# HELP! Holes & Jagged in Betta Fin



## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

Hello! I just got a new Betta Fish for about 2 weeks. It is my first time ever so I have no idea to minimal understanding of it (it was also a gift so I know nothing about them until this forum). Within a week, there seems to be tiny holes in his tail end. I'm worried and I don't know what's going on!?

I thought it was because his fins are fragile and weak due to the fact that he wasn't getting enough nutrients since he wasn't eating his flake food for a week (I thought it was because everything was new to him so he's still adjusting). Then after that one week, I bought pellets and he began eating. But it seems like his holes/tails/fins are getting worse.

There is a plastic plant but I tried rubbing it in pantyhose and it doesn't seem to snag.. so the holes cause might not be the plant?

Now in addition to the tiny holes in his tail fin, it seems like the tail ends are getting jagged. I also noticed that along with the holes in the tail fin, the top fin seems to be getting more and more jagged as well. (Weird thing is that his bottom fin seems perfectly normal...for now)

I am not sure if this is fin rot? Please help me identify what this might be and how I can help it.. Thank you!!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Hello, and welcome to the forums. Could you please fill this form out so we can get a better understanding of your situation?


Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

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

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?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?


My male started off the exact same way about three weeks ago and I am now treating him for fin rot. It's extremely important to keep an eye out on any other symptom. For now, the picture you provided does not indicate he has fin rot. However, that's how my boy started off as well. I diagnosed my boy with fin biting at the start since it was the closest thing I could relate his symptoms with. Even with daily 100% water changes and 7 days of AQ Salt treatment, his fins got worse so he is now on medication.

For now, try to keep the water pristinely clean as possible and make sure it stays around 78-80F. In most cases, upping the water changes is enough for recovery. But until you answer some of these questions and give us a little more detail on his living situation, it's all I can personally suggest from my own experience. Just keep an eye on him and write back if he shows any other symptom or behavioral changes.


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## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

*More info about my fish problem*

Housing 
What size is your tank? 1/2 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? 70-75F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day, 4-6 pellets

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Nutrafin Betta Plus Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No

Ammonia: N/A
Nitrite: N/A
Nitrate: N/A
pH: N/A
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Tiny holes in the Tail; Tail and Top Fin appearing jagged
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Still same - active and swimming like usual
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A week after I got him
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I know of, he's new/ I received him recently
How old is your fish (approximately)? Not sure of the age, but I received him for about 2 weeks from the pet store.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Thank you for answering the questions.

It looks like your betta is housed in a much smaller home than the bare minimum they should have. Most people will suggest at least 5 gallons as the minimum for one betta—although some will say 2.5 per one betta is enough. Most people will consider cruelty to the betta if their homes are less than 2 gallons. 1/2 gallon is much too small for any type of fish and will shorten the livespan of your betta friend. I highly suggest you upgrade the tank to at the very least 2.5 gallons. Petco has a great summer sale on their fish tanks right now and their 2.5 gallons are around $14-15 USD. For the same price, you can pick up a 10 gallon even. Depends how much space you have on your counter! Critter keepers of 3g can go for $10 USD or so, depending where you look. 

The second problem is the temperature. 70-75 is much too low for a tropical fish like the bettas. Bettas thrive in 78-82 temperatures. They can live in what he has now, but it may bring up problems later on in his lifespan. It's best to have a heater to keep the water around 78 to make it more comfortable for him. Warmer water will also help him heal better if there ever comes a problem or he becomes ill. Small heaters in stores can range between $8-$20 USD. There's a few 10W heaters that can heat up to 3g for around $12-15 USD if I remember correctly. 

The third problem is the water change. In 1/2 gallons of water, you should be performing daily water changes of 100% everyday. The larger the tank, the less water you need to change, which is why many people will suggest 5-10 gallons for one betta! Changing only 50% once a week in a 0.5g container will bring water conditions very poor and he will become ill from it. In such cold water, he will have a harder time fighting infections as well. If money is tight, and you cannot afford to upgrade his tank to at least 2.5g, you'll need to change his current container every day and you'll need to change all of it. Although it's not absolutely necessary, I would also suggest you take one day out of the week to wash out any decorations or fake plants you have in the container with warm water.

Upgrading his tank and warming up the water will help with those holes in his fins. There's a good chance those holes are just from the large amount of ammonia in his water, which is caused from having such a small tank with not enough water changes. Continue to keep his water pristinely clean and stick with a good schedule to lessen the stress during water changes. Keeping this up should help him fill those holes and regrow them in. 

PS: Don't let employees from most pet stores (mostly from large chains) fool you into thinking that bettas only need very small bowls or anything less than 1g to survive. Survive and thrive are two different things and as a pet owner, it's important to give the best of what you can offer to your pets to ensure they live long, healthy, happy lives. I've been in countless arguements with employees at Petco and Petsmart about betta care because they insist bettas only need a cup to live since their stores are proof. ALL LIES!


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## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

*Worried and Confused*

Thank you for your kind help!

I think I am confused with different opinions presented to me.. and I don't know what to believe..

Petco said that room temperature water is ok, and to do water changes once a week for my tank. It makes me wonder why fish stores would tell you that bettas are ok in small tanks, because wouldn't it benefit them to sell big tanks and make more money?

