit more now, still not eating much though.

Do you tyhink I should leave the water till its been a week putting the meds in as they say on the bottle, or should I do a change now?

I have been reading that sometimes bettas do better with a small daily water change so not sure what to do now.

sorry, I think someone asked me what type of filter I have. I am not sure what it is called, but I use little square blocks that sit on a plastic shelf in the lid and I have to throw them away every month and replace with new. There is a pump and a tube inside the tank that sucks water up, throws it over these square blocks (I buy them from Pets at Home) and then it dribbles out from underneath.

Hope that explains things ok

I wouldn't replace the square blocks kerry. You can buy some stuff from the pet shops (just wish I could remember what it is called! ), but it's a pad of white filter foam stuff. You canwrap it round the filter blocks and just rinse it out once a week.

If you replace the blockk things you just destroy all the bacteria you need to help you keep the water safe

I would change some water everyday - but add the meds AFTER changing the water.

A small amount usually means about 10% in terms of a water change.

It sounds like a trickle filter - if it has a square lump of faom (and thats about it) then DONT change it every xzy as the box says - thats their way of making money on selling bits of foam.

A lump of foam should last at lleast a year (im still using 3 year old filter foams) and the most you ever change in one go (if you must) is half - otherwise (as said) your throwing out exactly the things you need to keep your fish alive (the bacteria and their home)

If your filter uses 'carbon' then to save you money (yep you guessed it) carbon is a money making scam to fishkeepers.

It has some uses in an aquarium - mainly to remove medicines once treatment is over but beyond that - there is no REAL proof it doesn much good - and can actually jsut cause harm.

If the filter has a seperate area for carbon - take the carbon out and fill; the gap with more regular foam or fine foam or floss. Carbon wont be helping you r betta either (if its there) as i said - it removed meds and basically most other things (including fish beneficial nutrients) and if not changed regularly (and its expensive stuff) can actually poison your tank.

Hope this help

Hiya again . He seems a bit better (or betta!) now, swimming round the tank more but not eating that much still.

It looks like there is some new skin growong between the spiny bits so that is good I guess.

I have done a water change today and added some more meds, but dont know what to do about them now.

I am changing a bit of water every day and adding some meds every day because he has lost some. The instruction for this medicine said to treat and then treat again after 7 days.

Should I just keep doing this for 14 days then, or carry on till all his fins have grown back?

Glad things seem to be picking up kerry, and well done on keeping on top ogf the water changes.

As for the treatments, does it say on the bottle whether you should carry on for longer? I dont have any experience of treating for fin rot I'm afraid, but I think if it were me I would carry on till it had cleared.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong though

The problem is some mds have different ingredients to tohers and thus some meds are harder on the fish than others

given bettas are a bit sensitive to meds - follow the instructions to the letter

Now that he is starting to pick up - you could try another brand of meds - but I think its only fair to warn you that he may not ever get 100% of the finage back (ie how he was before the infection) - you might, you might not - but usually you get a good 95% or so

anyway - now he is looking better - you can concentrate on making the water quality as good as you can and when this is done - he'll fix up even faster

as for not eating 'much' bettas dont really eat 'much' anyway - I use pellet foods for mine and they only eat about 3-6 pellets each fish per day (two feeds a day)

Get some peas (cook em) and squeeze out the soft middle - squish it a bit and feed that to your betta as well - they like peas (usually) and it helps stop them getting constipated too

Hope this helps

I hope your betta is getting betta kj

I like these little fish. Mine swims through my fingers when I put my hand in the tank, great little thing

Hello fishfan. Thanx for asking, he is a lot more active today and has had loads to eat too so thats all a good sign I think

Sorry to keep asking things, but I am still confused about the medicine.

I gave her the full dose of medicine on day one, but after reading advice on here I did a water change to dilute it because I didnt want to make things worse.

I have been doing more or less daily water changes and adding half the proper amount to keep some medicine in the tank.

The instructions say that I should have added full dose day one and then full dose again day seven. If I have been adding less than the full amount should I carry on for a bit longer so that he will have had an equivalent dose.

I dont know if I have made myself clear but hope you know what I mean!

You shouldn't really do any water changes until you're finished the course of meds. as otherwise it'll just dilute the effects.

I am getting confused now! Rich had said earlier that I should do daily water changes, and now I get told I shouldn't!?

Which one is it please - I really want to do the right thing for my fish!