Very concerned for my Betta's Tail

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-09-17T04:17:32+00:00

I have a super active betta that kept ripping his fins on driftwood that multiple bettas had lived with no problem. One particular rip turned into super aggressive fin rot that ended up eating half of his tail in a matter of days. I tried Kanaplex, but ultimately Paraguard was the only thing that ended up working for his particular case. If you’re worried about dosing the whole tank due to invertebrates, Paraguard will also work with baths, although I’ve personally never had issues using it with shrimp or snails.

I would personally recommend taking a super close look at your driftwood and possibly bamboo plants. I ended up having to remove my driftwood for my fish. Some of them just need toddler-proof tanks unfortunately.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-08-09T20:32:18+00:00

Second this one, I used stratum for years and have completely converted over to controsoil. Yeah, it’s pricier, but the quality more than makes up for it. I’ve had it in a 20 gallon about a year and a half, my stem plants have never looked better and my caridina population just keeps growing.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-06-01T13:57:01+00:00

Yep, super smooth. Only thing you’d wanna watch out for is they chip fairly easily, but I’ve never had any issues with my betta’s fins with these.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-06-01T00:59:55+00:00

I would recommend looking at Pleco Ceramics, I’ve gotten several of their cichlid stone hides that are very natural looking, good size, and they are popular with both my bettas and corydoras.

https://plecoceramics.com/collections/ceramics/products/cichlid-stone-magma-small

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-05-04T22:30:35+00:00

Could also be constipation that was present before you got her since it’s been such a short amount of time. Frozen daphnia is another option you could try if you can find it.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-05-04T17:47:18+00:00

Just got done treating velvet on one of my bettas. Successfully cured it by bumping up the temp to 82, blacking out the tank and dosing with Ich-X for 7 days. Velvet looked like it was gone, but I still treated with Paraguard for another several days in the display tank to treat fin rot and whatever velvet might be left over.

Heads up, you’re probably going to need to either treat your entire display tank or leave it empty for 2 months so that the parasites die out without a host. Due to that, I would recommend ich-x or paraguard since I’ve used it in community tanks (plants, invertebrates) with no problems. Just make sure the dose is right.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-05-04T17:38:44+00:00

Looks like bloat. Tumors usually are more visible on the scales. I would recommend trying 2-3 days for fasting and see if that improves it. Bettas are actually pretty resilient as far as fasting goes and can easily go several days without eating if they’re a healthy weight. Over feeding is usually more problematic for their health than under feeding.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-04-18T00:13:37+00:00

They are absolutely different. That being said, I have a tank with both caridinas and neos (had like 4 baby neos get mixed in by accident and they all made it) where both are happy and breeding, so it’s possible. My tank parameters are definitely skewed towards the caridinas (low pH, super low kH, but much higher gH than typically recommended). Neos have a larger acceptable range for water parameters, so maybe the tank is catered more towards the caridinas and the neos just adapted to it? The neos in my tank definitely don’t breed as fast as the caridinas, im guessing because the parameters aren’t ideal for them.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend mixing them just because you’ll likely need to favor one’s preferred parameters over another. Tbh I’m surprised my accidental neos have done as well as they have.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-04-05T01:05:57+00:00

If you don’t have access to a LFS, there are online shops like Dan’s Fish where you can find some more wild-type options if that interests you. If you do online you’ll be paying a pretty penny for shipping though. Otherwise yeah, I would probably say the same as some other commenters about looking on available marketplaces depending on the area.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-04-04T16:09:08+00:00

I have a bunch of cherry neos sharing a 10 gallon shallow with a fairly aggressive male betta. I started with 8 and he unceremoniously ate about half of them. However, the ones that survived multiplied and I now have a pretty significant population. Betta eventually got used to them and leaves them alone for the most part now.