And my friend who gifted this to me said he has a betta fish that lives in a tank even smaller than my 1/2 gallon tank, and that he does once a week water change, and his betta fish has been living for a year and more, and never had any sickness. He said my case might be because the fish was sick already when he purchased it or that it might have certain genes that make it more prone to sickness.

I know that my friend's fish story is only one anecdote and that does not mean it applies to every betta fish. But I tried looking online and I cannot find substantial research for how to properly care for betta fish. It all seems to be differing opinions on different sites, and that they all seem to be talking about their experience (which always varies because every one and every fish is different) and not really people who are specialists/experts or devoted to study these fishes. It just makes me wonder how valid are everyone's thoughts.

I hope you understand that I am only questioning because I want to take good care of my fish and don't want to blindly listen to one side or the other.

I really appreciate your time and help and I will take some of your advice because I don't know what else to do, and it does seem like it makes more sense! There is not a local pet store close to me so I cannot upgrade the tank yet until I can find time and a way to go (the only closer stores I've checked mainly deals with dogs & cats). I cannot get a heater now because the tank is too small and I worry the fish will be cooked. I will do more frequent water changes but I worry that it will stress him out too much since I have to net him into a small cup. And I worry that 100% water changes so often will put him into fatal shock! I heard aquarium salt can keep harmful bacteria away, should I start him on it too? Also is there a difference between stress coat and water conditioner? (I ask because will stress coat make him heal faster?)


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## hubbley (Apr 23, 2014)

I think you should listen to Pendulum. I completely agree with her and would backup everything she said. 

You'll really enjoy you fish in a larger tank. I upgraded my guy to a 5.5 gallon a month after we got him, but I wish I had done it sooner. 

There is no guarente that your fish will get sick if you keep him in a .5 gallon tank, but his risk is much, much higher. Like people all fish are different, some being very prone to illness and some being very strong. You'd have to wait and see with yours, but why take the risk when you can help prevent it right now?

In the end it's up to you, but I highly advise you to upgrade to what Pendulum described. We're not trying to give you wrong information or make you spend more money than you need to. Pendulum mentioned some great options at a low price. I'm a new owner myself and these people have never told me wrong when it comes to tanks, or anything really. They know what they are talking about, and if you continue to come on this site you'll understand why these things are important for the health of your fish.

If you are really, really, against all this, you have to do the water change as described and get your fish into a warmer room so the temperature is right. At least do these for your fish if nothing else, but his current home really is too small. Please take what we say to heart and trust us.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

I completely understand what you're saying since I went through the exact same thing, especially since money is tight for me and I never understood why they would sell small fish bowls if it was so harmful. But hopefully the following will help give you a better understanding as to why many people will suggest a larger tank and why your friend's betta may have lived in smaller containers with no problems; or even why the fish stores would tell you what they have told you.

*1. "My friend owned a betta (or several) in small containers and they've lived over a year!"*

Very healthy bettas with good genes can live up to 5 years, although the average healthy betta will live up to 3 years. Living for one year is still not even halfway of their life expectancy. I’ve read people claiming their bettas living up to 7 years. 



*2. “They’ve been living in small containers for more than one year!”*

As you said before, there are very few who’ve had much success caring for bettas in small containers less than 1 gallon and had them live 2-3 years. My very first betta, Duke, was a white and brown marble VT and I kept him in a small ½ gallon fish bowl. I was very young when I had him and I believed what the stores told me: Feed them daily and change their bowls couple times a month. And that’s what I did and Duke lived past 2 years with no water conditioner to the tap water, one water change every 1-2 weeks, and feeding him 2-3 times a week. People who read this will be horrified that I mistreated Duke but I was young and I didn’t know better. Duke would have lived longer but I had to move across the US and gave him to my friend, who left him outside the day I gave it to her and he instantly died. I was very lucky to have Duke.

Years down the line, and about three months ago, I was excited to get a betta to finally replace my beloved Duke. I thought, “Duke lived his life expectancy in a small bowl, I’ll just buy another and save space.” Much to my horror, I was completely wrong on anything I knew about bettas, which I didn’t know anything about them after all these research. However, I still couldn’t understand why the small bowls would be on sale if they require much larger tanks. The best way to compare this is if you lived in a small closet your whole life. Why live in a small closet or cupboard under the stairs if you can live in a bedroom with more space? Why live in one bedroom when you can have a small kitchen and live in a small studio? Why live in a small studio when you can live in an apartment? A house? A yard to sit in with your house? The concept applies with fish. Most of the time, it may come down to money. I personally can’t afford to live in a house on my own so I live in an apartment. No one is saying you need 200 gallons for one betta, or even 10 gallons. The bigger, the better is usually the saying for fish and deciding how much space the fish really needs to thrive and survive. 

I initially bought a Marina Betta Kit that was also ½ gallons (Based on the pictures you posted, it looks like you have the same thing) thinking it was enough. Until I learned about the cycling process, the dangers of new tank syndrome, and someone making the comparison with living in a small closet made a lot more sense. I realize I mistreated Duke, my first betta, very poorly due to ignorance and while I still wish I had him here with me and I regret making him suffer. But all I can do now is to make sure my current and future bettas will live better lives and ensure that I give them the best care that I can afford.



