Betta fin advice

[Maddiethemooch]

I am a fairly experienced betta keeper and have had my current betta for probably 5 months now. He is very healthy and active and has changed color so much I assume from being in a healthy environment. My questions is can I improve his fins any more? His fins are ok looking but they are quite ragged.when I first got him 

current photo

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Maddiethemooch

[Stef]

Nice fish!!  Do you use catappa leaves?  Keeping pristine water conditions is the best preventative but isn’t a guarantee they’ll never get fin rot. Are there any sharp decorations in his tank?

[nabokovfan87]

@Maddiethemooch Welcome to the forums.  Happy to have another experienced betta keeeper here to help with questions! 🙂

In terms of feeding the fish flake or pellets, what food(s) do you use?

 

[Maddiethemooch]

Yes, I do use catappa leaves in his tank and no, there are not sharp objects. Also, I feed him flakes but I also feed him bloodworms once a week.

On 7/27/2023 at 11:47 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Maddiethemooch Welcome to the forums.  Happy to have another experienced betta keeeper here to help with questions! 🙂

In terms of feeding the fish flake or pellets, what food(s) do you use?

 

 

On 7/27/2023 at 11:47 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Maddiethemooch Welcome to the forums.  Happy to have another experienced betta keeeper here to help with questions! 🙂

In terms of feeding the fish flake or pellets, what food(s) do you use?

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Maddiethemooch

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/28/2023 at 8:53 AM, Maddiethemooch said:

Yes, I do use catappa leaves in his tank and no, there are not sharp objects. Also, I feed him flakes but I also feed him bloodworms once a week.

Is it just the same flake over and over or do you have 2-3 different dried foods?

[Maddiethemooch]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Is it just the same flake over and over or do you have 2-3 different dried foods?

Just the same flake.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:07 PM, Maddiethemooch said:

Just the same flake.

I am not contributing this to the cause, but it is something I would consider.  If you feed only one food you limit types of nutrients.  This betta had a mystery illness and unfortunately passed, but the visit with the vet actually shed a lot of light on issues with her fish.  As a breeder that is invaluable information!

Aqueon has a new line of 100% fish free food which I am going to plan to use in my own tanks as a staple food.  They have a betta version as well as a tropical version that would work well for your application.  It's very affordable and might be available locally at the big box store for you.  It would be a good option to add as well as something else if you choose to add a third food. 

The discussion on nutrition and amino acid chains is in the first part of the video below....
 

 

 

@xXInkedPhoenixX What dried food are/were  you using for your bettas?

[Lennie]

Personal opinion, but I think what you can do is limited with this adult fish that you got in a bad condition.

 I think it is verryy unlikely that you can make him look perfect as he has been through stuff in the past obviously. Dealing with juveniles and getting them better is an easier job to do imo. An adult fish already completed its growth stages you have no clue how. Probably he has been exposed to further stress, bad water conditions, poor diet, no filteration, limited swimming space.. and so on. At this point, providing him the best care sounds like the best option, rather than aiming to have the perfect look. He looks happier and healthier in his after pics. That should be the goal I believe.

I use 5 different dry food, 3 fd foods and 2 frozen foods a well as hatching live bbs. Yes diet and variety is important, but I still face health issues because bettas are usually bred for their look instead of health mostly. So most come with problems.

You can get one more food that would positively affect your fish's wellbeing but I don't think it will be direct solution to anything you are looking for.

[Maddiethemooch]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:42 PM, Lennie said:

Personal opinion, but I think what you can do is limited with this adult fish that you got in a bad condition.

 I think it is verryy unlikely that you can make him look perfect as he has been through stuff in the past obviously. Dealing with juveniles and getting them better is an easier job to do imo. An adult fish already completed its growth stages you have no clue how. Probably he has been exposed to further stress, bad water conditions, poor diet, no filteration, limited swimming space.. and so on. At this point, providing him the best care sounds like the best option, rather than aiming to have the perfect look. He looks happier and healthier in his after pics. That should be the goal I believe.

I use 5 different dry food, 3 fd foods and 2 frozen foods a well as hatching live bbs. Yes diet and variety is important, but I still face health issues because bettas are usually bred for their look instead of health mostly. So most come with problems.

