# Worst Tailbiters - Mug Shots



## Sakura8

I'm seeing a spurt of tailbiters on the forum lately so I thought we could all commiserate together. Post pics of your betta's mangled fins so we can all sympathize with you because we've been there too. The little finbiters. :evil:

Here is Crichton. Several months ago, he was scared stiff when a cat fell in a tank next to his and made a big commotion. I took a 2 hour nap and when I woke up, he had done this:
View attachment 40656

I am happy to report his fins grew back completely, albeit his tail is now part red when it was all black. But I have added 2 more tailbiters to my collection. Sigh.


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## Aluyasha

I have only had one tailbiter. His triggers were when I moved his tank an when he could see one of my other Bettas, Melvin. He was fine with the other fish just not him for some reason. lol
Him before (he was a double tail):








Him during different stages of tail biting:
























His name was Mandala.


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## BellasMomma

Dont have a tailbiter as of now hopefully never, just divided my tank hopefully they wont upset eachother enough to abuse themselves!! 
SAK - the cat fell into the tank NEXT to him and he did this!?!? poor little thing, that must have really scared him!!! what was in the tank next to him?? any damage in there??


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## GreenTea

This is part of the reason I don't keep long finned betta anymore. I always like PKs and HMPKs, then I took in some long finned fish and bought a few myself. Everyone started tailbiting around the same time, about 5 fish. Drove me absolutely mad and I vowed no more!

Before biting not even flared!









After: The longest it got after he wrecked it










Don't blame them though, they must be heavy.


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## Tikibirds

Sesshomarhu is a delta tail. You can see shreds of his tail here

















This guy came from walmart and his fins were growing back nicely then he Bit them all off again, to the point you can not tell he is a CT









he was already a tailbitter before breeding, but daaaaam!


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## Pataflafla

Ratchet bit his tail every now and then, let it start to grow back, and then chewed off a little more. But this time he decided that over half of his tail just needed to come off... and also two giant holes in his dorsal fin too. Turns out he's too aggressive to be kept in a divided tank, because if he can't get those other fish that are trespassing, he may as well take it out on himself.

View attachment 40669

View attachment 40670

View attachment 40671


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## Indyfishy

Finley =(








Atleast he bit evenly most of the time lol


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## Littlebittyfish

I have honestly never seen my little picassos fins full grown...though, they have gotten close...just long enough for him to nomnom them back down again. haha


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## Silverfang

MOTBA (Mothers of Tail Biters Anonymous)
I have one tail/fin biter. Started after he got put into a small dark mug for a longer than planned WC. OFf and on ever since.


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## Sakura8

BellasMom, it was a small 2.5g with cory cats in it (they were being QTed before being added to the community tank). My cat stepped on the plexiglass lid thinking it was sturdy and well, she's kinda fat and definitely klutzy so it gave and she plopped in up to her belly and started thrashing around. Poor guy, I think she may have bumped his tank a couple of times.

Aluyasha, wow, he really did a number on himself, didn't he?

Green Tea, he's so pretty! Why do the ones with the most gorgeous fins bite them off? 

Tiki, I think you have the most tailbiters of all of us. Poor guys. Love Sesshy. 

Pataflafla, Ratchet is so handsome. Did his fins grow back?

Indyfishy, haha. Yeah, he did do a nice even trim, didn't he?

Littlebitty, because he's so yellow, his tailbiting really stands out. That contrast between his sunshine fins and the background. Eek.

Silverfang, ahhh, so this is the famous Scuzi. What a nut. His fins are so nice, too. Scuzi, what will we do with you?


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## Aluyasha

Yeah he did. He never looked as grand as when I first got him. At one point he bit off almost all of his fins. I did not take pictures because, at the time, one of his triggers was the camera.


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## Sakura8

That WOULD make it difficult to document tailbiting, if he freaked out at the camera. He was a handsome betta too. The part of him that wasn't bitten off anyway. =p


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## Pataflafla

His fins were starting to grow back nicely, and he nipped them a few times here and there. Unfortunately, I bought him a new tank and accessories, didn't rinse them well enough, and he got chemical burns/poisoning. So all of that new growth pretty much just fell off.


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## Sakura8

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, Patafafla.


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## Silverfang

SSSHHHhhHHhhHHH!!!!
His tail is growing in, his anal fin hasn't been touched... do NOT tempt him!


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## Sakura8

Haha. Oh Scuuuuzi, c'mere, I wanna tell you something . . .


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## Pataflafla

I'll be putting Ratchet on some aq salt tomorrow to help with his burns and his fins, but he's back to his usual self now. Gave me quite a scare.

If anything, he's a little grumpier. He's starting to flare at me for breakfast in the morning.


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## Sakura8

Well, to be fair, it IS in the morning. A lot of us are grumpy in the morning. ;-) "Gimme my food. Now." *flaaare*


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## Silverfang

Don't speak to loudly around Sakura, she's evil and tempting.


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## Sakura8

Muwahahahaha! Yes, I encourage your bettas to tailbite and I encourage you to buy many bettas.