*3. “Stores sell small fish bowls. It must be safe; otherwise why else would they be selling them?” “It makes me wonder why fish stores would tell you that bettas are ok in small tanks, because wouldn't it benefit them to sell big tanks and make more money?”*

I never realized this until a few months ago, but someone had explained that fish stores will sell small bowls because the chains know (or perhaps they really don’t) small bowls will cause problems with the fish, or the fish will be more susceptible to illness in such a confined space. The fish becomes ill and fish owners will be forced to buy medicine to save their precious pets. The fish dies and they’ll be out buying more and more fish to restock. It’s a part of a marketing scheme along with other factors such as lack of better knowledge, or even care. Not to mention stores can sell whatever they want and if a company wants the stores to sell their products, the stores will. It’s best to do as much research as you can when you have pets, just as you would if you had a child, dog, cat, or any other pet or family member. You’ll be spending more money trying to restock your fish over the years. A tank lasts much longer than a fish as well. You can go out and buy one tank and use it for your entire lifetime, but you’ll need fish to restock during your lifetime.



*4. “Petco said that room temperature water is ok.”*

Ambient room temperature ranges from 68-77F. On top of that, the water temperature is usually a few degrees lower than room temperature. That large of a range on temperature is dangerous to the fish, regardless if they’re healthy or not. “Okay” is not the same as “healthy” or as I said in my previous post: surviving and thriving are two separate things. If you just want your fish to move and be alive, then room temperature is “okay”. HOWEVER, certain room temperatures (especially during the summer) is acceptable. The only temperature that matters is the water in the tank. My bettas tank stay at a consistent 78F at room temperature with no heater. But it’s also summer and freakishly hot here in Florida so I understand that I will need a heater for the colder weather. A handful of people will turn their heaters off for the summer since they live somewhere where it’s warm and the tank stays at tropical water temperatures. Remember that bettas are tropical fish and require warm water. Certain room temperatures are okay as long as the water in the tank stays 78-82 and stays consistent. Other than keeping the water warm, the use of a heater keeps the water consistent as well. Water temperature fluctuations can potentially kill any fish. This is why it’s very important to properly acclimate your fish before letting them back in the tank after a tank water change. It's all right if you cannot get a heater at the moment, especially since he's in a smaller container right now. Just make sure you monitor the thermometer and your fish's behavior.



*5. “Petco said to do water changes once a week for my tank.”*

I was lucky to have an employee at Petco who was a betta enthusiast help me. He told me a lot to consider and debunked a lot of myths I thought were true. But like I said, I was lucky to have an employee with tropical fish care knowledge help me out. Most places, especially large chain stores, will hire anyone crazy enough to clean the scorpion tanks. As store employees, they must help anyone they can regardless of how much they know about the particular question buyers/shoppers ask. It’s not the employers’ fault since they’re just hired to work at the store, not hired to specialize in anything. I’m just talking about the large chain stores. It’s different with smaller shops, especially fish stores that specialize in… well, fish. Since it’s their specialty and it’s all or mostly what they carry, they’ll have better knowledge than the employers at Petco or Petsmart. 

Anyway, once a week water changes is sufficient for 5+ gallon tanks. As I stated in my previous post, the larger the tank, the less water changes you’ll need to perform and the larger the tank, the less volume of water you’ll need to change at a time. The smaller, the more frequent and I’ll explain why in my next point. Anything smaller than 1g requires every day, AT THE VERY LEAST every other day of water changes and you’ll need to change all if not most of it. You can’t rely on luck and hope that your betta friend can live with 50% water change once a week in ½ gallon container especially when there are many other options. Since you’re here on the forums asking for help, it’s safe to assume that you wish to take very good care of your betta and it’s completely understandable to ask the questions you’re asking especially since there’s always two sides to everything. 

I follow OFL’s (Oldfishlady, notable member on these forums) water change recommendations. I personally trust this information and many others who have been on these forums for a long time have told me they, too, trust OFL’s information. You can find their water change recommendation here: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758. I still recommend changing the water at the very bare minimum every other day in ½ gallon container. However, changing the water every day will ensure there is nothing in the water and help expedite the recovery of your fish. It’s like flushing only half of your poo and leaving the rest in the bowl. Each time you poo, you let it sit there and only flush half of it each week. It becomes gross and rather stinky for the bathroom and this is all something your betta has to live in. In smaller containers, the waste to water ratio is much higher compared to larger tanks with larger volumes of water. It’s easier to understand if you know how cycling a tank works, which I’ll explain soon.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

*6. “So exactly why is it that smaller tanks require more water changes with more water volume change each time compared to the larger tanks?” “What is cycling?”*

It comes down to the waste to water ratio. If you start off with clean 100% water change, you’ll have 0:1 waste:water ratio. Each time your fish leaves waste of any kind or any uneaten food unattended will raise the waste higher and higher and the only way to lower it would be to perform water changes. It’s also very important to understand the cycling process, regardless if you plan on having a filter or not. Understanding this process will help you understand the importance of water changes.

