# how long does it take ripped/bitten fins to heal?



## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

around 6/21 his tail split about 1/4 of the way i kept an eye on it and it didn't turn to fin rot but didn't heal either. i was gone over the 4th of july weekend and when i got back on the 6th there was a sizeable chunk missing from his tail so on the 7th i moved him to a 1 gal critter keeper so i could do more/easier water changes to promote healing. the second day in the critter keeper the ends of his tail where (bitten/ripped) had turned slightly black, i did a water change and it was gone by the next day and hasn't returned. his fins have not gotten worse but they haven't healed back together yet either. so how long does it take? he seems happy, hes eating (better than before) swimming around, flaring and bubblenesting. the last couple of weeks in his 45gal alls he did was glass surf at the back of his take and he hasn't done that at all in the critter keeper. i think it bothered him that he couldn't see me unless i was on the floor, where he is now he can see me no matter where i am in the room. but i was never able to figure out if he bit his tail or ripped it on a broken hammock (i didn't know it had broke) but when i was cleaning/draining the big tank i never found any bits of fins.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

It can takes weeks or months to heal and often they don't return to the way they looked originally.

Some Bettas prefer a smaller tank and yours may be one of them. I also had one who was a lot more active and seemed happier when I took him out of his five gallon and put him in a much smaller tank.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I'm assuming he is a veiltail and that about 1/4 of his tail is missing, 2-3 months. My ryuuji bit off his entire dorsal fin and it was 1/3 regrown a month later.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Or he could have not liked the fact that you were gone. Fish are sentient and can attach to other fish or humans; especially their feeders. So when you are gone, it can frustrate him or make him lonely (this does not definitely mean he needs a tankmate though, let that be said!) and cause him to bite his fins. I have one fish that needs to be in a highly trafficked area or otherwise he bites practically down to the nub of his tail!

But just keep his water clean is all like you're doing! Sometimes regrowth can look black since it is clean so you might be seeing through it and seeing something dark on the other side which would make the fin look dark but it's really not fin rot. Fin Rot will look like his fin had just burned, it would be a charred edge and slowly receding.


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## Piyoteru (Apr 17, 2014)

Normally a large split means it was ripped on something, fin biting makes more u shapes and tattering at the ends, sometimes large chunks can get bitten off. A photo of your bettas tail will help us find out which it was. I catch my boy biting and then swallowing the bits of fin he tears off. Quite evil.

Split/bitten fins can take days or a week to start showing signs of healing, but it will take a long time for it to really grow back to it's near-former glory. New growth will look clear and slowly change to it's original color (unless your bettas fins are normally clear). From experience, I've had at least 1cm of regrowth in a month.

Did he have a lot of plants/decorations in the 45 gal? Did he have tank mates in that tank? The tank surfing/possible fin biting might be from stress/boredom if there's not enough places to hide/explore or doesn't get along with his tank mates.


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