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## Tisia

my biters before and after they first started biting
Sven
















Jazz


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## copperarabian

Aww, I hate when my fish bite their tails 

Here's some pics

Altair









Vesuvius









Elladan









Sapphire


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## Sakura8

Tisia, Jazz really took off his tail. 

Copper, your bettas are so gorgeous but wow, Vesuvius was a busy boy.


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## Pataflafla

At least he wiggles for my attention first. It's -wiglewiggle- Attention attained. -flare- Give food NOW.

At least he's still got his healthy appetite. It's so hard to resist feeding him now. I feel so bad for causing the chemical burn even if it was unintentional. Too bad for him that he gets bloated easily. He'll have to wait for krill tomorrow morning.


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## Sakura8

I understand the guilt of unintentionally causing harm to one's fish. I have one betta who didn't need to bite his fins. I accidentally poured him in the sink and half of his anal fin got torn clean off when I shut the drain in a panic. He flares at my finger at least once a day and hides in his plants when I look at him. The guilt, the guilt! 

I wish mine would eat the same food. But no, one will only eat bloodworms, another one will only eat micropellets, still another likes regular pellets . . .


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## Tisia

Sakura8 said:


> Tisia, Jazz really took off his tail.


it was such a pretty tail too. kind of thinking his crazy pectorals might have been part of the motive. he doesn't really have issues swimming, but I'm sure it's easier without the tail weighing him down, lol


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## Sakura8

Jazz hands!  I love his little jazz "hands."


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## audjree

i'm glad someone made this thread. i never thought i'd end up with a tail biter! i still don't know what triggered it. 

before:









he had slight fin rot when i brought him home from the store so i QT'd him in AQ salt for 10 days, then returned him to his tank.

but, i have to say that i did accidentally drop him in the sink once while changing his AQ salt water, and i shut the drain, which tore his anal fin, but it wasn't really major. it's fully healed now.

after about two or three weeks from then, he started this:









then, about a month ago from now, i saw this when i came home from school:









gosh, i was just so sad. 

he currently looks like this:









you can see the parts where it's growing back. i hope he doesn't do anything else major. every week when i do his 100% water change, i move his decor around in hopes of deterring his tail biting.


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## Silverfang

they are evil devils, that's for sure


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## Aluyasha

@Tisia: You VT has what looks like some HUGE pectorals. lol


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## Tisia

Sakura8 said:


> Jazz hands!  I love his little jazz "hands."


lol, me too, why I had to get him



Aluyasha said:


> @Tisia: You VT has what looks like some HUGE pectorals. lol


he does, that's why he's named Jazz Hands, lol. vid of them in action


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## erinandares

I suspect my Hermes has started tailbiting. >.> He must have just started doing it, because he's only tattered the very edges of his caudal fin (there are two long bits dangling off to show he's gotten about a quarter inch off so far). Sorry, I don't have a digial camera to show the evidence. Sigh. It's frustrating me, nonetheless.


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## Luimeril

meet Ichi. he's actually a delta tail. hard to believe, i know. :/ he started this, after his neighbor, my blind HMPK Theo, died. he'd nipped before, but it was Theo's passing that made him do THIS to his beautiful tail.


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## Aluyasha

So his neighbor died so he started tailbiting? And who says fish do not have feelings?
Poor little Ichi.


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## audjree

@Tisia he's got some mighty big pecs. hehe


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## youlovegnats

Mars and Miyagi....both very evil evil boys. >8C

View attachment 40721

View attachment 40722


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## Sakura8

Wow. There are actually even more tailbiters on here than I thought. Make them stooooop!!!! *nomnomnom*


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## youlovegnats

B-But Saku-chan, It's so yummy! nomnomoms~


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## Sakura8

In that case, why do I bother feeding them disgusting bloodworms several times a day? They can survive by nomming on their tails.


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## youlovegnats

Bahaha! 
Your fish hungry? Don't bother! He'll just eat himself! xD Sounds like a bad slogan for an ad. xDD


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## Sakura8

I can hear an ill-informed pet store employee telling a customer that. "And this fish is such easy maintenance! Stick it in a vase of cold water, never change that water, and you don't even have to feed it because it'll eat its fins!"


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## mjoy79

*My naughty boys*

My first tailbiter, Joey. I imported him from Thailand in July. Here is his aquabid photo:








He arrived looking like this after having spent 2 extra days in the shipping process 








Here he is in August








And finally this is what he's looked like for the past month or so









I've pretty much gotten used to the fact that he's going to stay this way... I've tried putting him in different sized containers, QTing him with AQ salt, tannins and stress coat but its not helping! He was sick at one point and I thought I lost him but he recovered. At this point, as long as he's happy and healthy thats all that matters. But I hate seeing that AB pic as a reminder of what he once was - and I never saw him like that in person!

And here are the rest of my biters. Before and after. 
Jack in his cup on the first day i got him:









Here is one from a couple weeks ago. He seems to be letting it grow now but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Just trying to keep him entertained. 









Next is Sawyer. I got him and Jack on the same day and they shared my 6.6 divided tank at one point. Sawyer waited several weeks before deciding he didn't like his tail. 
Here he is right after I got him:








And a more recent one:









And finally we have Justin (Furstenfeld). Here he is when I got him. 








