I got a new betta a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed what looked like a little bit of tail nipping or tearing when I first unboxed him. But it's gotten so much worse since then. I don't see any brown around his fins, like I read about when reading about fin rot. I think it's probably tearing from the coral you can see in the background of the photos (which I have removed from the tank). He spent a lot of time swimming through that coral. I'm hoping his fins will recover now that I've removed the coral, but I wanted to get some other opinions to make sure I shouldn't be treating him for fin rot.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1sodbd3
Posted by shelby081990
4 Comments
* **Tank size**: 5 gallons
* **Heater and filter? (yes/no)**: yes
* **Tank temperature**: 78
* [**Parameters in numbers and how you got them**](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/tank#wiki_test_kits)**. Key water parameters include the amount of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH.**: 0 ammonia / 0 nitrites / <5 nitrates / 7.6 ph
* **How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?**: 3 months / had the fish for two weeks
* **How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?**: 20 % every 1-2 weeks with gravel vacuum
* **Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each**: blue dream shrimp
* **What do you feed and how much**: bug bites twice a day
* **Decorations and plants in the tank**: anubia / java ferns / cardinal plants/ driftwood / coral now removed
Definitely would remove the coral asap
Looks like tearing to me likely from the coral like you and sm31699 mentioned bc it does look pretty roughly textured. Would still get him another hide like another piece of driftwood and more plants because from what you described he did seem to like the coral it just didn’t like him
Like what every one else has said. Coral is the most likely culprit here. You can get some driftwood that’s similar in size off of amazon for like 10 15 bucks from what I remember. Cheaper than getting it from a big chain pet store. Unless you have some nice driftwood that’s not full of like fertilizer or pine sap. Nice looking betta tho! Best of luck!