A hole in my bettas tail...

Sep 23, 2007
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#1
I need help SO quick! I am a new betta mommy for a week now... he's always been a very happy and healthy fish and he still is happy and he blows bubbles ALL the time.. but tonight when I was watching him swim around the tank like he does when all the lights go out... I noticed a slit in his fin but in the middle.. kind of like a peep hole... I have one plastic plant in the tank and pebbles at the bottom.. so I dont understand where this slit hole came from... is it Fin rot??? How long will this take to heal / what do I have to do??? He's only a week old in my eyes and it devestates me to see this hole.. you can only see it when he swims with his tail blown out really big
 

jen0910

Large Fish
Mar 22, 2007
200
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38
Savoy, MA/Western PA
#3
does the tank have a filter? their tails can get stuck to the filter and tear. or it could have been the plastic plant if it is pointy.

as long as it doesnt look like his fin is deteriorating or there is stuff growing around the hole it should heal on its own. but the hole will most likely travel down to the end of his tail and make a slit before it heals.
 

Sep 23, 2007
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#4
no I do not have a filter.. and yeah its a very clean hole in his fin.. theres nothing growing off it or around it... and he seems still really happy and hes always making bubbles.. so I'm hoping it'll just heal on its own. I'm gonna do a bit of a water change today just to give it some fresh water so it doesnt get infected.
 

Jul 24, 2010
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#5
I have a male gold twinbar platy with the same thing, but he has white stuff around the hole. I had it on one of my female platys, but the hole never showed up and went away after about a month. Any idea how i could treat it and the white stuff. I did a partial water change today to see if it would help any. Also, its a 10 gallon tank. HELP PLEASE!
 

Meleemaker

Medium Fish
Nov 17, 2010
84
0
0
Pierre SD
#7
Just to come to everyones rescue it seems, thats normal. When you put a new male(or any aggressive fish) into a new home he will FLARE. At everything and everyone one after a couple days. The first few days are very shy betta inhabbits your aquatic dwelling but as soon as they know they are safe BLAM its all over. Excessive flaring of the gills and fins will almost "stretch them" apart. This isnt terrible, if it looks like its getting worse, 50% water change, and make sure your getting your salt put in the tank. I know its a betta, but the aquarium salt keeps a lot of fungus and other nasties away(ick included).

When I put a male and a female in a 55 gallon together, he took a GIANT nip out of her caudal fin(back fin) and it looked terrible. I thought she would never heal, but after a day or two of aloe treatments, I noticed a white rim around where she was nipped. Thats the fin regrowing in most cases. And fins do regrow but they probably will not look quite as beautiful as before.

Another instance I was breeding crowntails, the male was full of testosterone for male fishies and was struting his stuff and after about 5 days EVERY SINGLE peice of fin between the rays(point rigid part of fish fin) was completely missing. Within a week or two of aloe he was better.

This magical aloe is in most water treatments, they have two dosing instructions. One for neutralizing the chlorine and one for fin regrowth. The fin regrow is usually double dosage, but dont quote me. StartRight and melafix are the two that I have the easiest access to and what I use.

I HOPE THAT HELPED!