# Black Edges on Fins and Split Fins?



## TheoFish (Jan 8, 2011)

Housing 
What size is your tank? *10 gallons*
What temperature is your tank? *78F*
Does your tank have a filter? *Yes, a small 3 gallon filter*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? *no*
Is your tank heated? *yes*
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? *none*

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? *betta pellets*
How often do you feed your betta fish? *twice a day, 4 pellets each time*

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? *30% once a week*
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? *30%*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? *betta water conditioner and aquarium salt*

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *Yes, he has developed black on some of his fins, and his dorsal fin has two splits in it, with black where the split joins the main fin.*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? *No, he is still active, has blown a large bubble nest, and enjoys staying near the top of the tank.*
When did you start noticing the symptoms?* Three days ago, I noticed the black discoloration on his fins. Yesterday I noticed one split on his dorsal fin, which was split almost to his body. This morning his dorsal fin had another split.*
Have you started treating your fish? *If so, how? I have added a little extra aquarium salt and bought some tetracycline, but I have not added the tetracycline yet.*
Does your fish have any history of being ill?* No.*
How old is your fish (approximately)? *I have had him for a year, and bought him when he was full grown from a Petco.*

Hi all, I'm brand new to the forums with this being my first post, which is sadly about my betta Theo's health. Three days ago I noticed he had dark brown/black on the edges of his fins, and he has developed two splits in his dorsal fin in the past two days. I thought it was fin rot, but everything I've found online says fin rot is white and appears fuzzy. I ran out and bought tetracycline anyways, but am hesitant to start medicating him when I don't know what's wrong. The black/brown on his fins matches his body color (the poor guy was supposed to be blue I guess, but he's dark brown with just a little bit of blue on the crest of his back), but I would think he's too old to be developing new colors and that doesn't explain the split fins. All the plants in his tank are real, and he's not getting stuck in the filter intake.

I'm attaching some pictures (hopefully it works!), and would really appreciate it if any of you can help me out in diagnosing my poor little guy. Thank you.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

The only thing I can think of is Finrot :/


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

It also seems like fin rot to me


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

I agree... it's fin rot.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

It's probably finrot, but maybe it's some fin infection.
I noticed that you feed 4 pellets 2 times a day, that is way too much. First, you should not feed for a few days, then you should start feeding 2 pellet twice a day or 3 pellets once a day. You might want to raise the temp a little, like to 80. The higher temp will help clear up any infection (hopefully) and help heal the finrot.


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## TheoFish (Jan 8, 2011)

Okay, thanks all. I guess I will start him on the tetracycline, add some more salt, and raise his temperature and hope for the best.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

It is hard to tell by the pics but since he is otherwise acting his normal self it may be due to injury from either something in the tank that he is snagging his fins on, the gravel or even the water flow from the filter

With live plants I would not use aquarium salt in the tank, some plants can be sensitive and will rot and die polluting the tank

If you plan to treat I would QT in a small container that you can float in the heated 10g tank and treat with aquarium salt 1tsp/gal along with 100% daily water changes for 10 days

Or

Start making some 50% water only changes in the 10g for several days and then 1 time week thereafter-the brown edges could be normal color change, re-growth or fin rot hard to say....

What kind and how many live plants do you have?


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