# Ventral Fin Injury



## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

I don't have any good pictures of it yet, but Nero's one ventral fin seems to be completely shredded and bent oddly. He always keeps it tucked up against him, but I can see that it looks kind of bad. Do ventral fins regrow like the other fins? Is there anything that I can do to help his discomfort?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm pretty sure ventrals will grow back too. Lots of clean water and API Stress Coat should help the process along. Any idea how it happened?


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## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> I'm pretty sure ventrals will grow back too. Lots of clean water and API Stress Coat should help the process along. Any idea how it happened?


I'm not sure if he injured it or of it's from fin rot. I noticed one day that both ventral fins seemed like they had some skin missing, but while the other one has grown back, the problem one got worse.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

No other fins are affected? Hmm. If it was fin rot, I'd think other fins would be affected too. And they usually don't get rot in their ventrals. I'm wondering if he injured it. If it looks really bad, you can add 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon to his tank to help ward off further infection. Move him into a QT tank if you have cory cats or live plants in his tank, though. Poor guy, hope he heals up fast.


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## watergale (Dec 19, 2011)

i have the same problem, fins look slightly shredded, only ventral fins, all other are perfect, had this problem for a while not sure what it is, i hope Nero gets better soon!


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## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

What's the best way to use API Stress Coat? Should I put it in clean water? While he's in the tank?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You can either use it when you do water changes to treat the water (as a water conditioner) or, in your case, it's probably best to just add it straight to the tank. I know the medical dose of Stress Coat is 1 capful for 10gs so depending on your tank size, just dribble a bit in. It's very very hard to overdose on Stress Coat.


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## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

So I've had another issue with his fins and I'm literally puzzled as to how it happened. I woke up yesterday morning and found Nero's entire dorsal fin shredded. It didn't even look like he had been biting it, but like it caught on something and tore. Ever since he's been very lethargic and has had troubles swimming, so I moved him to a smaller tank so that he wouldn't have to swim around as much to get air. He's also paled a lot, and I'm really concerned for him. Any suggestions as to what to do?

Here's a pic that I was able to get:


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Do you have any sharp decorations, or any plastic plants in the tank as they could be the Maine cause of the rips in your bettas fins, it would be the most likely possibility if you do have them


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## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

I don't know, honestly. I checked everything in my tank before using it to make sure that it wasn't too sharp. I was actually starting to wonder if it was because of the gravel...

But yeah, I have him in a smaller tank, and all he's been doing is lying on the bottom. He's been breathing very heavily and he's lost most of his color. I've seen him swim around but he really doesn't like to. He also didn't blink at food, so he's been very lethargic. Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Go ahead and do a big water change and add 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon. How long has he been breathing heavily?


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