Betta - short tail? Different type maybe?

Ach; they're all just Betta splendens (there are other species of Betta, but they're rare and expensive in the hobby). The named varieties are pretty artificial divides.

It looks like a veil tail that has lost a large portion of the tail fin which will likely regrow given time and clean water.

I read in another post a few days ago, someone said that if a betta had a severe case of fin rot, the fins are unlikely to grow back as long.
Looks like a veil tail, maybe he was in recovery when you brought him home.

maverickbr77 said:

It looks like a veil tail that has lost a large portion of the tail fin which will likely regrow given time and clean water.

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seems to me he s a veil tail too ... not sure bout the Betta splendens

true it is possible they may not grow in fully (I have a convict cichlid that is missing about half its tail and 90% of its dorsal and ventral fins but they were rotted to the body when i got him) but i wouldn't be suprised at all if this guy regrew at least most of its tail fin

yes it is a Betta splendens

definitely a veil tail that has suffered through a rather severe case of fin rot. i don't think you are going to see his tail regrow to what it may have been before. keep a very close eye on the tail fin, i see red on the end in some places and red indicates the rot is not completely gone. water changes and more water changes (every couple days) for another week or two, just to be on the safe side.

this is the area i was talking about.



i had a blue betta that was nearly identical in colouration to yours. he had fin rot a couple of times when i was still learning how to care for these lil fighting fish (he was my first ever fish) and the red is a tell 'tail' (pardon the pun, lol) way of seeing if the rot had been treated completely.


as for your wondering ("I think he's healthy and all that. Seems to be happy, though he's the first in my tank not to build bubble nests? I wonder if this means something?")

the flow and surface disruption of the water from the filter will make the betta not want to build nests, as they require still water for the nests to stay intact and serve their purpose. i had my three male bettas in 10 gallon tanks with just a small sponge filter each, set on a very gentle flow, and they never built nests even with the teensiest bit of water surface disruption. male bettas don't have to build nests to be 'happy', they just do it when the opportunity presents itself and they're feeling good enough to do so.

also, some are just not nest builders. but i betcha if you put a female in another tank or bowl right next to mr betta's tank you'd be amazed at the nest that would appear! lol.

owl said:

seems to me he s a veil tail too ... not sure bout the Betta splendens

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All the named varieties are B. splendens. The other species don't have the extended finnage. Nor do wild B. splendens for that matter, but that's the species which has been selectively bred for finnage.