BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Caudal fin?

My betta's caudal fin seems to be tearing. Not splitting into sections, but the edges are jagged. I hope I am explaining it well, I can take a pic of him next week if you guys want to see it.

But anyway, the question is.. does it grow back? What does fin rot look like? He looks healthy enough though (you can see pics of him, he still looks like that).

I hope he's not nipping on his own tail. I haven't seen him do it though, I am always looking at him so I'm pretty sure he's not causing himself damage.

Any ideas?

May be an early case of finrot. I would do a 25% WC, adding extra stress coat (or whatever you use) and aquarium salt. It will grow back, but it may not be as pretty. How big a bowl/tank is he in and how often do you do changes?

Here are some pics of finrot:
finrot

finrot2

Well I finally changed the water in his 1-gallon tank. I do 100% water changes because his home does not have a filter. So I always change it completely, rinse out his gravel/fern/castle with hot water as well as the sides of the tank. I treat the water with Tetra BettaSafe Water Conditioner. Wait a little bit for the water to be the same temperature as his water had been before pouring him from his cup (w/ fresh treated water) back into the tank. I added about 1/4 tablespoon of aquarium salt (just eyeballed it).

The thing is, when I changed his tank a week ago (Nov. 12) I already added some aquarium salt because I was thinking he might have fin rot. I'll give it another week, then buy fin rot medicine if the salted water this time does not work out.

Oh and I change his water every 7-10 days (depending on how busy I am at work, I might have to postpone it for the next day, etc). I use bottled water. I guess I should bring a water tester just to be sure Ph is good, etc. Will do that tomorrow.

Is it safe to add fin rot medicine in the water w/ aquarium salt?

There is no problem using finrot med (I recommend melafix) and aquarium salt. You say you use bottled water. What kind is it? You should never use distilled water because it strips their slime coat and can cause problems or susceptibility (SP???) to diseases. I don't see any glaring problems with your regime, but I hope this helps.

Amber

It's not distilled water.. atleast i don't think. it's one of those bottled water at the office with a dispenser. I guess spring water, Alhambra I think.

I'll watch him this week for any changes. Thanks! =)

You're welcome!!
I am just glad you have the motivation to find out what is going on with him...a lot of people see them more as decoration rather than a living thing.

Amber

Well, Ares is not doing too good. =( He's still happy, swimming around, flaring, making nest bubbles but little does he know.... his caudal fin has continued to recede and now his anal fin has a big tear in the middle (which was not there yesterday when I left the office). I'm gonna go to the pet store at noon today to pick-up medicine for him. I hope he recovers from this! *crosses fingers*


About 4 hours later...

He is now swimming about in medicated water. We'll see what happens in the next few days!

His caudal and anal fins are fine. However, his dorsal fin fell off =\

What is the caudal fin?