He looks pretty young there. His tail has gotten so long! Here he is from a few weeks ago before I moved him into my divided 20G:








And now.








He's taken a lot out of his dorsal fin and his beautiful tail is shredded. I took this right after moving him back to his own 2.5G, which is where he grew out his tail to begin with and I think he does better without neighbors.

In the future I probably won't be so inclined to get so many long-finned boys. I do have others that haven't touched their tails and I just hope it stays that way!


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## Sakura8

mjoy, your boys are so handsome! Looks like Joey never quite got over the trauma of his shipping, poor guy. Their poor beautiful tails.


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## Larkspur

I had no idea that bettas would bite their own tails so when Moony started getting mysterious shredded fins I took all of the tank accessories out thinking that was the only way to keep his fins nice! Once I found out that they could bite their own fins I gave him his flower and "man cave" back BAD BAD FEESHIE
















http://www.bettafish.com/picture.php?albumid=2288&pictureid=19509


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## Sakura8

He even has kind of a guilty look on his face in the last pic, haha. He knows he did something he shouldn't have.


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## Tikibirds

> Tiki, I think you have the most tailbiters of all of us. Poor guys. Love Sesshy.


le sigh.

Grumpy
Sesshomarhu
tauske
Balthazar
Sanoske
Obsidian, The dark lord

Although with the last 3 - balthazar snuck into sanoske's side after a water change and Obsidian lost all his during a failed breeding attempt.

I should take new pics.


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## Sakura8

Wow. You actually have even more than I thought. Poor Obsidian. Was that Butterbuns or India who gave him the trim?


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## Tikibirds

That was India that Chewed off both their fins. Butterbuns is the one the one that fatally wounded lucky :evil: I wanted to toss her out the window, but instead banished her to a 1 gallon storage container. India is in the 5 gallon marineland hex. She seems to enjoy it in there. I had Sessy in there, thinking he would be happy if there were no other fish near him but NO, he just moped around even more. He is most active in the divided 10 gallon but ONLY if obsidian is next to him. I do not understand this fish.


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## Sakura8

How can a fish with a name as cute as Butterbuns be a murderer? Should name her Lady Macbeth. 

I have another tailbiter. I don't think they like being in the divided 10g where they can see each other. Sorry guys.


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## Myates

I have no pics as of yet, but Xander started tailbiting shortly after I had surgery and wasn't near the tanks for about a week other then to hobble over when I could to feed them. His tank is right next to me at my desk here, within about a foot from me so he has always had lots of attention and something to see. 
Hopefully now that I'm getting to be able to be up for a good chunk of the day, I can hang out at my desk some and hope that he quits that bad habit. It's only a little bit chewed luckily, just hope he didn't decide it tasted good and keeps doing it even after I return fully. 
Le sigh.. silly fish.


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## carzz

How do you know the difference between tail biting and fin rot?


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## copperarabian

Sakura8 said:


> Copper, your bettas are so gorgeous but wow, Vesuvius was a busy boy.


Yeah, his tail had been like that when I bought him  He died a while ago when I was having my fishie plegue so I never got to see his tail healed. 

Here's a few more pics



















and a fake tail biter lol He was in a tank with a bunch of girls and even though he was the winner he still had torn up fins.
(He's a Plakat)


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## Pataflafla

Forgot about Mirage's tail biting. I was so used to seeing his tail look crappy because that's how it was when I got him from Walmart. He let it get pretty for, like 2 weeks max before nomming it. :/

When I got him:
View attachment 40869

When he let it heal up:
View attachment 40870

Tail biting! (He actually bit it more, but I've shunned him from pictures to reduce stress and hopefully stop the biting):
View attachment 40871


He took out over half of his tail. Now he doesn't live in the 10 gallon. It seems like very male I put on the far left side til bites. I wonder if there's something about it over there or just coincidence. If Starscream starts, I'm blaming my rarely turned on tv.


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## Sakura8

All 3 boys in my divided 10g decided they want to chew their fins. If I could, I would only divide it 2 ways so they weren't so close together but I have nowhere to put the 3rd guy. Hang in there boys! I'm trying to fix it so you can't see each other!


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## Pataflafla

I'm just waiting for my sister to get a decent sized tank for her aggressive female that I'm housing in my 10 gallon. Once she does that, I'm taking out one divider and keeping all the plants in there.

I wish Lyra would stop being a butt and coexist in the sorority, but that will never happen apparently. Not on Sycamore's watch. They're each other's worst enemies. Went after each other specifically each time we tried, so we gave up.


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## Sakura8

It's scary but funny when the females go at each other, especially when they turn and do the "slappy tail" thing. They look so ridiculous in that pose that it's hard to remember they're trying to murder each other.


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## Pataflafla

The sorority girls do that every once in a while, but it's not worrying int he least since when they do it they're almost half the tank apart before a shrimp swims up and scares both of them. Most of the aggression in that tank is started by Sabino's constant need to see what everyone is doing, and even then it's usually just a short chase to get her away.


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## Sakura8

I can picture the shrimp playing referee. "Okay, break it up, break it up! Opposite sides of the tank, time out." 

