# Tail Disintegration



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Ok... so i left for a trip last friday Oct 8... i ask someone at my house to check on my boy a VT... long story short... i came home to my tank being dark (found out the light was never turned on so he was in the dark except for daylight for 5 days) when i turned the light on my boys tail looked like it was blown out and he kept biting on it... also looked like the tail lobes are just splitting down the middle... so i QT him in a 1/2 gallon with Aquarium salt and daily water changes he improved real good... OK here's the question i put him back in his 5g tank after doing a 50% water change with a hour his tail looked OK... after two hours i notice the splits... 15 min ago there are holes starting to form... funny thing is its JUST on his back tail.. PLS HELP

Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 G Aqueon mini tank
What temperature is your tank? 75-80
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes but took out
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 2 ghost shrimp

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? betta pellets/ bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 pellets/1 bloodworm once a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 1-2 week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? maybe 40%-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aquarium Salt-- dechlorinate-- stress coat all API 

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? i have those water test strips

Ammonia: ??
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.8-7.2
Hardness: 120 ( i have really bad hard water)
Alkalinity: 80-120

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? just blown tail
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? N/A
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Oct 12
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? yes
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? i got him 2 months ago


----------



## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Could it be the ammonia in the water? Maybe get an ammonia test kit, and also I hear test strips arent as accurate as the liquid tests are.


----------



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Thats what i heard to about the strip im gonna have to get a good test kit cause also i want to get something that softens the water... i wanna say that its not the ammonia cause he would be alot more sick than what he is IDK... but i have the a filter and 3 betta bulp plants and the fish hasn't been in the tank for the last 9 days... but i'm new to this


----------



## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

He's probably blowing the tail out from flaring as well as biting his tail. Are the betta bulbs alive? If they were in the dark that long they may have died and you might want to remove them before they pollute the water. As for the betta, try to keep his environment as stress-free as possible. Add more broad-leafed plants for him to hide in and do what you can to baffle the current caused by the filter. You may want to increase your water changes--you should aim to keep your ammonia and nitrite level ate .25ppm while the tank is cycling, ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic so you don't want there to be any more than necessary. The ammonia/nitrite content is probably contributing to his stress level.


----------



## wystearya (Sep 27, 2010)

NEWBEE FISH said:


> Food
> What type of food do you feed your betta fish? betta pellets/ bloodworms
> How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 pellets/1 bloodworm once a day


Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think your feeding your Betta quite enough. I am reading it right, you only feed him 1-2 pellets and (or ?) 1 bloodworm once a day?

I feed mine 3 pellets for his breakfast, and then at dinner he will get either 4-5 brine shrimp or a few bloodworms. (My brine shrimp and blood worms are the frozen kind, not freeze dried.) Though, I do have a bottle of freeze dried bloodworms. He only gets a few pieces of the freeze-dried once in a while, maybe once a week.

Now, maybe your Betta is not full grown? But, if he is I think he might need a bit more food than your currently giving him.

*Anyone else want to weigh in on this?*

Not that I think this caused his tail to be blown, but a good diet will help it grow back nicely.


----------



## Adastra (Jun 18, 2010)

Well, I think you might be overfeeding a bit. It does somewhat depend on the betta and the betta's environment. For instance, I keep my halfmoons in filtered 3 gallon containers--because of their heavy finnage, they move slowly and aren't as active as my other fish. Because of this, I feed them less so that they will not become obese due to lack of exercise. I feed them 3 pellets or 4 thawed blood worms, or two frozen brine shrimp. It's important not to go heavy on the brine shrimp because their exoskeletons make digestion difficult. I have a plakat and and some veil tails in 5 gallon tanks, and because they are more active, they get more food, an extra pellet here and there, but nothing crazy. 

Could the OP afford to feed his bettas more? Yeah, he or she could get away with feeding a couple more pellets (always make sure to pre-soak any dry food you give your betta, freeze dried food in particular must be fully rehydrated before use). 

Wystearya, you should be cutting back, though, especially on fattening things like blood worms.


----------



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Thank you all... this morning/afternoon now... his tail is looking great... the hole have filled in after i put in some Aquarium Salt and his fins are a healthy white and looks like new growth(compared to yesterday) .... YES the betta bulbs all but 1 is fully grown.. about the feeding i feed him 2 pellets and a bloodworm or the other way around 2-3 a day (i dont know about your fish but my fish poops alot) i did feed him nothing but bloodworm while i had him in QT.. Adastra can recommend any product that cant soften my water?? i have really really hard water...


----------



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Oh any recommendation on liquid test kits....


----------



## dirtyfishbow (Oct 20, 2010)

Test kits at pet co work well, it about 30.00 but u get it all, and it.lasts awhile.


----------



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Alright.....


----------

