# Chunk Missing from Tail!



## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

*I got home today and found my new(ish) halfmoon male is missing a huge chunk out of his tail! I don't know how this could have happened! I can't imagine there's anything in there he could have caught it on; the filter intake is covered with pantyhose, all of the plants are silk, and his cave is a smooth clay pot. Could it be tail-biting? If it is, what can I do to prevent this from happening in the future?*

Housing 
What size is your tank? *2.5 gallon*
What temperature is your tank? *80*
Does your tank have a filter? *Yes*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? *No*
Is your tank heated? *Yes*
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? *None*

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? *Omega One Pellets *
How often do you feed your betta fish? *2xper day, 2 pellets each feeding*

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? *3xper week*
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? *50% twice a week, 90% once a week*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? *Prime*


Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *Fin Damage*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? *No*
When did you start noticing the symptoms? *Just now*
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? *No*
Does your fish have any history of being ill? *Recovering from fin rot*
How old is your fish (approximately)? *1 yr?

I got him about three weeks ago, he had fin rot so I did a salt treatment for eight days. He's been in his regular tank for a couple weeks now and I just noticed this today! I have no clue what could have caused it, and I'm terrified that it will happen again.

Is there anything I should do to treat him? I would normally do water changes twice a week, but because he recently moved out of qt for fin rot, I have been giving him an extra one. He had one last night. He was fine this morning, but could the water changes be stressing him and causing tail biting?

I am reluctant to add aquarium salt because he just had a salt treatment so recently, and I think my water change schedule should be keeping his water conditions pretty good. Is there anything I should be doing while he heals?



















(the white spots are dust on the tank, they're not on him)
*


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## tokala (Feb 20, 2011)

Uh oh, how frustrating  Was his fin rot cured before this happened? If not, maybe it was irritating him so he bit it? Like scratching and itchy, healing wound? Maybe he is a chronic biter, causing the fin rot from the beginning? I am so new to this I have no idea, but I hope it heals up fast. He is beautiful!
PS I treated Siku with an anti fungal for a few days to jump start the healing process from his fin rot/tail biting and there is a good mm of new growth now in just a week.


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Do you have larger rocks (bigger than gravel) as substrate? I moved Tony to a tank that had rocks and didn't even think about what it would do to his tail (he has gravel now). Hope your bettas tail gets to looking better soon!


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

No, it's just standard black gravel. I just can't figure out what happened. Hopefully it's not chronic tail-biting, or something that will happen again.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I just checked on him again, and this situation is now URGENT. 

It's only been a few hours since I first noticed that chunk missing from his tail, and when I checked again, a huge portion of his caudal was missing. I'm so scared that I'm going to wake up in the morning and find that he has completely ripped off his caudal fin. If anyone knows whether that looks like tail biting, or he tore it on something in the tank, please tell me!

I'm am putting him back in his quarantine tank. It's a 1 gallon bare bottom container with a single silk plant, floating inside a heated 5 gallon. He was fine in there for his fin rot treatment and I know there is nothing he could tear his fin on in there. I suspect it's tail biting but I can't figure out why, and all of a sudden. My mom had taken some pictures earlier today, and thinks it might be the flash from the cameras stressing him out, so I don't want to take any more pictures to show what his tail looks like now. Maybe it had something to do with the water change I did yesterday, I don't know. In any case, he's obviously getting new water when he moves back into his qt tank.

If he does ok in qt I might remove the filter when he's ready to go back into the 2.5 gallon. I baffled the hell out of that thing, and there is NO current coming from it, but maybe he's just extremely sensitive.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions I would really appreciate it. I'm so worried about him right now. Should I add aquarium salt to his qt tank, or is he fine with just daily water changes?


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I just checked him a couple hours ago and saw that now his dorsal fin is shredded too, and his caudal fin is a tattered stump. I just don't know what I can do to help him, I'm completely at a loss.


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## tokala (Feb 20, 2011)

Oh no!! I wish I knew something to say- so strange and upsetting! Is there anything in his environment that could be stressing him out- like seeing another fish constantly? I hope he calms down ASAP, but it sounds like a lot of it is out of your control which is the most frustrating part


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Thanks for your well wishes and concern, it's definitely frustrating not knowing what's causing this, and not being able to do anything about it. My other betta is all the way across the room, and because of the angles/locations of their tanks I don't think it would be possible for them to see each other. I am trying to keep the lights off in the kitchen in case the light is what's stressing him. When I do tomorrow's water change, I think I will steep some decaf green tea in his new water; maybe the darker water will help calm him down. Other than that, I don't think there's anything I can do besides just keeping his water clean and hoping he settles down. Unless the water changes are what is stressing him? I really don't know....

I turned off the flash and snapped a few quick pictures. He has completely destroyed his fins in such a short period of time.


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

How frustrating.. Nettle did that to me. e.e He bit every fin down so far that he looks like a plakat right now. 

