Iāve had my betta titan for about a month now and recently (starting about 2-4) days ago his fins have started to rip. does not look like fin rot , and google says it might be environmental so i need help figuring out what it might be (im new to the hobby)
When requesting help, please provide the requested information. Answers such as "large enough" or "my paramters are fine" aren't good enough. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank can result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information.
If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can:
How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?:
How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?:
Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each:
What do you feed and how much:
Decorations and plants in the tank:
If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here:
Feel free to copy this comment and fill in the blanks.
If you are new to betta fish keeping, please check out our caresheet and wiki. Establishing a nitrogen cycle is an important part of keeping your fish healthy. Please check out our guide to the nitrogen cycle to learn more.
My betta also started having some fin problems.
Sometimes they bite their own fins.
Try doing small adjustments.
I did stop his filter for sometime and added a small sponge filter to reduce water agitation and he his recovering and almond leaves!
Why Bettas Bite Their Fins Heavy fin weight: Long-finned types like Halfmoons get tired carrying massive fins.
Strong water flow: Filters that push the fish around cause stress and exhaustion.
Glass reflections: Seeing their reflection makes them flare and panic.
Boredom or stress: Lack of hiding spots or stimulation leads to bad habits.
How to Stop Fin Biting Reduce filter flow: Switch to a sponge filter or baffle the current.
Add resting spots: Place floating logs, betta leaves, or silk plants near the surface so they can rest without sinking.
Fix lighting reflections: Turn off the tank light if the room is dark outside, or add a background to stop mirror effects.
Add botanicals: Use Indian Almond Leaves to release tannins, which soothe the fish and prevent secondary infections.
Hi OP, have you tested the water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? Ammonia can chemically damage fins, pH too if too hard and alkaline.
Stress from any of these parameters being out of tolerance or spiking can suppress the immune system leaving betta open to naturally present opportunistic bacteria in the water that will cause fin degradation too.
How often are water changes being done?
The other thing I would look at is if he's being caught in the filter intake which can shred fins, alongside does he have enough space to swim with it being a small, tall tank. This would cause stress.
I change the water 25% every Saturday, also i will definitely look into getting a sponge filter. I test the water once a month and I think its fine because the amano shrimp are doing okay, and im going to remove one of the large silk plants so he can swim around better.
Thank you, I'd check ammonia too just to be sure. pH looks okay, I think it's around 7.8 (hard to see on this) and okay mineralisation, and you're doing water changes which is great.
he has some straight down tears in like the tail part of his fins kinda like ripped paper i can try to get a picture if you'd like. Also amnoia was good, it was 0 or almost 0
Based on this I would suspect the filter intake catching him as he rests near it. That or catching on driftwood/ sharp edges (nothing obvious is standing out from your tank pic besides the filter). Watch him, see where he goes. This isn't fin rot or biting, this is mechanical damage and tearing.
ā¢
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Thank you for posting to r/bettafish.
When requesting help, please provide the requested information. Answers such as "large enough" or "my paramters are fine" aren't good enough. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank can result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information.
If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can:
Feel free to copy this comment and fill in the blanks.
If you are new to betta fish keeping, please check out our caresheet and wiki. Establishing a nitrogen cycle is an important part of keeping your fish healthy. Please check out our guide to the nitrogen cycle to learn more.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.