# sticky fins? :(



## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

my betta Xavier is a halfmoon, and i noticed the past couple days that his fins have been sticking together. like someone put gum in his fins and they are just all stuck together. i got him to flare and they were still stuck together. I cleaned and tested his water today and it is perfect. 0ppm for everything and he is extremely active and eats like a pig, lol. i dont know what is wrong with him though? should i be worried..what should i do?  I will post pictures of how his fins look currently. remember he is a halfmoon.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

He might be clamping.

How long did you go before changing his old water? And what is the water temp?

If it's none of those issues, then maybe he's producing extra slime coat or just isn't feeling quite himself?


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

i change half of his water once a week. and the temperature is at 80 degrees...maybe hes just not feeling himself and i have to wait =/ idk..i hope hes okay..


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Sure he's an HM? He looks like a VT to me...


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

I agree, he looks like a VT. Is it just what the cup said? They're often mislabeled.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

im postive because this is what he looked like when i first got him. i really hope hes not sick  he seems to be acting normal. his water is perfect and i change it often. i hope he will be okay, i dont really know what to do


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Wow, Xavier is beautiful. Yup, he's an HM all right. Sadly, HMs are notorious for fin issues. My own HM guy now sports a lovely ruffled look because of his big fins. 

In the first few pics, I see a lot of red on Xavier's fins. Is the red new? Some white bettas have splashes of color to them but if the red is a new thing, then it could be an indication of fin rot or septicemia. 

What size tank is Xavier in? I see you have a heater, that's good because we can rule out him being cold or temperature fluctuations. How is his behavior otherwise? Does he eat, is he lethargic at all? What are your nitrates and your pH? Sorry for the question bombardment. But any info you can give us will definitely help us track down the problem with Xavier's fins.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

he has always had that little splash of color. its just more noticeable in the first pictures because his fins are clamped. Xavier is in a 3-3.5 gallon tank that is heated and also has a bio-media filter. It keeps the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates from spiking (thank my bf for that ) and i have a polishing pad on the bottom with holes in it to do a kind of mini-filter for the tank. his behavior otherwise is good, he is acitve and he eats like a pig still, and hes not really lethargic, i woke him up when he was sleeping tonight and he got pissed at me, lol. but other than that he is good. and his water his perfect. 0ppm on everything and his PH is at a normal level. do u think he has developed an overabundance on his slimecoat? idk, i just want him to be okay and look like he did when i first got him cuz his fins look so sad


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You've got an awesome set up for Xavier. 

The fact that he is active and still eating is a great sign and I'm glad the red is part of his normal coloring. That rules out fin rot for now. It's possible he has developed excess slime coat but I wonder why. Usually, the excess slime coat is in reaction to something in the water or to external parasites. Have you seen him rubbing on anything?


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

idk, he kinds started darting around tonight around plants, but i figured that it was because he was mad cuz i woke him up. and thanks for the compliment on his setup, i really try hard to give my betta's a great life  but anyways, he was darting a little around plants tonight, but like i said i thought it was because i woke him up. but maybe its because of something else?? if his water is good, then it has to be some sort of parasite then, right?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If you shine a flashlight over him, especially his fins, you might be able to see if he has small off white dots or ich parasites on him. Not all fish who have ich rub on things. When my girls in my sorority got it, they didn't rub but they did clamp up right away.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

oh god (((( i think he has velvet......

he has gold flecks and patches all over his face and a bit on his fins when i shine a flashlight on him ( what do i do???


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Some bettas have gold iridescence, especially light colored bettas. Are you sure you've never seen the gold patches before? Another trick is to take a picture of the betta in the dark with the flash on. Supposedly the flash illuminates the velvet.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

nvm, i think it is just his coloring...gosh idk whats wrong


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Whew. Well, that's good. Velvet can be pretty hard to kick. I do think if he had velvet, you'd see it quite well because he's white. He'd look like he was rolled in gold sand dust. 

How long has he been this way? Can you think of anything different you may have done in the last few days? 

For now, let's try putting him into 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon and raise the heat to 84 degrees. If you have live plants in his tank, you'll need to use a hospital tank. If he has any parasites that we can't see, the AQ salt will chase them off. Change 100% of the water every day to get rid of any possible parasites and redose the salt for a week.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

he just started this today and a little yesterday. i did aquarium salt today when i changed half to 3/4 of his water. and ill definatly kick the heat up to 84. and ill do the water changes as well. i just hope he will be okay. i guess i will do the water changes and do the aq. salt. btw, do i do the 1 tsp per gallon of the salt everyday?? or just like every couple days?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

The easiest way to do the salt is to get a 1 gallon jug, like the kind spring water comes in. Fill it with dechlorinated water and add the amount of salt you need. When you do the water changes, take out as much water as you can without disrupting your cycle or, if you can, use a hospital tank. Keep track of the amount of water you take out and then pour in the amount of water from the jug. If you need more water, refill the jug with dechlorinated water and salt. This way, when you premake the water, you know that you will always have the required amount of salt. I hope that makes sense. I think I confused myself. :shock:

Hopefully this helps Xavier. If he spends some time in the salt mixture with no change, it may be something else and not external parasites. Then we'll need to try other alternatives for treatment. 

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

what im asking is should i do the salt treatment everyday though?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Oh! Yes. Leave Xavier in the salt mixture around the clock. It'll be much more effective than short salt dips.


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow, I stand corrected. I've NEVER seen a case of clamping that bad. I don't know what to tell you since he seems healthy otherwise.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

hey guys, just a quick update. he has been in his salt mixture in his tank for 2 days now. i changed his water this morning when i got up and gave him the second dose. his fins look better already, so i hope the progress keeps going up. i really honestly do not know why this all happened, but im so very glad that he is getting better . thank you sakura, and everybody else who helped me out with this one and i will continue to use the salt treatment for a week or until his fins get unclamped all the way. thank you everybody  btw, happy veterans day!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome. I'm glad his fins look better already and I'll continue to hope for a quick recovery for him. Keep us posted.


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

just gonna give a big shout out thanks to everyone who helped. Xavier is now completely healed. the crank up of his heat and the salt cured him, of whatever he had. he is doing really great now


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Yaaaayyy!  I'm glad he's better!!


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

thank you!!! i am really glad too..but hey, i started a threat on this. but waht do you think: i have quite a bit of plants in my 3 gallon cuz i thought my betta boy liked it..but im not sure if it is causing a bit of fraying in his fins cuz there are quite a bit of plants in there. i think i might have it overcrowded. so my question is...do you think having too many plants could cause some fin dmg, ie: fraying?


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

As long as the plants aren't sharp enough to snag pantyhose he's good to go! ^^


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## trumpet4life375 (Jun 8, 2011)

just as a little thing i found out also, i did take out one of the plants that i think was poking him i took out. and also, i found out xavier is a super delta, not a halfmoon...hes really close to a halfmoon..BUT its not a full 180 degree spread. it looks maybe 10 or 15 degrees shot, lol. but yea  i still love him though...hes so gorgeous <3


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