You can get one more food that would positively affect your fish's wellbeing but I don't think it will be direct solution to anything you are looking for.

That makes sense, thank you. My main reason for wanting his fins to look better is just for his own health, I wanted to know if I was doing something wrong or could be doing something better. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:14 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

What dried food are/were  you using for your bettas?

Variety. Dried daphnia, Hikari Betta, Xtreme Betta, Xtreme Krill, Fluval Bug Bits, ACO fry food. Also hand feed a few frozen bloodworms 1x a week.

[sankaz]

I'm happy to find this topic! I have a young betta, his body was about an inch long when I bought him three months or so ago. He's active and responds to my presence. I found these red spots on his tail fin this morning that weren't there yesterday. Do I have too much going on in the tank with him? I had to be away for 6 weeks for medical reasons and a friend was feeding and water changing for me (she's fabulous) because Mr. Pink's tank and another are at work. I mention this because his tail was very smooth when I was able to return to lab and now it's ragged and even worse now he looks like he's injured. He was not very active while I was away. Should I take out some of the plants, the stone? He's so personable, I want him to be healthy and happy.

 

[nabokovfan87]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea given how picky Gepetto can be, what do you think about the swimming space in this tank?

I think it looks ok, maybe just trim some plants.

If the fins get worse, you'd want to treat for something called fin rot.  (Salt, kanaplex, catappa leaves is usually used)

[Lennie]

 

On 8/2/2023 at 9:00 PM, sankaz said:

I'm happy to find this topic! I have a young betta, his body was about an inch long when I bought him three months or so ago. He's active and responds to my presence. I found these red spots on his tail fin this morning that weren't there yesterday. Do I have too much going on in the tank with him? I had to be away for 6 weeks for medical reasons and a friend was feeding and water changing for me (she's fabulous) because Mr. Pink's tank and another are at work. I mention this because his tail was very smooth when I was able to return to lab and now it's ragged and even worse now he looks like he's injured. He was not very active while I was away. Should I take out some of the plants, the stone? He's so personable, I want him to be healthy and happy.

 

Those are some spiky roots that crowd a bettas favorite swimming space. Long fins are prone to be damaged. Even if not damaged, when he enters between those roots, he will struggle very much to swim away and save himelf.

I would get rid of from the top layer of plant and only leave the frogbits. Frogbits have very soft roots and should be just fine.

Very pretty fish

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/2/2023 at 4:04 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea given how picky Gepetto can be, what do you think about the swimming space in this tank?

I think it looks ok, maybe just trim some plants.

If the fins get worse, you'd want to treat for something called fin rot.  (Salt, kanaplex, catappa leaves is usually used)

Bit of a trim of the roots, yep!

[sankaz]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I'll definitely trim the roots. I was planning on starting Maracyn (erithromycin) to prevent bacterial infection but maybe better to start the fin rot treatment first. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/2/2023 at 9:02 PM, sankaz said:

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I'll definitely trim the roots. I was planning on starting Maracyn (erithromycin) to prevent bacterial infection but maybe better to start the fin rot treatment first. 

If this fish does not normally have the red streaks on its fins, if it is normally a white fish- I would agree with you on the bacterial infection. @sankaz

@Colu

Edited August 3, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

What I would do is add more Indian almond leaves and a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons and monitor for week if you notice the fins deteriorate more over the course of a week then I would treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment as most cases of fin rot are caused by gram negative bacteria I would treat with kanaplex @sankaz

[sankaz]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea  He is pink with red streaks. It was the red dots that looked like the color of fresh blood that worried me. Thanks @Colu, start low then bring out the big guns. Got it. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/3/2023 at 10:22 AM, sankaz said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea  He is pink with red streaks. It was the red dots that looked like the color of fresh blood that worried me. Thanks @Colu, start low then bring out the big guns. Got it. 

Hence, "Mr. Pink"

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@sankaz with my Betta I don't tend to have any or very, very little floating plants. They are surface breathers and well, they will fight with floating plants to get to the top to do this- this can cause damage.