Since my sorority established itself, no one has slappy tailed anyone. But two of my girls sure went at it in the beginning.


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## Pataflafla

Sycamore is the big bully, and that more than anything is defending algae wafers from the other girls and the shrimp. Sabino only really defends her cave, and even then she'll try and entice the others to go look in it. She's strangely friendly for a betta. Elm is the lowest in the sorority, but no one really cares to fight when they can wiggle for food instead. It's a very chill sorority, which is good for a first time one.


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## Sakura8

I'm so glad females don't bite their tails. Or rather, I should say I'm glad females don't bite their OWN tails. Of course, one female will bite another female's tail but that's a whole other story.


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## mjoy79

So I went away for the weekend... and came home to this from Justin.


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## Pataflafla

You're obviously not allowed to leave your house, according to Justin.


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## Bettawolf19

I wish my soroity would behave. I'll probably ahve to get more girls here soon..apprently 3 in a 20 gal is to much for them  crazy chicks lol. But I'l be getting some females from Darkmoon here soon lol.

As for my tailbiters it turns out Priest and Zeke are tail biters.. Priest destoryed himself practically ecause of Zeke so i took him out and put him on treatment(SMD) and now Zeke nomed on his tail too so now he has the 10 gal to himself lol


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## audjree

so, i come home from school today and i see little red's dorsal fin practically split in half almost all the way down the middle and the end is a bit shredded. :/ -sigh- it was almost fully healed too.


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## Pataflafla

It seems like quite a bit of tail biting happens once you're not home... Maybe everyone needs to get like a cardboard version of themselves to put in their rooms while they're gone. Maybe fool the tail biters into thinking you're still watching them or something.


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## Sakura8

Pataflafla, haha! That would be hilarious. Then we'd have to have another thread of pictures of the cardboard cutouts next to the fish tanks. 

Bettawolf, that's a bummer about Zeke and Priest. The little brats. NomNomNom!


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## Pataflafla

I think I'm gonna be posting a funny picture pretty soon just because of you Sakura. C: Maybe it'll keep Ratchet and Mirage company and persuade them not to tail bite....

Mama is watching you two~


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## Silverfang

bit each others tails and fins and all sorts of fun stuff...


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## finney

I suspect Angelo, my delta tail, has started doing it. I haven't seen him in the act, but I don't know what else it could be. I've been trying to identify triggers, but so far, no luck.


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## Tikibirds

updated pics - kinda crappy quality though









crappy pic but the middle section has sanoske, 









Balthazar









The blackish Thing is Obsidian - a CT









With the exception of Mr. Creepy Stare and Sanoske, all have new growth.


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## audjree

Pataflafla said:


> It seems like quite a bit of tail biting happens once you're not home... Maybe everyone needs to get like a cardboard version of themselves to put in their rooms while they're gone. Maybe fool the tail biters into thinking you're still watching them or something.


ahaha that's clever!  someone should try it out and see what happens. lol


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## BettaMiah

Okay, hang on! *Cutting cardboard*


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## Pataflafla

I'm going to try just a picture of my face near the tank to see if that helps since they usually don't bite when I look at them. I'll just have to make sure Starscream can't see it because I'm terrifying to him for whatever reason.


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## audjree

LOL i can imagine starscream hiding and peeking out every few seconds and be like "Wh-why is it still staring at me?.. >_____>"

but yeah, i've only seen little red nip at his tail once, and that was two or three months ago, and even then he didn't even do any damage.


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## Pataflafla

He just charged at me for looking at him. Being a grump today, I guess. One day you will wiggle at me Starscream, one day.


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## alysalouise

I dont have current pictures of all the new growth, or pictures of when he tore it up really bad, but i have a few inbetween pictures lol

He was biting at first because i had just gotton him, and he wasnt use to me being gone on weekends, so he didnt have human interaction at all while i was gone and would freak out, but he got use to that and didnt bite while i was gone anymore, but at one point in time i think he just got bored cause i caught him biting his tail, so i have moved him in a divided tank, and he hasnt bitten in well over a month now (i think) So im seeing lots of new growth

but here are the pictures that are inbetween what the worst was of his fins and what they are now, much more growth now then whats in these picts


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## alysalouise

GreenTea said:


> This is part of the reason I don't keep long finned betta anymore. I always like PKs and HMPKs, then I took in some long finned fish and bought a few myself. Everyone started tailbiting around the same time, about 5 fish. Drove me absolutely mad and I vowed no more!
> 
> Before biting not even flared!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After: The longest it got after he wrecked it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't blame them though, they must be heavy.


 
Wow his fins were big, now im looking at him and thinking were maybe only a little over halfway there


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## tracyalexa

View attachment 41092


He is the worst.


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## mjoy79

haha. Great idea putting pictures of yourself near the fish tank. I have a pic or two that are huge because my printer would not print smaller. Maybe I can use those to keep a couple of my guys from biting while I'm at work.


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## Tikibirds

i think he is getting worse. did i mention i think he has mental issues?? he needs a fish shrink or something....


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## Pataflafla

Mirage bit his tail once again. He got upset at me doing a little water change and decided to show me a thing or two I guess.