Unfortunately if you can't eliminate a possible source of stress, he could literally just be bored. Try tossing in a ping pong ball to see if he'll pay attention to that and not to his fins.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

Oh no! You definitely have a tailbitter. 
It's not something that's always caused by stress. As Capricorn said, he could be bored or he might have discovered that it's easier for him to swim without the weight of his fins. Some will never stop the behavior.
If you think it might be due to stress, try covering the tank with a towel so he cannot see what's happening around him.
I actually do will all my fish when I notice signs of stress for a few hours until they settle down a bit and with my spawning tanks. It keeps them from being distracted with what's going on outside the tank.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will cover his tank with a towel tomorrow morning, just in case. And when I have time to get to the store (will have to be Friday) I will pick up some ping pong balls. I bet my hyperactive female would love playing with those too! I really hope he stops this. If he continues to do it, is it going to be a serious problem? I mean I know he'll be at risk for fin rot and infection, but if he chews off enough fins, will it make it difficult for him to swim? Or can he live ok like this?


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Well, like I said, Nettle literally bit his fins down so far that he looks like a plakat. Once he had done it I just did small water changes daily and used AQ salt to help stave off infection.. now that the wounds are closed he's just starting to grow new tissue. Basically, clean, warm water and a high protein diet will be your best friends. Nettle gets bloodworms more often than he normally does just to help that new growth.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I saw in a thread Capricorn posted that Nettle's tail biting could possibly be caused by parasites. I considered that this could be a possibility for Arcturus as well--his biting is only getting worse: his caudal fin is just a few wisps, his dorsal fin is practically nonexistent, and his anal fin is shredded. 

Today he did not look good; when I came downstairs in the morning I thought he was dead. I pushed the tank a little bit and he still didn't move. I took off the lid to remove what I thought was a dead fish, and he slowly started swimming around. Today he has been holding himself sort of diagonally (head angled up), rather than horizontally like a normal fish. Could this be a symptom of parasites, or does it sound more like SBD? He seemed to have a lot of trouble swimming (I don't know if that's because of the fins, or some other issue) so I removed about half of the water from his tank so he could surface more easily. He then went to the bottom of the tank and just lay there. When I got home from work he looked a tiny bit better (I could at least tell he was alive!) but he still wasn't swimming much, and was still just sort of hanging out diagonally. His recent behavior is making me wonder if his tail biting might be a symptom of some other issue. Any thoughts?

I tried feeding him pellets soaked in garlic; if there are parasites it might kill them, and if there aren't it shouldn't hurt him. But every time I try, he just spits them out! Is there anything else I can do? Would they still be effective if I soak them for less time?

I'm also considering upgrading him to a five gallon. I don't want to stress him with all these tank changes, but maybe he'd be happier in a bigger tank. I know it's possible that the tail biting could be triggered by nothing at all, but I want to try everything just in case there is a reason for it.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Here are some pictures.










And this is what I mean when I say he hangs out diagonally. He doesn't do it all the time, but he especially seems to drop his "tail" when he's resting.


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

It could be a possibility.. is he bloated as well, or did he eat right before these pictures? 

I'd keep trying the garlic.. Nettle does that and gets fussy sometimes but I keep trying until he gives in and eats it. xD


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

He had not eaten before the pictures were taken. Do you think he does look bloated? I didn't think he did but maybe....This is all so frustrating. If he has parasites I want to feed the garlic pellets (provided he actually eats them) but if it's sbd. I'll want to fast him. So now I don't know what I should do! In any case, I will try epsom salt, maybe that will help.


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

He looks a little bit bloated from the photos, but they're not completely clear so it's hard to say.. did you get him to eat at all yet, though?


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

After a few feedings, he did finally begin to accept the garlic-soaked pellets. I added epsom salt both in case he had a swim bladder issue, and to prevent finrot; I also added decaf green tea to his water while I wait for my shipment of IAL. Almost immediately he improved--he has energy and is no longer hanging there with a drooping tail. I don't know if it was the garlic-pellets, the epsom salt, or the dark water...maybe a combination of everything. So I'm still not totally sure what was wrong with him. 

His tail has looked awful for several days now, so it's really hard to tell if he is still biting it or not. Though if he is still tail-biting, he's not doing it nearly as much/as quickly as he was before. I guess time will tell if he heals nicely and stops altogether.

How is Nettle doing?


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Actually Nettle just passed away overnight. ): Not quite sure what happened, he didn't show any symptoms aside from not eating yesterday morning. Luckily whatever it was it was quick.. I'm not sure if it was related to his fin issue. I sort of want to think that he was maybe older than I thought he was, when his fins were whole they were very long. I'm okay with it, though! I'm sad but I know that I did my best for him and that I gave him everything he needed.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. But I'm sure he had a very happy life, and was well-taken care of. RIP Nettle!


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## Pekemom (Jan 27, 2011)

Novice that I am, it would seem to me that stress and boredom are two completely different issues and the remedies would be quite different. If the fish is bored, covering the tank won't solve that problem. My heart goes out to you, Lola - it is quite frightening to see your pet in a critical situation and not knowing the cause...Let us know if any of these suggestions have helped...


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Thanks, Lola. 

And you're right, Peke, though I think that if it were stress vs. boredom, I'd rather see if it was stress first and alleviate that problem. Stress can lead to other issues if left unchecked, while boredom will lead to... well, boredom.


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