Betta Fin Deterioration
 

Hey guys,

I've had a veil tail male betta for a few months now. I was keeping him with a dwarf frog who ended up nipping and tearing his fins, so now I keep them separate. The betta's fins healed quite nicely, but I notice that now his tail fin is starting to separate into like strands. I don't have any sharp plants or anything that would tear his fins, and I am not sure if this is fin rot. I have heard that exessive flaring can cause fin damage. I don't know if this is true or not, but my betta is constantly flaring at my thermometer because the back of it is metal. Do you think the fin damage is due to this flaring? Or could it be fin rot? I will be removing the thermometer for now, just in case.

Thanks in advance.

It may be finrot. I had a betta once that had finrot and his tail looked like it went through a shredder. It looked like a fringe.

That's what it appears to look like as of right now... How can I take care of that? Will more frequent water changes be enough or should I pick up some type of medicine?

I think that more frequent water changes would be best and if that doesn't work, then you can try medicine.Jungle Fungus Clear is a good one.

Alright, great I'll try to pick up some of that today. This may be a stupid question, but any harm in using that medicine if it isn't fin rot? I am not entirely sure that it is, but by what you said earlier about yours I don't see what else it could be.

Do you have any sharp decorations or plastic plants in his tank? If so, it may be that he tore his fins instead of finrot.

There is some plastic type plants, that appear soft to our touch yet will shred a betta's fins,
Look on each plant closely for any tiny pieces of colorings the same as your bettas tail,
Depending on your bettas color and the plant it sometimes can be hard to see, Took me awhile to figure that one out,

Thats One reason I turned over to all real plants,

Bettafix or Melafix or Pimafix are good fin rot medications, jungle makes good reptile stuff thats about it.

Ok thanks.. I haven't seen any of his fins on the actual plants or anything, but I didn't know that even softer materials can tear a Betta's fins. I will try to upload pictures of his fins but my webcam is poor quality and he moves quickly.

Pictures of my Betta are attached. You can see how his fins are sort of stringy and falling apart. I know it's poor quality, but does it look like fin rot? or more like tearing?

Thanks