I’ve never heard of tank cycling until I bought Billy three months ago. “Cycling” refers to the establishment of beneficial bacteria bed in your biological filter. These beneficial bacteria (I’ll refer to them as BB from here on) remove the toxins that your fish’s metabolism creates. Your filter will grow a culture of bacteria that digest ammonia and turn it into NitrITE, which is more toxic than the ammonia. Then your filter will produce bacteria that digest the NitrITE and turn it into relatively harmless (in small amounts) of NitrATE. NitrATE will contribute to stress if left unattended and in high amounts can become dangerous and toxic in your tank. The only way to remove the NitrATE is to perform regular water changes (http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php). This is also referred to as the nitrogen cycle.

In other words, when your fish gets fed they will turn the food into waste. As the waste decomposes, it turns into ammonia and then turns into NitrITE. This is deadly to the fish. In your case, in such a small home and one 50% water change a week, the bioload of your betta will continue to pile, turning into ammonia and then turning into NitrITE. Unless you change all, if not most, of the water, the NitrITE will sit in the tank and pile on and with only one 50% water change a week your ammonia and NitrITE levels will spike. Filters with BB on the cartridge help turn these NitrITEs into NitrATEs, which is less harmful to the fish. In small concentrations of NitrATEs is acceptable in a freshwater/tropical tank. However, if you ignore water changes and allow the NitrATEs to pile, it can become toxic in high amounts. The only way for your NitrATE to turn into NitrATE is with a BB colony on a filter.

With no filter, your container will only hold the NitrITE (not to be confused with NitrATE) which is toxic. Unless you have a filter with BB colonies, the only way to remove your NitrITE is to perform water changes. In the same sense, the only way to remove NitrATE is to also perform water changes, restarting the ammonia > NitrITE > NitrATE > Water Change process. That’s where the water parameters part of the form I asked you to fill out earlier comes into play. You want zero ammonia and zero NitrITE. The only way to know how much of each you have your tank is to buy a freshwater test kit. Although it’s good to have and a great investment in the long run, they run around $30-40 per kit. I personally cannot buy one at the moment but unless you’re trying to cycle a tank or have constant problems in your tank, keeping up with enough water changes is enough to keep ammonia and NitrITE levels down and you won’t need to test the water (unless there’s a problem or you’re trying cycle a tank with a new filter like I said before).

So let’s review:
(Fishie) eats food > Food turns into Waste > Waste decomposes into Ammonia (TOXIC) > Ammonia turns into NitrITE (TOXIC). This is usually where tanks, such as my tanks, with no filter, ends. To remove the NitrITE, we perform water changes. 

However, most people have filters so the process continues from above:
Ammonia turns into NitrITE > NitrITE is converted into NitrATE by beneficial bacteria colonies imbedded in the filter cartridge. This is done by a proper and complete tank cycle > In low concentrations, NitrATE is okay to have but it will just continue to sit and pile. In large amounts, this becomes toxic so water changes are done to remove this and start this process all over again.

Remember that the Cycling process or “tank cycling” is referring to growing a BB colony on your filter cartridge. The process I reviewed above is just how ammonia and NitrITE become present in a fish tank. This is important to understand since we must keep up with water changes. And we both know water changes are important to keep the water from looking gross. Why does it look gross? It’s this water process of Ammonia > NitrITE. In larger tanks, algae growth can become another issue but I’ll leave that out of the explanation since that’s not an issue for you at the moment.

Even if you don’t plan on having a filter, it’s important to know why we perform such frequent water changes. Tropical fish, betta fish in our case, are sensitive to ammonia and NitrITE and are susceptible to ammonia burns. Knowing how ammonia appears in our tank water and why fish get sick from it is explained by the cycling process. 

However, I read it’s difficult to establish a fully cycled tank in anything smaller than 5 gallons. I hesitate to upgrade my tanks to 10 gallons because larger tanks require a filter and having a filter requires you to spend a few weeks to fully cycle a tank and establish the BB colony on the cartridge. I’ve never cycled any tank before so I’m rather intimidated by it but I’ve read and spent many days trying to understand it in case I do decide to upgrade my tanks. It’s nice to know .



*7. “It all seems to be differing opinions on different sites, and that they all seem to be talking about their experience (which always varies because every one and every fish is different) and not really people who are specialists/experts or devoted to study these fishes. It just makes me wonder how valid are everyone's thoughts.”*

I won’t lie and agree that on a lot of websites and opinions vary. However there have been scientific studies done to prove many aspects I’ve covered (i.e. the Nitrogen cycle). People of 30, 40, or 50 years of fish keeping experience can tell you some of the same things I covered. It does come down to experience but of all the things I’ve researched, the very median of everything I read is everything I’ve covered here for you. You’re always free to make adjustments to what you’ve been told and advised to do since in the end, it’s your pet and your experience. I’m only here to help explain certain things and hopefully give you the answers you’re seeking to help you. 

There are a lot of research papers and books you can read and even articles online with scientific studies and experts to give you these types of information. However, most studies show bare minimum and since I want my bettas to live a gazillion years, I'll do what I can to increase longevity. The best way to know how other than reading for countless hours is to ask experts themselves who have been into the fish keeping hobby for decades. Luckily, forums like this can bring us together and share our stories and experiences to better understand these cute creatures we seem to like to spoil.