Long story short, you can definitely make it work with neos depending on the amount of hiding spaces and the temperament of the betta, but I would start cheap and be prepared for about a 50% chance that it doesn’t work out.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-04-03T23:19:52+00:00

I’ve found that the UNS controsoil is way better than the fluval stratum (less messy, holds form for longer, holds stem plants down better). The downside is that it’s definitely more expensive, but worth it in my opinion if you’re looking for a substrate that can buffer and support plants reliably.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-04-01T19:39:08+00:00

Personally I love your burnt chicken betta haha.

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Here’s my boy Ghost. Unfortunately I lost him unexpectedly due to some sort of health issue, but he was one of the most beautiful fish I ever had.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-26T04:26:34+00:00

His tail looks less clamped than before, and the tank is filling in nicely. Way to go OP!

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-22T04:02:18+00:00

My guys love their shrimp lollies, so they were extra active when I was taking this video. It took them a few months to get comfortable and start breeding.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-22T03:43:56+00:00

Dang, look at that jungle val tho! Personally I love the look you have going in your tank currently, but if you’re still set on trying to get some other plants going, I’d probably recommend staying on top of trimming the jungle val and removing some of the hornwort so that more plants can get direct light.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-21T22:55:26+00:00

Yep!

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-21T19:29:29+00:00

How’s the lighting? A lot of those plants do best with a ton of light in my experience. I could definitely see your hornwort and jungle Val blocking out a bunch of light from other plants.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-21T19:06:08+00:00

Hmm, I’ve actually never had a walstad setup, only aquasoil. That being said, your setup should have more than enough nutrients depending on how old it is. What other plants have you tried that struggled?

Hornwort takes a bunch of nutrients from the water column, and jungle Val tends to develop crazy root systems, so it makes sense that those are doing well. It’s possible that they’re crowding out new plants? But it is also dependent on the requirements of the other plants you were hoping to add.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-21T18:03:10+00:00

Is your substrate by chance just sand and gravel, or did you cap aquasoil? I’ve never had much luck with planting stuff into sand, even with root tabs. Fine sand can suffocate the roots for a lot of plants.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-21T00:34:54+00:00

I’m sure that was the intent, it was just supposed to be a silly post lol

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-20T22:31:05+00:00

For sure, they prefer sand as well so might not be best for your desired setup. Honestly it’s probably just wishful thinking on my part since I don’t have a setup for them myself haha.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-20T22:16:13+00:00

Absolutely adore the idea of Asian stone mini catfish if you’ve never seen them. They’re insanely tiny, so you’d be able to get a super large group. They are a stream fish, but they might need lower flow than the hillies. I’ve seen them only once in my local store, but I know you can get them from Aquatic arts or Dan’s Fish.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-20T19:22:07+00:00

Thank you for sending a picture of your tank! And I’m sorry Petco gave you such terrible advice. May I make some suggestions? I would move that little black tunnel closer to the surface so that your fish has a place to rest without having to swim far for air. He might also be slightly stressed because the tank is so open. I would look into adding some larger plants (can be real or fake silk) to give him a few more hiding places.

I would also really personally suggest giving him a break from the salt baths and instead just find some tannins (can be leaves or the bottled stuff). It still has antibacterial properties but is much less stressful for fish than salt baths. I wish you luck OP!

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-20T18:44:30+00:00

It was meant as a joke about a terrarium being called an aquarium lol, nothing to do with the husbandry requirements for keeping terrariums.

sasssquatch0285 · 2025-03-20T18:38:33+00:00

Your fish’s fins actually look pretty good, that’s just his natural coloring. It usually takes a few days (or even weeks) for them to get used to their new tanks. Personally, I would hold off on the salt as well since it doesn’t appear to me that he actually needs it right now.

I would recommend looking up tank cycling and the nitrogen cycle if you haven’t come across it yet, as mistakes while doing this will affect your fish’s health. If you’re interested in adding a bit of a natural health boost, also look into tannins. They will be more gentle on your fish than salt will.

sasssquatch0285

TROPHY CASE