Hey there everyone! My fish Starburst has been doing well, but she loves to work her way into tight spaces. Because of this, I'm constantly looking her over for any signs of damage. She also loves to eat snail eggs so I'm always looking her over anyways to see how much to feed her.
Anyways, I was looking at her tail and I'm unsure of this is just the way her tail is feathered, or if she's got some rips in it? How are you supposed to tell with short finned Betta?
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1oiccfz
Posted by ChaosTearKitsune
2 Comments
You want to check the fin’s edge for ‘roughness’ – for example your Bettas tailfin looks rough and the other fins have smooth portions on the edges, there is some slight damage – and a black edge forming that uncharacteristic for the betta can also mean a beginning finrot.
If you make sure your parameters are perfect and give her a good diet, she’s likely to heal on her own.
However, if she’s not you want to do tannins and salt baths (tannins are slightly antimicrobial, salt exposure helps with slimecoat regeneration – wich helps push out dead tissue from the wounds on the fin’s edge) – if that’s not causing her to heal up, it’s likely some stronger pathogen that her immune-system won’t be able to handle herself, in wich case she’ll need antibiotics.
I rather start with a less ‘nuklear’ option as it makes a fish’s immune-system stronger in the long run, overuse of antibiotics can weaken fish and cause resistant pathogens to pop up, wich no one wants.
I have carbon media in my filter so tannins don’t stay for me. Instead I use a product called ‘microbe-lift artemiss’. My betta had become obsessed with a corner behind a rock and was damaging her fins in this way. She had rough edges and a bit of black too because I didn’t notice soon enough. so I obviously rearranged it and tried this because I wanted to avoid nuking my system with kanaplex and didn’t feel she was unwell in herself and would be stressed in a hospital tank as she’s used to a 20 gal. It’s really good stuff and her fins started showing improvement after 24-36hrs. It smells a little strong but it hasn’t ever bothered my fish.