*8. “I hope you understand that I am only questioning because I want to take good care of my fish and don't want to blindly listen to one side or the other.”*

And I completely understand! I was the exact same way, which ended up making me obsessed with researching more and more information on betta care since I’ve become addicted to these little guys. And I’m not here to force you to do anything and I’m not here to say what I explained and said thus far is law—only that this is what I’ve researched and sharing my experience. Like I said before, it comes down to you and what you’d like to do for your betta friend since in the end he is yours to care for. I, too, hope that you give the best care to your fish and I hope I was able to clear up some of your questions.



*9. “I will do more frequent water changes but I worry that it will stress him out too much since I have to net him into a small cup. And I worry that 100% water changes so often will put him into fatal shock! I heard aquarium salt can keep harmful bacteria away, should I start him on it too?”*

I just brought home a third betta and he’s temporarily housed in a ½ gallon Marina Betta Kit (Since upgrading my fish tanks, I use this as a hospital tank now) until I can get him a better 2.5g tank. He’s so feisty; I can never catch him with a net or cup lol. I’ve tipped the container with him still in it to pour as much water out as I can before. Since it seems to scare him, I just place the container next to my bathroom sink and cup out as much water as I can and pour in new water carefully, slowly, and gently to avoid water currents. It takes a total of 5 minutes for me to do this and I change the water every 24 hours. Then I’ll feed him to let him know that the 5 minutes of horror can lead to yummy food lol. If you properly acclimate him to the new water, your fish will not go into shock; especially if you’re using room temperature water and remember to treat the water with water conditioner. I’ve read a lot of different acclimation times and to date I can’t find one definite answer. However, I usually spend 20 minutes to acclimate my third betta in the ½ gallon and about 60 minutes to acclimate my other two in 2.5g tanks. I’ve read acclimation times of between 10-120 minutes, so it’s hard to say. If you have a heater and you need to wait for the heater to heat up the new water, it takes longer to acclimate the fish. But in a smaller container, I think 20 minutes is enough time to acclimate them to the new water.

AQ Salt can help fend off infection but it cannot be used for more than 10 days. I’ve read very few people claiming 14 days is the cut off mark but most of my research finds say 10 days. I never go past 10 days and usually spend only 5-7 days if I ever need to use it. You can treat him for 2-3 days of AQ Salt treatment if you wish but I don’t think it’s necessary. If you do wish to use it for 2-3 days, make sure you take some treated tank water in a cup and mix the appropriate amount of AQ Salt in it. Make sure to completely dissolve the salt in the water and slowly pour in the mixture into the tank. In my ½ gallon hospital tank, I usually pour in about half and the second half about 15 minutes later. Just so my betta isn’t suddenly swimming in all that salt. Remember that if you plan on using AQ Salt, you either have to dump all the water out to put in new salt or readjust the AQ Salt dosage if you’re only doing partial water changes so you ensure you don’t overdose on the salt. If changing 100% every day is too much and you wish to not stress the betta by netting him every day, you can change 50% every day and leave him in the container. But if you only do 50% a day, I highly suggest performing that every day. Otherwise, 100% every other day is the bare minimum in my opinion. We need to make sure the NitrITE levels stay down!



*10. “Also is there a difference between stress coat and water conditioner? (I ask because will stress coat make him heal faster?)”*

API Stress Coat+ is what I’m using to treat Billy with his fin problems and that bottle is already a water conditioner. The stress coat will help with the healing/recovering process and I don’t know how much of this is true but the bottle says their study finds that the bottle will help reduce 40% of stress. It’s probably just hindsight but I think it has helped Billy distress a lot and he seems much more calm and chipper. Probably just hindsight since I personal don’t have scientific evidence this is even true lol.

I’ve read people using both their regular water conditioner and stress coat at the same time to help treat their tanks and haven’t had much problem. I do this for Billy’s since my regular water conditioner is Prime and Prime helps lock ammonia down for a short period of time and I add stress coat to help with his healing. 

But essentially, the stress coat itself is already a water conditioner so you can just use the one bottle. Many people seem to like the stress coat water conditioner and I personally am a fan of it.


I’m sorry for the long post but I really hope this has helped you in some way, or at least given you a different perspective. I wish you the best of luck and always feel free to continue to update us on your betta’s condition to help you along the way. I also apologize for any grammar or spelling errors. I sat here for three hours typing this and ensuring that I wasn’t getting confused with a few things since it’s a lot of information lol. I might of repeated myself a few times as well.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask and I will be more than happy to help you or direct you to someone who can help if I am unable to answer. Thanks for taking the time to consider my suggestions and advice and thanks for reading!


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## KellyFish (Jun 17, 2014)

I think if the fins are getting shorter and losing color at the end then it could be fin rot, it looks like it.
But I have never seen the holes before...
Maybe your fish is tail biting?
Hope I Helped


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## JPfishkeeper (Jun 26, 2014)

Hello everyone, may name is Jose, and I am knew to this forum. Regarding newbettababy's problem, I believe the betta you have is probably a crown tail; the fins (dorsal/caudal) on these bettas are normally jagged. I think the "holes" that you are seeing on the fish, may reflect the healing process of previous wounds caused by other bettas, netting the fish at the petshop, etc... I think the size of the aquarium where the betta is housed, is appropriate; water changes (10-20%) weekly with water previously treated to remove ammonia, chlorine, and chloramine, and of the same temperature or slightly warmer are super important. Also important is to keep the temperature around 80-82F and a closed lid on the tank, so that the air just above the surface, which bettas, gouramis, etc... use to get oxygen, is warm enough; otherwise the labyrinth apparatus on your betta will be damaged. Try these, and many of the good advises on this forum, give your betta sometime, and hopefully he'll improve.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

