Betta fish with bad fins?

Question

I have a betta fish that lives in a 20gallon tank by himself. There are lots of plastic plants and a rock. The tank also has a heater, filter, air bubbler etc. recently we have noticed that his fins are shrinking, splitting and getting holes in them. We thought it may be fin rot so we are currently giving him medication for that. We have about 3 days left with the medication. If it is not fin rot, what is it?

Answer 1

Bettas fins are some of the hardest things to preserve! I put a lot of NovAqua and AmQuel into my fish's water. This increases the slime coat on everything in the tank to prevent the fish from tearing its fins. Bettas love to explore and can tear themselves up pretty bad. I also put some aquarium salt into the water during water changes as this seems to stave off most fungal attacks because they can live in the water. Fin rot is a big thing for bettas and it can get pretty fierce. If treatment in the big tank won't work you might want to concentrate his treatment into a smaller tank or bowl. I've had to treat bettas several times in a row for fin rot. Also, get some BETTAMAX!! Best stuff on the market. When I used to breed I had about 55 bettas and I used to wash them all in BettaMax for 3 days once a week (so they were in green water 3 of the 7 days in each week). It provides great prevention and treatment for any minor fin rot before it got bad not to mention any other type of illnesses.
The last thing it might be is age. How old is you guy? Betta's normally live only about 2-4 years (although I've had one live to be 6). As they age the fins get brittle and even curl up a bit on the ends. Good luck with your guy! Just be persistent with him.

Answer 2

If in a healthy environment, should grow back. Maybe not completely, but will grow. Be sure that he is in a 5 gallon tank or bigger, with a filter and heater. The tank should be cycled and taken care of properly. The healthier the environment the better the fins will grow. My betta's fins are slightly torn (living in a cup at the pet store didn't help) and still have a little tear, but otherwise fine. His tai got teared four times (fighting his reflection) but it healed together, it's just the ends are a bit jagged. Good luck, and your betta should be fine :)

Answer 3

Ammonia burn can cause this, as can the decorations (see posts above) another possible cause is too much water flow. Bettas fins will shrink back with excess water flow in the tank You migh try removing the air bubbler.

Answer 4

What are your water parameters?

*Ammonia 0
*Nitrites 0
kH 80 ppm or more (yes this important for proper calcium, which aids in healing and proper osmotic function)
*Temperature 74-78 F
If any parameters are off, all the meds in the world will not help

Do you perform regular water changes? 25% changes every couple weeks in your size tank is helpful

What do you feed? Sanyu or Hikari Gold are excellent pellet foods, but with ALL dry foods for bettas they should be soaked in FW for 5 minutes so as to remove air that can cause bacterial infections such as aeromonas.

What meds are you using? Many are ineffective in aquatic environments such as Penicillin.
Pimafix is very effective for torn fins in bettas.
Wonder Shells are effective for electrolytes and calcium that is needed for healing and general health.

For more basic information, please read this freshwater basics article:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Aquarium_Principles.html

For more information about medications:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html

Answer 5

make sure all your decorations are smooth. i use sillk plants and real plants instead of plastic. rocks can be hard on his fins too.

fin rot is usually worse than what you are describing -- he will usually clamp his fins and when he does they look kind of like wilted lettuce -- they get darker, drabber, and floppy like dying lettuce. they break off in little pieces like when you lose dry dead skin.

a little extra slime coat conditioner and some melafix usually help if they are thin looking. also try feeding them frozen blood worms a couple times a week. a higher protein diet helps them stay healthier.