Bettas with fin damage (long post, lots of pics)

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H2Ogal

Betta Be Good to Me
Mar 16, 2010
1,213
0
0
Memphis, TN
Real Name
Deborah
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_before_1.jpg

Talullah after
Talullah_damage_1.JPG
Talullah_damage_2.JPG

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.

Button_damage_1.JPG
Button_damage_2.JPG

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?

Button_damage_1.JPG Button_damage_2.JPG Talullah_damage_1.JPG Talullah_damage_2.JPG Talullah_before_1.jpg
 

missmeliss

Addicted to Aquariums
Aug 18, 2008
298
3
18
Exit 34B
Real Name
Melissa
I would continue the treatment, I don't see any signs of columnaris, which is a good thing, but the medications can sometimes take 2-3 full treatment cycles to work. I wouldn't lose faith yet haha - give the medication time to kick in, and if it doesn't work the first time I would still give it another round, maybe rest a day or 2 in between and do a good like 40% water change before re-dosing. Good Luck!
 

talian

AC Members
Feb 9, 2012
9
0
0
48
Ontario, Canada
Melafix would be my only other suggestion, yes it is in bettafix, it is technically tea tree oil derivative, which is an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, will help ease their pain and make it more comfortable for them along with stress reduce, other then that aquarium salts to help with recovery. I didn't see anything to sever and bettas are pretty tough fish, have one here that was so sever with tail and fin rot it was near to his body, you want those tank changes religiously, I used bettafix and pimafix with the aquarium salts on Mushu and he is greatly improved.

PC010207.JPGPC010214.JPGPC200309.JPG

The first two are before shots, when I got him home, the third is how he looks now, almost 3 weeks later, out of the med tank, full of life, always hungry, always active and always getting better in a 10 gal tank with filter, any fish that could live through what he lived through is a tough fish. The store gave him to me from a flower vase in a shop that was freezing. He has no heater but is in my room, the temp never going below 26 C / 79 F on his tank, along with his big brother and little sister. I knew how stubborn he was while he flared at his sister, no fish that is going to die would flare to defend his purposely clouded med tank. After a week he got the clear med tank, he was well enough to see things clearly, not so much stress in his life, now he is in love with his 10 gallon and his new life beside his big brother in the 30 gal and little sister which is still growing in her 3 gallon tank.

PC010207.JPG PC010214.JPG PC200309.JPG
 
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