# Lack of ventrals?



## bethyMT (Nov 24, 2012)

Please, pardon me if this has been asked many times before. ATM I can't do a search, have two little girls needing attention. Heck, I don't even know if this is in the right section...please move it if it's wrong. 

Is it normal for baby bettas to not have ventral fins, or to have stunted ones? Many of the fish in my batch (sent from a breeder, about 15) have either small ventrals (like really small), only one ventral (which may or may not be regular size), or don't have ventrals at all that I can see. My baby betta, Mr. Sassypants, has none, and although his finnage and behavior indicate his maleness, I don't have ventrals to observe. 

If this is a problem, what can I do about it? They came to me this way, and I'm doing daily or every other day 50% or more water changes and feeding a mixture of live/frozen brine shrimp, tiny pellets the breeder sent to me, and hikari mini pellets(this only sometimes as it's not strictly betta food). It's just odd...both parents had nice ventrals, IDK what's going on here.

Thanks if you can help. I'm clueless. Getting better at general betta care, but this stuff puzzles me still.

Edit: These are giant HMPKs, mix of male and female.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

The outcome of missing ventrals can be from being fed microworms. Though the worms themselves do not actually cause missing ventrals, what happens is the bacteria builds up along the bottom of the tank, and causes this common "problem".

It is normal, for the most part  So you do not have to worry about anything along the lines of diseases.


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## bethyMT (Nov 24, 2012)

Hmmm. They haven't had microworms in a long time, if they had them at all. 

Will the ventrals grow back? Is there anything I can do to help?

Thank you. Good to know these guys aren't gonna keel over from this.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Research states that missing ventral fins are usually not genetic related.
Usual cause of missing ventral fins is related to bacteria cause by rotting microworms during the growth/development stage of the ventral fins.

Missing ventral fins is just cosmetic.

Its not uncommon to have different size fry in a spawn-this can be due to the growth stunting hormone emitted by the larger/older fry. An hour difference in age can be a big difference in the fish world-when you are born-grow up and reproduce within the first 6 months of life and with an average life span of 1-2 years in the wild. The older/larger fry stunt the younger fry so that they can eat them-survival of the fittest so-to-speak.

Other factors can cause small fry too-poor water quality, poor nutrition, crowed conditions, genetic to name the most common cause.

Sometimes with special care the stunted fry can grow out a bit more. In my fish room these fry are culled and why IMO especially new to the hobby breeders should cull all but the biggest, strongest fry and only keep 20-30 fry at the most to grow out. Quality-v-Quantity.....


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## bethyMT (Nov 24, 2012)

Oh, ok. So maybe this came from the breeder and not from anything I'm doing. It's really not a big deal to me, since these fish are all destined to be pets and appearances are relatively minor. I think the breeder didn't want to cull any of his offspring. I requested one or two fish, and ended up getting 15! 

As far as size goes, the differences there didn't confuse me. Since these are giants, there is a mix of giants and non-giants in there, and it's fine whatever size they are, as long as they re healthy. All have grown nicely in the short time I've had them, and some have been shipped to thier new homes already.

Thanks for your help! I appreciate it a lot.
EDIT: THey've been in a 20 gal since I've had them, which is probably a lot less crowded than the 20g long tank they were in at the breeder's (IDK how many were in there, but I know he had 100+ fry). They actually got a lot bigger fast with me - I've had them two weeks, and some have nearly doubled in size.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

They will definitely get bigger in size with having more room and less growth stunting hormone in the water ^_^


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