Betta fins suddenly shredded

Daniel Morrow wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
.. .

Ack! I have 2 bettas in a divided 2.5 gal tank with a Nano Filter. I
woke up this morning and both bettas' fins are in tatters. I'm talking
total, heartbreaking shreds. Both were in perfect shape last night. I
immediately tested the water, expecting to see ammonia but it was 0/0/5
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate as usual. I changed 60% of the water and added
extra AmQuel anyway. The tank has been cycled and stable for about 3
months and gets weekly 50% water changes. It also has a lot of java
moss that would tend to soak up an ammonia spike.

I also cleaned the filter, which gets some sunlight, and the inside was
coated with blue-green algae. I've heard of toxic cyanobacteria and was
wondering whether cyanobacteria toxins can cause fin problems and
nothing else? I'm grasping at straws.

Or did one of my bettas jump the 2 cm of divider that's not covered by
glass, neatly dodging the filter intake, fight his tankmate, and jump
back?!? There is no other way around or through the divider. A fight
fits the best but seems improbable. Both fish are eating, behaving
pretty normally, and nobody's talking.

What do you all think and does anyone have experience healing bettas'
fins after a fight? I always use very clean water and more frequent
feedings for fin damage, but I've never seen betta fins this badly
damaged. Are there any other betta specific tips or tricks?

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com


That happened to my male betta once and the only other fish in with it was a
female betta. It seemed to happen overnight and there was practically no
fins left. I chalked it up to the female attacking him in the dark and he
seemed relatively unaffected by it despite the fin damage. I did absolutely
nothing and he healed so well I couldn't notice any sign of it ever
happening. The only worry I would have if I were you elaine is if you were
going to enter your bettas in a show that judges on the quality of the fins,
and after they heal you still might not have any problem. But if you want to
treat the wounds just in case I don't see any reason why you couldn't as
long as it isn't too extreme and risky. Do you have a gravel substrate in
the tank? If you do I am beginning to wonder about yours and mine
experiences as caused by male bettas dragging their tales in the dark on
some gravel? Just an idea as it's important to find out the root cause of
the problem to try and prevent it from ever happening again. Good luck and
keep your cool, later Dan!


There's no gravel in the tank, and only java moss and floating
watersprite so nothing they could tear fins on. This sounds just like
your male betta - shredded overnight and half the fins gone. *poof* I
wasn't planning on showing these fish. I'd just like to see the fish
healthy again.

I'm going to test the water daily for a while and do 25% changes every
other day. More important, I've got the place where they maybe could
have jumped across covered.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have had major shredded fins occur
when I'm not carful with ph testing. My tap water is more alkaline then
my tank water so if I'm not careful and change too much water (50%) the
pH levels fluctuate more then the .2 safe range. That's when I notice
shredding on my old betta.

I actually haven't heard anyone verify that pH fluctuations can cause
shredded fins so I can't say for sure if this is true, but I have seen
it a few times now and it's consistant with pH fluctuations.

Maybe someone can verify or discount this theory for me. I'd like to
know.

Thanks,
christie

IDzine01 wrote:
Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have had major shredded fins occur
when I'm not carful with ph testing. My tap water is more alkaline then
my tank water so if I'm not careful and change too much water (50%) the
pH levels fluctuate more then the .2 safe range. That's when I notice
shredding on my old betta.

I actually haven't heard anyone verify that pH fluctuations can cause
shredded fins so I can't say for sure if this is true, but I have seen
it a few times now and it's consistant with pH fluctuations.

Maybe someone can verify or discount this theory for me. I'd like to
know.

Thanks,
christie

Really? I did big water changes Friday and Sunday since I've been
battling algae growing on the java moss. I wanted to lower phosphates.
Seems like Sunday to Wednesday is kind of a long gap but that makes
more sense than anything else I've come up with. My tap water is
alkaline and variable - I've tested it as high as pH 8. The pH of the
betta tank usually stays fairly close because there's no gravel to trap
anything but I didn't test this time.

Does the shredding you take a few days after the pH change and then
happen literally overnight?

Happily, the little guys are looking fine in every other way.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

"Elaine T" wrote in message
.. .
IDzine01 wrote:
Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have had major shredded fins occur
when I'm not carful with ph testing. My tap water is more alkaline then
my tank water so if I'm not careful and change too much water (50%) the
pH levels fluctuate more then the .2 safe range. That's when I notice
shredding on my old betta.

I actually haven't heard anyone verify that pH fluctuations can cause
shredded fins so I can't say for sure if this is true, but I have seen
it a few times now and it's consistant with pH fluctuations.


That is interesting, I was playing with ph up when that happened to my male
betta over a decade ago, it's possible as I see it that ph fluctuations can
cause this. But I must say - in elaine's case I think it's just very clever
and always surprising bettas, my empty bet is that one of her bettas jumped
the divider, fought with the other one and jumped back or something similar.
I know they can really jump (bettas) as every once in a while when I had my
betta (and female betta at times) it would jump straight up and ram into my
aquarium glass cover with a lot of force and a big banging sound, I think
only the female did this though and I think that's what eventually killed
her by putting her into terminal shock. Good luck, and later!
Maybe someone can verify or discount this theory for me. I'd like to
know.


I'd like to know too.


Thanks,
christie

Really? I did big water changes Friday and Sunday since I've been
battling algae growing on the java moss. I wanted to lower phosphates.
Seems like Sunday to Wednesday is kind of a long gap but that makes
more sense than anything else I've come up with. My tap water is
alkaline and variable - I've tested it as high as pH 8. The pH of the
betta tank usually stays fairly close because there's no gravel to trap
anything but I didn't test this time.

Does the shredding you take a few days after the pH change and then
happen literally overnight?

Happily, the little guys are looking fine in every other way.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I remember I had this new male in quarantine.
I keep the quarantine fish away from all my other fish.
I was in the kitchen and kept hearing plunk...clunk, plink, plunk,
bonk, etc....repeatedly.
Turns out it was one of the new males trying to get out of his
quarantine container. He was hitting the underside of the lid.
2 yr ago one of my lovely white males jumped through a hole no bigger
than 1/2" wide and little longer. He happened to jump right in front of
sleeping cat. He was "tasted" a bit and then left.
Good thing I found him when I did. He was just laying there, a few
holes in him where the cat had tasted him, bloody and almost all dried
out.
He survived his injuries, amazingly and never jumped through that hole
again! lol
(I didn't punish the cat as she did nonthing wrong. I mean heck, a fish
falls out of the sky and all, hehe.
She could have eaten him, or killed him, but she didn't. She just had a
taste and then went back to sleep. = )~

Originally Posted by IDzine01

Oh, I also wanted to mention that I have had major shredded fins occur
when I'm not carful with ph testing. My tap water is more alkaline then
my tank water so if I'm not careful and change too much water (50%) the
pH levels fluctuate more then the .2 safe range. That's when I notice
shredding on my old betta.

I actually haven't heard anyone verify that pH fluctuations can cause
shredded fins so I can't say for sure if this is true, but I have seen
it a few times now and it's consistant with pH fluctuations.

Maybe someone can verify or discount this theory for me. I'd like to
know.

Thanks,
christie

Hi Christie, I just noticed that my betta fish, Cyril has the beginnings of shredding on the top edge of his tail. (so it can't be from dragging his tail on gravel at night.) I just did a 20% water change yesterday and now that I am testing the water I see that it is very alkaline. I freaked out and started googling immediately, which is how I found your post. I think I may be experiencing the same thing you are. Did your fish heal? what did you do to fix the situation? Thanks!
Lia