KellyFish said:


> I think if the fins are getting shorter and losing color at the end then it could be fin rot, it looks like it.
> But I have never seen the holes before...
> Maybe your fish is tail biting?
> Hope I Helped


Fin rot usually consists of blackened or red edges of the fins along with the "dissolving" or shortening of the fins. It's often confused with fin biting but they are two completely different things. Based on the pictures, it does not look like fin rot but rather possible tears or fin biting. Since the holes look too consistent, I'm wondering if it's really tail biting or something else. Fin biting can range depending on the fish but usually they're not even, and look more jagged. I've seen holes like this in my boy but if this isn't treated correctly, the holes can lead to fin rot. I'd lean more towards fin biting but it's hard to say. I've scrambled my brain trying to figure the same thing with my boy a few weeks ago. Needless to say, I just diagnosed him with fin biting since it was the closest thing I could find and he started off with holes just like these.




JPfishkeeper said:


> Hello everyone, may name is Jose, and I am knew to this forum. Regarding newbettababy's problem, I believe the betta you have is probably a crown tail; the fins (dorsal/caudal) on these bettas are normally jagged. I think the "holes" that you are seeing on the fish, may reflect the healing process of previous wounds caused by other bettas, netting the fish at the petshop, etc... I think the size of the aquarium where the betta is housed, is appropriate; water changes (10-20%) weekly with water previously treated to remove ammonia, chlorine, and chloramine, and of the same temperature or slightly warmer are super important. Also important is to keep the temperature around 80-82F and a closed lid on the tank, so that the air just above the surface, which bettas, gouramis, etc... use to get oxygen, is warm enough; otherwise the labyrinth apparatus on your betta will be damaged. Try these, and many of the good advises on this forum, give your betta sometime, and hopefully he'll improve.


Welcome to the forums, Jose. 

Based on the pictures Newbettababy has posted, their betta does not look to be a CT. Possibly a VT if the betta is young, otherwise the tail type is a delta. I would agree with the healing comment you made if there were holes before or if there was something else (e.g. discoloration, fungal) before the two weeks this person has had the fish. But since they stated that it just started to appear a week ago, it seems to be something else. 

In a 0.5 gallon tank, changing only 10-20% once a week will not remove enough ammonia or nitrite to make it safe for the fish at all. A 12 gallon (if you saw 12 and not 1/2 on the form) would require just 10-20% water change. With the proper test kit, I can promise you that in a 0.5 gallon tank for 2 weeks, if you only change 10-20% of the water once a week (so two total) would present ammonia and nitrite in the water. You want zero of either for healthy water conditions.

Always try conservative treatment before using additives, which is upping water changes and Newbettababy has stated they will be upping the water changes. In most cases, this should clear up with consistent and frequent water changes.


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## KellyFish (Jun 17, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> Fin rot usually consists of blackened or red edges of the fins along with the "dissolving" or shortening of the fins. It's often confused with fin biting but they are two completely different things. Based on the pictures, it does not look like fin rot but rather possible tears or fin biting. Since the holes look too consistent, I'm wondering if it's really tail biting or something else. Fin biting can range depending on the fish but usually they're not even, and look more jagged. I've seen holes like this in my boy but if this isn't treated correctly, the holes can lead to fin rot. I'd lean more towards fin biting but it's hard to say. I've scrambled my brain trying to figure the same thing with my boy a few weeks ago. Needless to say, I just diagnosed him with fin biting since it was the closest thing I could find and he started off with holes just like these.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think he is fin bitting too.
Maybe the fish is just tail biting at the holes...


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## JPfishkeeper (Jun 26, 2014)

Hello Kellyfish. You might be right about the betta in question not being a CT. 

I do disagree about the 10-20% weekly water changes not removing enough NH3 from a 0.5g tank.

I've had a beautiful CT femail in a "planted" 1g tank for about 9 months; I have been doing about 20% water changes "almost weekly", and the fish is doing great! To be honest, I only check for ammonia and nitrite on my tanks when first cycling them (which I accomplish via the "fishless cycling method"), after that, I check for NH3 and for NH2 only if I see signs of distress in the tank inhabitants. A single betta should not produce that much ammonia, unless the fish is being overfed. The addition of plants will greatly decrease the risk of aNH3 toxicity, which is probably my CT female is doing so well.

Thanks for the comment

Jose


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

JPfishkeeper said:


> Hello Kellyfish. You might be right about the betta in question not being a CT.
> 
> I do disagree about the 10-20% weekly water changes not removing enough NH3 from a 0.5g tank.
> 
> ...


It's different with a planted cycled tank... the things I said before was for plastic or non-living plants and non-cycled tank, which the OP stated they were using. Just as the OP stated and I've stated, it varies between people because I've done the same with my first betta and he lived well. But bettas vary and they're each different and I've also stated this. I was merely passing on information in a precautious way in case the OP had weaker string of genes or is just more susceptible to illness. "Better safe than sorry" is the kind of wellbeing behind my posts is all. Digressing, planted tanks are different. And as you've said so yourself, your planted tank can get away with partial water changes and your female is doing great—live plants do just about half the job right there. You also stated that your tanks are cycled, which also makes it different and requires less water volume changes. OFL states this and I agree and knew but was only going by the OP. Sorry for the misunderstanding.


