New fin growth on Betta?

[Beccs410]

Hello all! This is my first post as a new user so bare with me! I rescued this beautiful dumbo halfmoon betta about a month ago now. Sakura has been living in my 3.5 gallon quarantine tank. It has an internal filter (with a homemade plastic baffle with no sharp edges) with cycled coarse sponge media and Purigen (which was removed during meds of course), a heater and an air stone. No sharp decor. Silk plant. Bare bottom. Hiding spots and a hammock. I treated him with Paracleanse and then a round of Maracyn and Maracyn 2. He came through beautifully and healthy. It looks to me like he has a lot of new fin growth, particularly on his tail, but I’m not sure. It seems he’s ripped some of that new growth (if that’s what it is) overnight and I just wanted to make sure my assumption is correct that it is new growth that is just fragile and I don’t need to worry. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate (from 50% water changes every other day to keep the water super clean to help with the growth). Dechlorinating with Prime and adding StressGuard. Feeding Xtreme Betta pellets, Hikari Bio-Gold Betta Pellets or Vibra Bites soaked in VitaChem in the AM (only 1 or two pieces) and frozen daphnia or brine shrimp in the PM (dropper sized amount to not overfeed). Water temp 80 degrees. PH stays around 7. I know parameters are helpful.  He is super active and inquisitive, no signs of lethargy or anything. Heck, he plays in the air stone bubbles all the time. It’s cute! Here are some pictures to help. The floating white dots are from his weekly dose of VitaChem into his water! As an aside, I have a 10 gallon, planted forever home I’m preparing for him post quarantine!
 

 

 

So, new, fragile growth? Or something nefarious? All of his fins have that line where the solid old fin is and then clear-ish new? fin is growing??
Thanks all!

Bec

[Mmiller2001]

Well done! Your Betta landed in good hands! That's exactly what you are seeing. New growth.

[Beccs410]

@Mmiller2001 Thank you so much for your kind words and reassurance! I am still relatively new at fish keeping so I was nervous about what I was seeing. I feel so much better now. I lost my first betta to fin rot and I felt awful because I had no idea what I was doing. I owe Cory and this community a lot because if it weren’t for the forum and his content, I wouldn’t have learned what to do. I’m guessing since Sakura is such a playful betta and a halfmoon carrying around those “ball gown fins” that zipping around probably just caused some tearing of that new, delicate growth. I read that could easily happen and to just have patience and keep the water clean and it will heal. Phew!! I will keep up the Stress Guard and water changes until they do! 😊

[Betsy]

I second!  Sakura looks great!!!  Fins do get damaged and bitten and split sometimes, so...as long as healing is happening and new damage isn't appearing every day, I would not stress at all!

Clean water is crucial, and it sounds to me like Sakura is living the great life with you!!! 😆👍

When are you planning on moving him to his forever home?

[Beccs410]

@Betsy thank you! Yeah, this is the first time I have experienced new fin growth on a Betta. I know that new growth is so fragile and Sakura is always zipping around and I’m sure the movement probably just caused the tears. Silly fish. He’s just so active and inquisitive!! He is always trying to jam himself under the PVC pipe tunnel I have in there or swim against the (baffled) flow of the internal filter to swim through the baffle itself like a little salmon swimming upstream! He rides his air stone bubbles up to the top and lets them shoot him over the heater, then he swims underneath it and goes back around again! 🤦‍♀️😂 I get tired just watching him.

I’m hoping to have his tank ready in a week or two. I have a pre-seeded sponge filter (Co-Op’s, of course 😉) in my 14 gallon ready to go in and Seachem Stability so I can do an instant cycle (with frequent testing to be sure). I’ve got a beautiful piece of sand-blasted manzanita wood (nice and smooth to protect fins) finishing getting water-logged and a ton of plants on order at my LFS and online. Southeast Asian biotope plan for him!!! 

[NanoNano]

New user, so apologies for the late reply.  We have a similar looking Betta but opposite personality (my daughter named him Mars, God of Slumber and it fits him perfectly).   Brand new fin growth on male Bettas often starts out clear with pigmentation coming in a week or two later,  so if you're seeing that,  it's normal...and you're correct- new fin growth is fragile and subject to tearing especially on an active fish.

One thing that catches my eye is that there's a rectangular piece missing between two rays about 3/4 the way up on his tail.   That *could* be the result of fin nipping (his super active inquisitive personality would make him more inclined to do that to himself too).  If it is nipping,  you'll likely continue to see some periodic damage.  Not much you can do to prevent it,  though tank mates like snails and shrimp can serve as a distraction.  The fin nipping Bettas that I've had have all "grown out of it" as they age,  so it should stop at some point soon.

Good luck and gorgeous fish!