I got my two bettas Button and Talullah about a month ago. They are temporarily living in heated, unfiltered totes. I normally do WCs every day or every other day, conditioning with Prime. but I messed up a couple of weeks ago and went 3 and 4 days between WCs. I may have had ammonia spikes, but my test kit was expired, so I wasn't able to check params. I've also goofed up plugging the heaters back, and had the temps drop to about 70 deg for a night and most of one day. (About a week ago, I fed them some pond snails and a damselfly larvae that arrived on some anacharis. I don't think the fish have a parasite problem, but thought I should mention.)
Now, I'm kicking myself for all the errors because one girl has bad fin damage and the other might have it starting.
TALULLAH
Tallulah had a deep split/hole in her caudal fin one morning; I thought it might be tailbiting, but the next day, she was so ragged, she looked like a crowntail. Now, all her fins except the pectorals are damaged, with tissue missing between the rays and areas of paler (thinner?) tissue further up the fins. Here are before and after pics. The 3rd image shows some slightly paler areas on her body, behind the pectoral fin, that I believe predated the fin damage. Talullah swims constantly, eats like a pig, and shows no clamped fins or other signs of stress.
Talullah before
Talullah after
She's very hard to photograph because she's always so active, so here's a video. (Check this thread for a "before" video.)
[YT]_S65mzIyD8Q[/YT]
BUTTON
I realized yesterday that a mark above Button's mouth is actually a petty deep cut. I'm also unsure about the white edging on her fins. Button is much calmer than Talullah, and naps off and on all day. Great appetite, no clamped fins, no other signs of stress.
TREATMENT
Since I got the bettas at the same time from the same store, I assumed they'd probably been exposed to all the same stuff, and I never QT'd the equipment I use for WCs. Also, the anacharis and snails went into both tanks.
I started treating Talullah with Maracyn Plus 5 days ago, so tonight was the 3rd treatment. I haven't seen any improvement in her condition. Should I continue the treatment?
Having spotted Button's injury, I went on and treated her water tonight for the first time, hoping to stave off any infection. Should I continue her treatment?
I bought a bottle of Betafix but hesitate to use it. Is there another product that would help them heal faster which is absolutely safe for bettas?
Now, I'm kicking myself for all the errors because one girl has bad fin damage and the other might have it starting.
TALULLAH
Tallulah had a deep split/hole in her caudal fin one morning; I thought it might be tailbiting, but the next day, she was so ragged, she looked like a crowntail. Now, all her fins except the pectorals are damaged, with tissue missing between the rays and areas of paler (thinner?) tissue further up the fins. Here are before and after pics. The 3rd image shows some slightly paler areas on her body, behind the pectoral fin, that I believe predated the fin damage. Talullah swims constantly, eats like a pig, and shows no clamped fins or other signs of stress.
Talullah before
Talullah after
She's very hard to photograph because she's always so active, so here's a video. (Check this thread for a "before" video.)
[YT]_S65mzIyD8Q[/YT]
BUTTON
I realized yesterday that a mark above Button's mouth is actually a petty deep cut. I'm also unsure about the white edging on her fins. Button is much calmer than Talullah, and naps off and on all day. Great appetite, no clamped fins, no other signs of stress.
TREATMENT
Since I got the bettas at the same time from the same store, I assumed they'd probably been exposed to all the same stuff, and I never QT'd the equipment I use for WCs. Also, the anacharis and snails went into both tanks.
I started treating Talullah with Maracyn Plus 5 days ago, so tonight was the 3rd treatment. I haven't seen any improvement in her condition. Should I continue the treatment?
Having spotted Button's injury, I went on and treated her water tonight for the first time, hoping to stave off any infection. Should I continue her treatment?
I bought a bottle of Betafix but hesitate to use it. Is there another product that would help them heal faster which is absolutely safe for bettas?