# HELLLPP!!! my poor betta's fins are all tangled together - Pics



## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

I have had dave for approx a month now - he was super heathy until I came to work on Monday and found him sleeping on the ground - we did change 20-30% of his water before we left on the weekend ( he is our work pet ) and earlier in the week we had got a bottom feeder ( small and keeps to himself ) 

Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 76-78
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? A little sucker

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Colour enhansing flakes & blood worms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once or twice a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 1 every other week ( but I check the water and all the levels are fine )
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20-30%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner 15 mins before I put the water into the tank

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Yes I have but dont have that info - but it was all normal

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Yes his fins are all stuxk together and he has become much lighter than before - attached before & after pics
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Sleeps on the bottom of the tank or under his plant or right on the heater
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Monday ( 4 days ago )
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes - got a better heater and the pet store gave me aquarium salts to put in the water
Does your fish have any history of being ill? nope first time 
How old is your fish (approximately)? a month 


Please help - we are all super sad!!!


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

you really need to change the water once a week. I really need to see numbers, not just everything is fine. That really tells us nothing. I do not know if your tank is cycled. I don't know anything. 

You also need to change the water once a week to put nutrients back into the tank. The only way to add these is to do a water change. 

also I was stay away from flakes and freeze dried foods. They lead to constipation and bloating. You should feed pellets that are low in fillers - like Omega One or New Life Spectrum - and frozen bloodworms as an occasional treat. 

Please provide us with the actual numbers from your water test and I can tell you more.


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

+1 Viv. We need numbers. 

This looks like fin melt to me though. As I think I understand it, this is a type of rot usually associated with poor water quality. Please understand - ammonia\nitrite\nitrates are not the ONLY things that build up in the water. Other dissolved organic compounds build up too - and these need to be removed with regular water changes. Assuming your 5g is cycled, you should be doing 50% water changes per week.

Right *NOW* though, I would start with daily water changes and adding aquarium salt at 1tsp per gallon for 10 days. Your guy probably needs antibiotics as well. Knowing your pH and other parameters would really help in making a recommendation - not all antibiotics are effective at all pH levels.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Also, what kind of fish is his tankmate?


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

You mentioned you recently added the bottom feeder... did you quarantine it for a few weeks before adding it? If not it may have been carrying something and it was spread to your betta. A picture of it would help as well as often "sucker fish" can be species that need huge tanks (plecos) or need more of its own kind (otos/cories).


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

+1 to everyone that pointed out the tankmate. I must have glanced over that. A picture of that little guy could help to identify him if you don't know what type he is.

And also a good point that if he wasn't quarantined, he could have have introduced illness to your little guy.


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## mishu (Mar 3, 2015)

I am so sorry to hear that your Betta is sick...I ve posted 2 days ago the same problem. Almost same conditions as you are telling ( except the food) And he looks exactly like your poor fish in the first pic... I put some salt in the water and started with Lifeguard ( cannot get antibiotic here in this little town).. at least he is swimming around again...but fins are looking still the same ( and it seems to be hard for him to swim like that...) 
Hope yours will recover ...


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Fin me.t 100%, caused by not keeping the water clean enough. It could have been from your new tank mate, or both. Especially since, with the new fish making more waste, you'll need to change the water even more often. ^+1 to mishu on proper treatment


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Ive seen this condition before with fish shipped into my lfs. The fins literally will wrap into a swirl. This is not very common. I have no idea what causes this but some success at treatment with aquarium salt, antibiotics and methylene blue baths. Wish I was more help. If this treatment doesn't work you may need to consider trimming the tangled fins.


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## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

Okay so here is a picture of the sucker guy - the lady with the test kit wont be in until Tuesday so I will see if we can get the numbers then - it was a color strip though so I don't remember seeing numbers on it?

I have put salt in the aquarium - the petstore gave me nutrafin Aquarium salt

we only had problems with Dave after doing the water change so I dont know what went wrong there - even used water conditioner called topfin Betta water conditioner

Thanks for all your guys help and any more info would be great


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## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

Sorry forgot pic - here it is ( Sorry my phone wouldnt take better quality pic )


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Photo didn't load :-(

As for the test strips, there should be a reference sheet that you compare the strips to that will give you the number values.


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## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

Did you get the photo now?


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

Yeah, now it's up.

I *think* that's an oto - but I'll wait for someone else to chime in to confirm. If it is, I believe they do well in larger numbers, which might mean you would need a larger tank.


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

Looks like an oto. Yes, they do better in in small schools, and in a much larger tank. 20gal minimum. They also eat veggies like lettuce, brussel sprouts, etc. (can be attached to tank with veggie clip, found in petstores)


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## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

Pet store told me that it was okay to be alone with the betta in a 5gallon?


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## Vireo (Mar 5, 2015)

Pet stores are there to sell you fish and product. Many (not all!) don't know a lot about betta care and will sell you things you don't need or give you bad advice.

IE: Betta's CAN live in a cup/vase, but they will not thrive. Same goes for your little oto catfish.  

I love oto's. They are super adorable.  http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Please do a water change to remove as much salt from your tank as possible; catfish cannot tolerate salt.


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

A little bit of searching shows that AQ salt at 1tsp per gallon PROBABLY won't be harmful to an oto in short periods - but yeah....probably better to do a large water change. I'd get a smaller (1gal) tank for your betta to treat him in until he's healthy again if possible.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

Do not worry too much about having a lone oto. I have kept them regularly in my nano tanks alone. I just lost one that was five years old. Just make sure he always has a nice round belly and is staying active. Also do not over- clean your tank walls, they eat awfuchs off of them. I would get some anubias plants for him though. They do like cover.


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## Davethebetta (Mar 5, 2015)

So do we think this is clamped fins or fin melt?

I read fin melt actually made them dissapear or fall off but they are just wrapped up?


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

This looks like fin melt, unless there is something else that looks similar as noted by logisticsguy's experience.

Clamped fins would just be find held close to the body, but they would be intact. They would be *able* to spread. Your guys fins just aren't right.


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