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## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

Thank you, Pendulum, for taking your time to go over and explain point by point. It does give me a better insight and understanding to caring for a betta fish. I just wanted to let you know that I will try to take your advice the best I can and your effort is not wasted.

According to the label on the cup, this is a Delta Tail Betta. To address some of the things Jose was suggesting that the cause was previous to my receiving of the fish, the tail and fins were beautiful, smooth, and hole-less when I first got him. It was later that I started noticing the tiny holes, then after a couple days the tail edges started getting jagged. The jaggedness looks like the edges of the fins' color are starting to fade, then look slightly white, and then clear, and it looks as though it is very slowly receding. I really hope it is not fin rot or tail biting 

The more I think of the tiny holes, the more I suspect it might have been the fake plant scratching it? I do notice that my Fishy likes to swim in between the plant leaves occasionally. I will also take out the fake plant just in case. Though this might explain the holes, but this doesn't explain the jagged tail edges..

Regarding water changes, how long are we supposed to wait after putting in water conditioner to the water before putting the fish in?

And do you know how a betta fish in shock looks like or acts like after a water change? Such as temperature shock, or new water shock, etc?

Thank you all again for following up on this!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

newbettababy said:


> Thank you, Pendulum, for taking your time to go over and explain point by point. It does give me a better insight and understanding to caring for a betta fish. I just wanted to let you know that I will try to take your advice the best I can and your effort is not wasted.
> 
> According to the label on the cup, this is a Delta Tail Betta. To address some of the things Jose was suggesting that the cause was previous to my receiving of the fish, the tail and fins were beautiful, smooth, and hole-less when I first got him. It was later that I started noticing the tiny holes, then after a couple days the tail edges started getting jagged. The jaggedness looks like the edges of the fins' color are starting to fade, then look slightly white, and then clear, and it looks as though it is very slowly receding. I really hope it is not fin rot or tail biting
> 
> ...



It was my pleasure to help you the best I can. And as always, feel free to make any adjustments or go with a different suggestion made by someone else.

You'll know if those holes and receding edges turn to fin rot when the coloring on the edges turn black, red, and/or brown in color (think of a rotting fruit... but on a fish tail). If the color remains as you posted, and just "faded", slightly white, then I suspect he may be fin biting. The clear color can indicate healing from previous bites. 

As you posted, try to leave the plant out and see if that helps any. If not, then I'll bet even more that he's biting his fins unless there's something else in the tank that may agitate his fins. My bettas love to swim between the plants and leaves so I ended up buying silk plants to replace the plastic ones. Silk plants can be found at Petco of all colors and sizes for a decent price. I haven't seen many at Petsmart (although they do sell some), I find that Petco have a much better selection. They have some soft silk plants so I can see why my bettas love to sleep in them!

I have not found a definite answer on how long it takes to really acclimate a fish. The times I've found ranged between 10-120 minutes or so—the average being around one hour while pouring a little bit of the new tank water into their cup/bag every 15 minutes. However, I find that 20-30 minutes is enough for my tanks and fish and I have never had a problem yet. With a heater, it's different and may take much longer since you have to wait for the heater to properly bring the tank water to the desired temperature and then acclimate your fish to the warm tank water. 

I don't have a heater since my tanks sit at 78 all the time during this summer. I do, however, carry tap water in some jugs and let it sit in the room for 24+ hours to reach room temperature. I use this water for clean water changes and then acclimate my fish for about 20 minutes. But, for me, the water in the cup is the same as the one I let sit in the room since I'm only using room temperature water of 78F. Once the summer ends or the weather gets cooler, I'll have to add a heater to each of my tanks and acclimate them for about an hour or two. I've waited 30 minutes when I was using the 0.5g for a short while but if you want to be safe, you can wait one hour. I've seen most people say to add small amounts of the new tank water into the cup/bag so your fish can slowly get used to the new water. Another method I read was to poke a small hole in the bag and every 15 minutes you poke one more hole (size of a needle prick). After an hour, the new water should flow into the baggy and your fish will have slowly been acclimated to the new water. However I don't use this method and just let the cup I use to hold them in during changes sit in the tank for a few minutes.

I've personally never actually watched a fish go into shock but I've had a fellow boarder in this house have it happen to her entire stock in a matter of five minutes. New Tank Syndrome (which only affects tanks trying to cycle or a "crashing tank") kills overnight and depending how drastic the temperature change is for the fish, the temperature shock can kill the fish quickly, almost instantly in some cases. Bettas are sensitive to temperature changes so it's important to acclimate them properly each time they enter a new tank or water. It sounds scarier than it really is. I usually have to tape the cup to the side of the tank so it doesn't float away or tip over since my bettas like to swim and bonk their heads against the cup lol. If you plan to do this, make sure the cup is either not filled all the way to the top or you cover it with something. Bettas are known to be good jumpers and the last thing you want is for him to jump out of the cup! If you plan to cover it, make sure you leave air or poke air holes (if you use a lid of some sort) so your betta can breathe. I usually only fill the cup half way and slightly cover the cups with something.