Mirage, your tail was getting so long and pretty again, why?!


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## Silverfang

a fish shrink would make a mint off us!


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## nel3

i have 3 biters. Osiris DBTHM took a few bites off his tail but it inconsequntial. Nel just bites his tail and then decides that when he's healing nicely to do so again. Nelliel is a combo of blown tails and biting. first blown tails and then some trimming. now i got another headache to consider. Nel and Osiris will go intoa a divided 5gal and Nel is really picky about his home size. nel loves the 0.5gal much to my distaste but (so far) bites whenever he has anything larger than .5g. i hope the divided 5 gal might work out. he even didnt like the 1gal i have where theres more room to swim up rather than side to side. the problem i have with the tailbiters is simply tha fact they do so when they're healing well. id love Nelliel to stop blowing his tail. had pics of him somewhere here.

heres one from august


i dont have a current pic of him but hes regained 40% of the missing areas. i really do miss hi nice green tail.


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## liulin612

poor guys


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## Sakura8

Tiki, I think Sesshy is beyond help. I think whatever high ammonia he had in his cup totally killed the brain cells used for higher thought. :shock: And he's such a handsome guy too.

Pata, don't you hate it when they bite because you did something as necessary and simple as a water change? It's like, WHY? You need clean water, you should be happy about this!

Nel, so Nelliel is still biting and blowing his tail? Aw darn. Why must it be the ones with such gorgeous fins??


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## Pataflafla

Apparently Mirage finds the hose I use to suck water out of his tank so he doesn't have to leave his home more offensive than being cupped.

I wish he would let his tail grow all the way out to what it used to be. He did so well healing from Walmart and then just decided that one day half of it needed to come off. He let his tail grow to 3/4 of its original length this time and then bit off a bit more. We're back to half again.


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## Sakura8

3/4, 1/2 . . . sounds like Mirage is good at fractions anyway, which is more than can be said for myself. ;-)


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## Pataflafla

He was nice (read: a turd) and left me a portion of his tail at original length as a reminder of what it once was.


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## nel3

Sakura8 said:


> Tiki, I think Sesshy is beyond help. I think whatever high ammonia he had in his cup totally killed the brain cells used for higher thought. :shock: And he's such a handsome guy too.
> 
> Pata, don't you hate it when they bite because you did something as necessary and simple as a water change? It's like, WHY? You need clean water, you should be happy about this!
> 
> Nel, so Nelliel is still biting and blowing his tail? Aw darn. Why must it be the ones with such gorgeous fins??


he did go on for 2 days with 10% and just yesterdayfor less than 5%. yesterday was probably due to 6.4 ph water rather than 7.2, its probablay back to that now due to 100wc. ive been feeding all 3 betta bloodworms everyday (50% of daily meal) with good results aside from Nelliwl's small setbacks. i got no idea why the pretty ones get the most issues, maybe its just so we just have worrying about them rather than admiring their tails :s.


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## Sakura8

Pataflafla said:


> He was nice (read: a turd) and left me a portion of his tail at original length as a reminder of what it once was.


The final insult. "Nyah nyah, lookit, see, I used to have a tail thiiiiis long!" *chomp*

Nel, still battling pH problems on top of things?


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## Tikibirds

> Tiki, I think Sesshy is beyond help. I think whatever high ammonia he had in his cup totally killed the brain cells used for higher thought. :shock: And he's such a handsome guy too.


can ammonia really do that though? 
poor guy, he can't even flare properly. He tries, his fins spread out but that thing that is supposed to puff up..dosen't. He also seems to have issues turning. DAMN YOU PETCO.

He will probably be the one to outlive all the others...


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## Sakura8

Tiki, I have no idea if ammonia really can do that but I wonder if it would have an effect similar to a human's brain being without oxygen for too long. Poor Sesshy, he probably will live to be 5 years old and be the only one you have who will successfully spawn, despite the laws of nature totally being against him.


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## Myates

Grrr... was feeding them this morning and I looked closely at Xander.. I guess he decided to keep up with the tail biting. His tail is getting shorter =(

Unsure what I can do. He started it when I was recovering from surgery and wasn't sitting next to his tank during the day anymore. He has view of a girl on one side of him, and I moved No Name over to the other side of him. So seeing a male and a female have no effect on stopping him, me being back doesn't either. 
It's not a large amount gone, but noticeable, and all those bite marks on his tail now.. sigh. He curls up in his cave and I bet that is when he is doing it. He shouldn't be bored as he is usually swimming back and forth between the other two fish dancing and watching them when he isn't sleeping, as well as lately making the biggest bubble nests of his life. 

Have oak leaf tannins in there now, I use a partial dose of stress coat during water changes.. guess during today's cleaning I will rearrange his tank and hope it helps.

Need to get camera back from my mom.. argh.


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## nel3

Sakura8 said:


> The final insult. "Nyah nyah, lookit, see, I used to have a tail thiiiiis long!" *chomp*
> 
> Nel, still battling pH problems on top of things?


yup, though its human error. did the usual prooions but this time it went from 7.2 to 6.4 in 3 days . past changes were pertty consistent. the ph was 7.2 24hrs ago now 7.0. not too sure what happened but i'll monitor it. no extra tail damage yet. hope nest WC is more consistent without too much ph drop.


