# Frayed tail



## Cnight (Aug 23, 2011)

He just got out of his treatment for fin rot which was a tsp of salt in a gallon of water with daily 100% changes. I placed him in a new tank with treated water after cleaning everything and letting the filter run for a day. I started to notice that the nips in his tail appeared to be getting worse. My main question is what could be causing this? 

also, what are the recommendations for upkeep of the tank such as water changes, percentage of water changed, and general care?


Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? yes
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? 1 pellet 3 times a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? unsure
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? unsure
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? unsure

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? tail appears to be getting more and more frayed
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he seems to be eating less
When did you start noticing the symptoms? yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? i thought we had defeated fin rot, but this has me questioning.
How old is your fish (approximately)?


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

He might be getting caught in the filter, but it doesn't look like it.

What does his tank look like, plenty of hiding spots and plant cover? If not, this could be stressing him out and making him bite his own tail out of insecurity or frustration. If he can see any other fish, it might be misdirected aggression.

If that's the case, give him more plant cover (enough that he can still swim, but that there are plenty of hiding options on all levels of the tank). For a filtered 5 gallon with only 1 fish, you could probably get away with 30-40% water changes weekly. For now though, since he's healing, change 50% of the water weekly just to maintain a good water quality for the process.

How did you treat him for fin rot? Medications, salt, or just quarantine?
If the rot persists or his tail keeps getting shorter, quarantine him in either his cup or a container that you can float in the 5 gallon for warmth, and add 1 tsp/gal of premixed aquarium salt and change all of his water every day for a max of 10 days. If after 5 days of 1 tsp/gal that the rot has not gone away, you can up the salt content to 2 tsp/gal premixed.

Fin rot is generally a black or red edging on gradually disappearing fins, if he doesn't display this and his fins are still disappearing, then it may not be fin rot, but fin biting.


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## Cnight (Aug 23, 2011)

Treatment was 10 days of 100% water changes and 1 tsp of salt in a 1 gallon quarantine container.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Alright. Give him a week of just clean water before starting any more aquarium salt. If he hasn't improved in that time, I'd start out with 2 tsp/gal for 5 days.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

It looks like he's been nipping at the ends of his fins. Clean water to prevent infection is best. AQ salt might be needed.


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## Cnight (Aug 23, 2011)

I thought it could be tail biting, but the darker coloration towards the end of his tail had me a little worried. Ive never seen him healthy since i got him a two weeks or so ago when he was quite sick, so i dont really know if thats his natural coloring or not.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

The pictures you have look identical to the pictures of my boy after he chewed on his tail. Darker colouration on the ends of his tail is probably fin rot, which can be brought on by poor water conditions, or wounds to their fins, such as those caused by fin nipping. IF the ends are looking rather feathery, and black, then he probably has bitten his fins and could be developing rot, at least that's what I'd think. That or it's really hard to tell with blue boys, since dark blue is hard to tell from black at times! Clean water, changed daily with some premixed AQ salt will help. 1 tsp/gallon is a good dose to start with. 

As a side note for fin biters, unless you really watch them, or know what to look for, you won't see it. The will swim in circles chasing their tail or fins like a dog, and slowly sink as they do this. Or at least that's my boys M. O.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

My boy swims down a little bit and stops to wait for his tail to reach his face before nipping. He does it the lazy way.


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