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## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

Sorry to confuse you, but I don't mean how long to acclimate, I meant to ask how long does it take for water conditioner to take effect? As in, if I were to do a partial change, I would pour water conditioned water into the tank. For the new water that I pour in, do I have to let the conditioner set in overnight or can I mix the water with conditioner for ~5mins and put it in the tank immediately? Does my question make better sense? 

Also, how much conditioner would you use for a one gallon of tap water? A capful? Or more?


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

newbettababy said:


> Sorry to confuse you, but I don't mean how long to acclimate, I meant to ask how long does it take for water conditioner to take effect? As in, if I were to do a partial change, I would pour water conditioned water into the tank. For the new water that I pour in, do I have to let the conditioner set in overnight or can I mix the water with conditioner for ~5mins and put it in the tank immediately? Does my question make better sense?
> 
> Also, how much conditioner would you use for a one gallon of tap water? A capful? Or more?



Oh, my mistake! Water conditioner takes effect immediately. Just make sure you give it a nice swish to spread the conditioner around some. No need to wait for the conditioner to set in.

Each water conditioner is different and varies by the bottle and brand so it's important to follow the directions on the bottle. I use Seachem Prime and API Stress Coat. Prime says to use 1 capful (5mL) for every 200L (50g) and the bottle on Stress Coat says to use 5mL per 10g. 

Since I only use 2.5g tanks, I obviously can't use the full dose. With a little math, I found that 1 eye drop = 0.05mL or 2 eye drops = 0.1mL. I recycled an old eye dropper by rinsing thoroughly and sterilizing it (although you can go to your local pharmacy and buy one for a dollar) to measure how much Prime I should be using. For 2.5g, it takes 5 eye drops of Prime:

1 drop = 0.05mL
Prime: 5mL / 50g
So 2 drops = 0.1mL / 1g
5 drops / 2.5g

As for API Stress Coat, the bottle says 5mL for every 10g, which is much easier to calculate. 1mL for every 2g for Stress Coat. The bottle is great since the cap on it comes with measuring lines on the top so I just fill it just above the 1mL line.

These are just two examples of water conditioners but every bottle is different and as I've said before, it's important to follow the instructions on the bottle. Even if you don't carry that the bottle suggests (like Prime with 50g), a little math and you can figure out the right dosage .

A fair note to point out as well. Water conditioners marked with "Betta" on them (i.e. "Betta Water Conditioner") are watered down versions of regular water conditioners. You can use any water conditioner (does not have to be "Betta" specific) as long as the bottle says it treats freshwater tank and that it removes chlorine and chloramines. Seachem Prime and API Stress Coat+ seem to be the top favorites around here. You'll get more for your money if you avoid watered down conditioners such as the betta water conditioners. I had a small bottle of betta water conditioner and I went through the whole bottle in a matter of 5 or 6 days. Prime is MUCH more concentrated so you use much less for the same price. As I pointed out above, instead of using one or two capfuls of betta water conditioner, I only use 5 eye drops; and for the same price! The reason why they make betta water conditioners is so it's easier to measure out how much of it you need in a much smaller volume of water (i.e. instead of measuring for 50g with Prime, betta water conditioners usually have directions on how much to use per 1g or 0.5g). But with a little math (and finding out how much mL one eye drop has) you can use the more concentrated bottles for the same price and have it last a very long time. I bought Seachem Prime for about $4 on a 3.4 fl oz. (100mL) bottle back in April and I've only used perhaps 1.5 - 2 capfuls (about 10mL) since then. And I still have loads more!

But most of the water conditioners are fairly the same in the sense that they remove chlorine, chloramines, and sometimes heavy metals in tap water. They all condition the water to make it safe for fish to swim in. Just depends if you're willing to spend a little time on math to save you some money in the end . Shelf life is around 3-5 years depending on the brand so make sure you pick the bottle with the longest expiration date.

Hope this helped and sorry for my misunderstanding earlier!


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## newbettababy (Jun 25, 2014)

In case anyone was interested or reading this thread and wants to know what happened, I am updating about my betta story. 

Since posting this question the first time (last Tuesday), I have upped my water changing frequency and I also moved it to a warmer room. I also removed branches of the plastic plant and left one tiny branch that was the least rough. And I only used regular betta water conditioner and never used Aquarium Salt. By Sunday, I looked at my fish again and it looks much better, it looks like the holes are slowly healing in and the tail edge is less jagged.

Though I don't know what happened to it or what's really going on, I'm glad that it looks like it is getting better. I don't know if it is the warmer temperature that's making it heal better or if the water change keeps it from getting infected. 

Anyways, I bought a new bigger 2+ gallons tank yesterday (Monday) and a new heater. But I am keeping the water at room temperature since it is 80 degrees and in the summer now; but plan to use the heater when the colder weather comes. I'll have to learn how to properly operate and do water changes with a heater then. Hopefully my betta will continue healing completely and get stronger. It looks very happy in his new tank 

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

I'm glad to hear that your betta is doing much better and is happy in his nice new tank!

Cheers to you and your betta buddy .


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## BettaLover1999 (Jun 30, 2014)

Definitely not a crown tail.


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