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## Pataflafla

Ratchet just bit a little more of his tail too. Guess the half gallon hospital tank is too boring for him now. Gonna start the rinsing process on his tank hopefully today.


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## Tikibirds

> Poor Sesshy, he probably will live to be 5 years old and be the only one you have who will successfully spawn, despite the laws of nature totally being against him.


LMAO. Probably true too. He is Mr. Bubbles in fishie form


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## Sakura8

At least Mr. Bubbles doesn't bite his tail off on a regular basis. In Bubbles' case, that would be pretty gruesome. O.O


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## Gen2387

In your opinion guys is this good to use to separate a tank? I know it's strong enough and I know some of you use it but I was wondering if it's apoque enough so the fish don't see too much through it?

http://pictures.kyozou.com/pictures/_9/8199/8198785.jpg


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## Pataflafla

Gen2387 said:


> In your opinion guys is this good to use to separate a tank? I know it's strong enough and I know some of you use it but I was wondering if it's apoque enough so the fish don't see too much through it?
> 
> http://pictures.kyozou.com/pictures/_9/8199/8198785.jpg


I think it'll be enough. No paints or metals in or on it, correct?


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## Tisia

I usually do 2 layers for my dividers. a super stiff one to help hold it in place and a black one to reduce visibility


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## Silverfang

Had a nightmare the other night... that I woke up to find my pretty "lavender gas" boy having had next to no fins.
These fish are getting too me. I've going to be moving two boys into a divided 10gal, hope they don't have too much freaking.


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## nel3

found some old mugshots of Nelliel




i just noticed some damage to the dorsalfin also. its a bit hard for me to monitor the dorsal because he likes to fold his dorsal 50% most of the time. the fact that he has some celophane parts on the dorsal doesnt help either. the 2nd pic is a few minutes old

Nel's current pic in the middle of a healing process


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## RillC

Here we have a new member to the tail-biter ranks. My veiltail, Psusennes, who is a little perpetual motion machine started nomming his tail today. I came home to a chunk missing. He's been doing endless loops through his plastic plant that came with his tank and I had noticed his fins looking a bit frayed so I was looking for a new kind of plant. He eats frozen bloodworms and I was afraid he would mistake the frayed edges of the silk plants for food. As it stands, I've taken the plant out and am looking for a tall smooth stone or something to put in for decoration.


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## Pataflafla

Ratchet split his tail and nommed it some more. I guess I shouldn't have told him that I understood if he bit his tail with all of the stress of getting him back in his tank (Ended up failing again, same reason).

I think he blew his tail trying to intimidate Lyra though, since he seems to absolutely hate her. I guess he's into the more feminine girls since Lyra's pretty manly.


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## Sakura8

RillC, Psusennes is like, "Whaa? Where's my plant? It's so empty! Help, I've been robbed!"

Pata, oh that Ratchet. Funny about manly little Lyra, though.

Anderson is now outsourcing. He contracted the job of tailbiting to my rummynoses, who took a nice chunk out of his just-healing tail.


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## Pataflafla

I wish Lyra was little. Her body is about the size of a regular male's, but she's maintained her egg spot for the whole time we've had her (Since we started he sorority so at least a few months) despite her longer fins. Her ventrals are still female size though.

Ratchet likes the girls that are like half his size with feminine little fins. He's very specific with his tastes, too bad he'll never breed because of his tail biting and aggression. I don't want a hundred little mini-piranhas swimming around my tanks.


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## Silverfang

LOL. Mini piranhas. Too cute.


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## Sakura8

Mini piranhas with a distinct taste for fins.


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## Pataflafla

And any other living being they happen to come across. They'd be terrifying for sure. Cute, but terrifying.


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## Silverfang

cute but terrifying, like any tail biter!


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## Sakura8

:lol: Okay, now I'm almost curious to see what they'd be like. XD


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## audjree

haha i can imagine a hundred tiny piranhas swimming around in a tank. they honestly sound terrifyingly cute.


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## Aluyasha

Mini Piranhas reminds me of a Paradise fish I used to have (related to Bettas). She would bite me whenever I put my hand in her tank. It actually hurt and she left little bite marks. lol
(and I do not mean the tip of my finger or anything, I mean she would attack my arm.)


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## Sakura8

Paradise fish are a bit bigger than bettas, aren't they? Like about 4 inches? They're gorgeous fish though. I like the Chinese Paradise fish, too. I wonder if any other type of fish has an issue with tail/fin biting.


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## alysalouise

My latest tail Biter, A Double tail HM
Pretty upset with it, he hasnt taken to much off, i havent gotton a picture of the damange yet but this is the picture of the night i got him
This is Sully:


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## Pataflafla

And once again Ratchet has chosen to remind me of his displeasure of occupying the hospital tank. It's not as serious as what forced him into solitary living, but it's still relatively bad when compared to how much he healed.

Thank you, Ratchet, for letting me know, but I'm sure you could have found some other way to go about it.

