# Betta fins look stuck together?



## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

Poor Tony! I put a divider in his tank on Friday and added a new tank mate, another male betta. The division was about 60/40 in Tony's favor, as he had the rasboras. Everything was fine for the first couple days then yesterday I noticed Tony was staying in the bottom a lot. Today I noticed his fins are all messed up. I immediately removed the other betta and the divider. I cannot tell if he is missing finnage or if it is truly glooping together? Is that possible? What could be the cause? Poor guy! I just took pictures before the new boy arrived and was complimenting him on how beautiful he was!The other betta seems fine, was an online, shipped in purchase from California, imported from Thailand.

*Housing:*
How many gallons is your tank? 10
Does it have a filter? 2 one HOB and an air-driven in tank filter
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 77.8
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? Yes, 8 pygmy spotted rasboras, 1 amano shrip, snail (just removed 3 spotted corys and another male betta who was divided with barrier)

*Food:*
What food brand do you use? Omega One mini pellets and Tetra crisps
Do you feed flakes or pellets? both
Freeze-dried? No, some frozen blood worms
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? Pinch of pellets daily, crisps powdered 2x daily for rasporas. Shrimp pellets when corys were in. 

*Maintenance:*
*Before* your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 1x per week
What percentage of water did you change? 30%
What is the source of your water? Tap
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner? Prime in new water and Stability. Also add Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel. 

*Water Parameters:*
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water *before* the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7
Hardness (GH): 7
Alkalinity (KH): 3

*Symptoms and Treatment:*
When did you first notice the symptoms? Yesterday, did not see fin issue until today
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Fins look glued together
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Hiding in bottom, some trouble swimming
Is your Betta still eating? yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? No
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No
How long have you owned your Betta? 4 months
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? No


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

It looks like they are clamping, and is a sign of stress. What you need to do is figure out why he's stressed. How long has he lived with the raspbora, and how heavily planted is the tank?

I'd remove the raspbora from his tank, or move him to a hospital tank. If you move him to a hospital tank it should be heated and have plants for him to hide in Make sure the plants are soft so that they cannot hurt his fins, either live or silk are best. Add some Indian Almond Leaves and StressGuard to the tank to further help him with the stress, and keep the tank light off except to check on him. If his fins unclamp then it's either living in the same tank as another betta (even though it's divided) or the raspboras being with him in such a small space, that's stressing him.

Also keep an eye out for illness, clamped fins can also be an indicator that the betta is ill.


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

Hello Rainbo, thank you so much for your helpful information. I typed up a reply earlier, but apparently it did not upload properly. I removed the other Betta and the divider. Tony has been with the rasboras for several months and he really enjoys them. He acted like a little puppy with new friends when I introduced them to his tank. I removed the corys however, just to lessen the bio load for now. I had to order the Stress Guard and it came in Friday. I have been adding it daily since then. I am keeping the tank dark. He is still clamped. He is eating, but does not swim around much at all. I am concerned. What else do I look out for? The tank now has the 8 pygmy rasboras and some shrimp besides him.


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## blubird101 (Jan 25, 2019)

I still think it would be helpful to keep him in a hospital tank by himself, just to rule out the other fish as a possibility for stress. Community tanks work well when there's enough space for everyone, so when you cut out a little less than half the space, it could have made the rasboras more stressed and in turn the betta more stressed. *shrug*

The only way to know if its the other fish that could have caused the change in him would be to remove them and see if he stops clamping. If they get stressed, its possible the rasbora could be picking on him while you aren't looking or at night.


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

Okay, I will move him!


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

*Better and worse*

I moved Tony when I last posted and he is much more active. He is still eating, but still clamped. 



I swapped him with the koi Betta that had shared the tank with him before. Now he is clamped. :frown2: He is a new fish to me, my first mail-order (the one I originally split Tony's tank for). He seemed fine in the smaller tank, but in the 10g, he is just pacing back and forth over about 8" of the front of the tank along the bottom. Then this morning I found him resting in the plants at the top with his fins clamped. The water tests fine. it has IAL, I have been adding Stress Guard at the lower dose since he came in, jumped it up today. He is in with the pygmy rasboras, so I will take them out and see if that changes anything. What am I doing wrong?


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

Capers7 said:


> I moved Tony when I last posted and he is much more active. He is still eating, but still clamped.
> 
> 
> 
> I swapped him with the koi Betta that had shared the tank with him before. Now he is clamped. :frown2: He is a new fish to me, my first mail-order (the one I originally split Tony's tank for). He seemed fine in the smaller tank, but in the 10g, he is just pacing back and forth over about 8" of the front of the tank along the bottom. Then this morning I found him resting in the plants at the top with his fins clamped. The water tests fine. it has IAL, I have been adding Stress Guard at the lower dose since he came in, jumped it up today. He is in with the pygmy rasboras, so I will take them out and see if that changes anything. What am I doing wrong?



It sounds like something in that tank is poisoning them, but what I don't understand is why it's not bothering the raspbora. 

What do you have in the tank for decoration?

Is it near any type of plug in air freshner that could possibly aerate?


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

No air fresheners at all. The only difference is I added some ambulia to the tank around the time I split it to break up some line of sight. All natural decorations with mopani wood, and live plants: camboba, anubis, hornwort, wisteria. mopani was well boiled and has gone through its slimy phase long ago. Tank has been up since February. 20g right next to it is fine with 2 female Betta, and 30g next to that, also fine. eco-complete substrate


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

Okay, I will swap the 2 males again. Tony seems to be a little less clamped and he was in the 10g from the beginning. The hospital tank is a ~2g beverage dispenser type container and the new one was happier in that. I will do that tomorrow. I will remove the rasboras first to a bucket for a while to see how Tony does with just the shrimp for company. I will stop all food except the Omega One and any bottom feeder food will be inaccessible to Bettas.


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

I lost the koi male. He developed Dropsy and died 2 days after the female that was shipped with him. 



Tony, however has recovered and is back to his old, active, happy little self.! However, his fins are ravaged. Is that normal with clamping? He is so happy to be back in his 10g with his little Rasbora buddies! I will keep a close lookout to make sure he does not get worse and will keep up the Stress Guard. What else can I do to keep him on the road to recovery? The tank is at 77.9 degrees Fahrenheit with a fixed heater. Should I put one of the adjustable ones in and make it warmer? Any other suggestions? He will never have another Betta tank mate!


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Wow! So sorry about your other Betta. Sometimes we just never know what causes them to be ill. Even with the best care and no matter what steps we take they do not recover.

I like SeaChem StressGuard and either Indian Almond Leaves or Rooibos Tea. The former has antiseptic properties and the last two antibacterial.

As an afterthought, since both the Betta that died were new and Tony became ill after the Koi was introduced into his divided tank, it could be the stress of shipping triggered an illness. And with her, the added stress of a sorority brought it about more quickly. That's just speculation, though.


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## Capers7 (Mar 17, 2019)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> As an afterthought, since both the Betta that died were new and Tony became ill after the Koi was introduced into his divided tank, it could be the stress of shipping triggered an illness. And with her, the added stress of a sorority brought it about more quickly. That's just speculation, though.


 Yes, that is what I was thinking too, still supposition, but we seem to have little else to go on sometimes. Thanks again for all your help. This tank has always been sortof a blackwater tank, as the Rasboras like the IAL as well. I have the Seachem Stress Guard and will continue that. How long does it take for fins to grow back? Was this related to the clamping? Or did he do some fin biting as well?


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