I really hope the new heater comes in really soon. It's just a few hours away from when the mail usually gets to my house, so hopefully around then.


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## Bettawolf19

Dumbledore- I swear he is all fins. Right now I have it so the outtake comes out in a drip instead of a pour by putting nylons over it lol

















This morning:


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## Sakura8

Alysa: Sully is a gorgeous color! I hope he doesn't take too much off. Maybe he wants to be a single tail?

Pata: Ratchet is very outspoken, isn't he?

Bettawolf: What, not even 24 hrs and Dumbledore started biting already? :shock:


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## Pataflafla

Ratchet's a very outspoken buttface. Hopefully tomorrow the new heater arrives and I can get him set up really quick.


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## Bettawolf19

Ya I think its because of the outtake on the filter. Its better now and he's swimming easier too.


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## Sakura8

Pataflafla said:


> Ratchet's a very outspoken buttface.


:lol: I love your description of him. Oddly enough, it seems to fit him perfectly.

Bettawolf, I'm glad things are a little easier for Dumbledore. He's a cutie.


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## alysalouise

Sakura8 said:


> Alysa: Sully is a gorgeous color! I hope he doesn't take too much off. Maybe he wants to be a single tail?
> 
> Pata: Ratchet is very outspoken, isn't he?
> 
> Bettawolf: What, not even 24 hrs and Dumbledore started biting already? :shock:


 
Thank you  he is pretty handsome  haha maybe he does, i've never seen him in full flare before, but my guess is that it would be a big flare! lol he really has a small body for a betta in my opinion, he is one of those bettas where their just all fins, no body lol
In some light, parts of his tail is actually like a gold or copper color, its pretty neat


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## Silverfang

Has anyone had a female tail biter?
I just did some rearranging and it was rather stressful on them. So I disappear for a couple minutes to get dried off and I find my red girl missing half her dorsal. It's spiked just like classic tail biting. I'll get a pic tomorrow, when she isn't so freaked out.


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## Sakura8

I think one other person had a case but I've never heard of one. But I wouldn't put it past a girl to bite her fins. These fish are crazy flexible.


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## Silverfang

I realize it could have been the other girls, but I just have this hunch it was self inflicted, she is a bit... spacey.


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## copperarabian

This guy was the fourth betta I had(from petco) and one of my friends really loved him so I let her have him. Unfortunately he was kept in a vase for a long time during the warmer months, then kept with a aggressive female in a 20g who tore him up some, then in a net breeder, then a good sized mini hex aquarium which her mother did not approve of so he had to be placed back into a vase. Hopefully being in a larger space will stop the biting  

He's very active and eats really good, it will be awesome if his fins do come back


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## Sakura8

Poor guy! He has this "What the heck have I been through???" expression on his face. He's so handsome too. Your Petco gets awesome bettas in. Mine, so-so.


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## nel3

i got a wonderful surprise from my HMDT and the other DT. the DT blew his bottom caudal and the HMDT blew his dorsal. take the back half of the dorsal split it into 3 horizontal layers. the top and bottom layer are gone. the bottom layer is still hanging on by the back half of the fin but wont stay like that for long.


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## Sakura8

Something crazy must possess your fish to just go nuts with their fins, nel. That's the only explanation I can think of.


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## nel3

Sakura8 said:


> Something crazy must possess your fish to just go nuts with their fins, nel. That's the only explanation I can think of.


Osiris is pretty well behaved not including this recent episode. im going to expect more blown tails on Nelliel for something i should've done a long time ago. ive decided of an IAL dosing and sticking to it. before it varied from each WC. now i have a guide line and he'll have to get used to the PH. i put it at 7.2 ph with 650 of IAL water. ive had it with it constantly changing. it wasnt a surprise but Osiris did surprise me. 

Osiris's dorsal was zipping up from a split, now that segment is gone and so is the other. i dont have any item that can pucnture a fin like that. he's in a divided 5g with Nel. thats the only viable reason atm. i hope Blitzkrieg behaves himself, 3 fin issue fish is plenty for me.

i must thank my fish for their fin problems. im pretty much desensitized to the whole thing. i remember back in the day when Nelliel started blowing and Nel was biting. id nearly go bonkers with panic. now i just deal with it and only worry if their life is at stake from such injury/disease.


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## MaggieLynn

two of my three tail biters are in a 10 gal divided 3 ways. I was so irritated when I found major my first halfmoon who had a beautiful tail decided to do a major trim. T_T and then my two of my crown tail males decided to nibble their tails.


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## RoyalBlueDarling

copperarabian said:


> This guy was the fourth betta I had(from petco) and one of my friends really loved him so I let her have him.


Oh, wow, he is one of the most beautiful bettas I have ever seen. He's stunning. He's like a metallic eggplant at midnight under a streetlight.  What 'official' colour is he?


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## Tikibirds

Crown Tail Tauske..
Not really sure what happened to his fins but i think it was a combo fin bitting with fin rot. he is doing MUCH better in the 5 gallon.


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## nel3

got the pics on my 2 DT. the first 2 are Osiris, the 2nd pic is to show the dorsal from the front the last 2 are Nelliel. Nelliel's dorsal is mending, his caudals are unpredictable at best.


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## Littlebittyfish

I set up my other divided tank the other night and forgot to place a piece of paper between the 2 tanks before bed...I woke up to this:










:-(


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## Sakura8

Littlebitty, he has this "What, who me?" look on his face, like he knows he did something he really shouldn't have.


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## EmmaliLucia

Jack's not a self-biter but this is what happens when you aren't careful enough about your tank dividers


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## nel3

EmmaliLucia said:


> Jack's not a self-biter but this is what happens when you aren't careful enough about your tank dividers


yikes, thats a good amount of fin loss. did one of the fish jump the divider?


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## EmmaliLucia

Nel, yep. I had Jack and babydoll in a ten gallon and Babydoll jumped the boarder one night. He ended up looking like that when I woke up. But his fins are growing out great right now and he's very active and healthy now that Babydoll has her own tank


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## nel3

EmmaliLucia said:


> Nel, yep. I had Jack and babydoll in a ten gallon and Babydoll jumped the boarder one night. He ended up looking like that when I woke up. But his fins are growing out great right now and he's very active and healthy now that Babydoll has her own tank


thats very good to hear, fin regowth is agonizingly slow to get back the coverage and color :-(. im a bit paranoid on jumping betta and installed a 3.5 jump guard on the main divider to make a T joint. not sure if it was put to the test, it has some gaps due to the tank cover design for clearance but my betta dont seem to be in the mood to fight or visit each other on 1 side of the tank.


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## nel3

sorry for double posting here but i have a pic to add on this thread, this was all over night on his (vt) tails. i hope he can stay in the 5g divided.


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## Pataflafla

Mirage nibbled the end of his tail a little bit again.

At least Ratchet is letting his grow back some now. It's just disappointing when Mirage was almost completely healed up, minus the split from him squeezing between a sharp plant and the glass.

Hopefully the live plants will be soft enough for him, and once they start growing a little more, provide him with a little more cover like he's used to.


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## Sakura8

They do this, let it grow out all beautiful and then start all over again. Like "neener neener, this is what it could look like but I'm not gonna let it!" *chomp*


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## Pataflafla

His fins are so messed up from biting and ripping them, but at least he's healthy.

His color is improving even more too. He's got a nice pastel blue coming in that isn't just a shimmer.

Ratchet has a nice purple/gold shimmer coming in now that he's healed up again.


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## Sakura8

If only both boys would let their tails be. Mirage sounds like he fits his name with the blue.


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## Pataflafla

It's definitely fitting him. When he was in the 10 gallon, I could often be looking straight at him and not know it, but then he would turn just enough that I would realize that I wasn't missing someone. He's doing the same in the 1.5, but it's a little harder for him with the green background.

To think he was red and white when I got him too. He looks like a completely different betta.


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## mwalters400

It would be easier to address this fin biting problem if we knew more about the cause(s). I've heard the theory that the fish is trying to shed some fin mass to make it easier to swim. Just my opinion, but it seems more likely that the fish sees a peripheral view of that stunning finnage and attacks per his fighting fish instincts. If so, maybe the fin biters have heightened aggression and this could be a genetic factor to be addressed by careful breeding.


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## Sakura8

Pata: I love when they change color like that. :roll: I bought a girl who was baby blue and turned wine red. Another girl was teal and now is royal blue.

MWalters, my only disagreement with the biting to remove mass theory is I have an OHM whose fins literally drag him down. They're so big, he can't even begin to spread them properly and yet he has never once tailbitten in order to get rid of that extra weight. I wish he would, frankly. It's always been my little VTs who bite. Your theory that they have heightened aggression and are mistaking their own tails for other bettas makes more sense to me.


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## nel3

Sakura8 said:


> Pata: I love when they change color like that. :roll: I bought a girl who was baby blue and turned wine red. Another girl was teal and now is royal blue.
> 
> MWalters, my only disagreement with the biting to remove mass theory is I have an OHM whose fins literally drag him down. They're so big, he can't even begin to spread them properly and yet he has never once tailbitten in order to get rid of that extra weight. I wish he would, frankly. It's always been my little VTs who bite. Your theory that they have heightened aggression and are mistaking their own tails for other bettas makes more sense to me.


lol sounds like my VT also has agression issues on his tail every once in a while.


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## Pataflafla

Ratchet was definitely an aggression issue. He stopped when he couldn't see anybody else. Even though he's pretty, I'm never breeding him ever since he's so mean and since he bites his tail. Even if it's not genetic, I don't want to pass on the aggression.


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## RoyalBlueDarling

I'd like to officially add Ptolemy to this list, because I am pretty sure that this is tail biting now ...

Again, sorry about the awful quality of the images (taken with my phone camera). The 'after' shots are a little better than the before shots. But I'm right, aren't I? If this kind of caudal fin damage happens overnight, it must be tail biting, right? I even found a bit of caudal fin at the bottom of the tank.

(I'm treating him for fin rot at the moment, because that's what he had when I rescued him, and it took me about a week to realise it wasn't just biting, but an infected bite. At least I think he's biting ... I can't catch him at it.)


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