Betta Fish Destroys his own tail

[awpong]

My betta fish has a long magnificent tail, but he keeps shredding it to pieces. The tail was almost 2 inches long, and now half of it is all tattered and full of holes.

He currently lives alone in a 10 gallon tank with perfect water parameters.

Does anyone know how to prevent him from nipping his own fins? I heard it was due to stress, but he shows no signs of stress other than the fin nipping.

 

[PlecoCollector]

Have you watched him actually biting his own fins? I've personally never seen a fish bite themselves, though I can imagine it's possible. Is there any whitening around the fins that could suggest a fungus?

Another thought to consider: How strong is the filter/current in the tank? Bettas are bred to have long fins, so they are not built to swim in a current. Being pushed around too much may result in a stressed out fish. How about the tank's ornaments/plants? Plants have always helped with my Bettas so they can hide under them

If you're looking to heal those fins up, throw some Melafix in there- it should get them growing back in no time!

 

[awpong]

I've been watching him destroy his tail for the past hour now. I try to interrupt it by distracting him but he just goes back to chasing his tail and eating it. There is no fungal growth on the tail at all, it looks normal, correction... looked normal. It is the bright vibrant red it always has been, and he still maintains his vivid black body with bright purple/blue pigments glimmering all over it.

Also, there is a very very small current from the filter, it hardly disrupts the surface at all.

 

[bassbonediva]

Usually a betta tail-biting is a sign of boredom. How is his tank decorated? The best idea to keep a betta from getting bored is to have a highly decorated and planted tank and do a little rearranging every time you do a water change.

 

[PlecoCollector]

He doesn't seem to be stressed then, so I'm going to second the idea that he's just bored. Might I suggest getting him a mirror? Not necessarily one that would be available to him all the time (as that might turn into stress) but just enough for him to be entertained by his reflection. I know my Betta has a thing for the box of tea that usually sits next to his tank...

You may want to consider adding some salt/Melafix to his tank to ensure the bites he's inflicting don't get infected

 

[bassbonediva]

No Melafix!! The tea tree oil in Melafix can damage a betta's labyrinth organ and kill them. A tiny bit of aquarium salt, soak his food in pure garlic juice (from minced garlic you can buy at the grocery store) and some API Stress Coat and his tail will be right as rain in a week or less.

 

[PlecoCollector]

No Melafix!! The tea tree oil in Melafix can damage a betta's labyrinth organ and kill them. A tiny bit of aquarium salt, soak his food in pure garlic juice (from minced garlic you can buy at the grocery store) and some API Stress Coat and his tail will be right as rain in a week or less.

That's very interesting- I've never heard of Melafix harming labyrinth fish before. A quick search seems like there's a lot written about it- I'm anxious to do some research! I've been out of the internet aquarium world way too long.

 

[unwritten law]

what about betaifx?..... made by the same guys as metaflix... i think

 

[AndiH]

Hrmm now I might know what killed my last betta

I did some search on bettafix and what I came up with is that its a weaker form of Melafix and that while the risk is smaller its still there.

 

[OrangeCones]

I've been watching him destroy his tail for the past hour now. I try to interrupt it by distracting him but he just goes back to chasing his tail and eating it.

Does he have a tankmate? I've heard of adding another compatable fish to distract and change the behavior.

 

[awpong]

These are two pictures of my fish. You can see that he still has very bright colors, he just has picked up a recent habit of destroying his tail. Its to the point now where he can no longer reach it.

 

[littletankbigworld]

Your tank appears to be very bare from the photos. I suggest decorating it and adding a lot of live plants or at least cheap fake ones if you cannot afford live ones for now. If you add sand, you can keep 4 corydoras catfish, which would be a great distraction for your betta.

 

[bassbonediva]

Yes, betta-fix is the same thing as Melafix, just weaker, so yeah, the risk is still there.

To give you an idea of how decorated and planted a betta tank should ideally be, here's a couple pics of two of my tanks: my Hex5 which is heavily planted but with few decorations, and my 6gal flatback hex which is heavily decorated but not too heavily planted (yet).
Hex5:

6gal FBH:

If you don't want to spend as much as I did on the second tank (had everything but a few plants for the first tank, but had to buy the columns and sphinx for the second tank, which were about $30), you can always half-bury some smaller terra cotta pots in the gravel to make caves, just make sure you cover the hole in the bottom so your boy can't get stuck in it (I know someone's betta who got stuck in that hole and ended up cutting himself all up). Something like this:
http://www.arizonapottery.com/images/wwm_192.jpg
You can usually get them at Walmart or craft stores for less than $.50 each.

 

[Doomhed]

No Melafix!! The tea tree oil in Melafix can damage a betta's labyrinth organ and kill them. A tiny bit of aquarium salt, soak his food in pure garlic juice (from minced garlic you can buy at the grocery store) and some API Stress Coat and his tail will be right as rain in a week or less.

I have used melafix on betta splendins to no ill effects. Are you sure you aren't thinking of a different betta species?

 

[xarumitzu]

I love your tanks Bass! I wish my tanks looked like that, but I've never had any luck with live plants -_-

 

[bassbonediva]

I have used melafix on betta splendins to no ill effects. Are you sure you aren't thinking of a different betta species?

From what I've read, it's very easy to overdose Melafix (and subsequently Bettafix) in the small tanks that bettas are generally kept in. I know from personal experience that that can happen because I've *had* it happen. I rescued a betta from Walmart who had been in a tank with two red-tailed botia and they'd ripped his fins to shreds. I dosed him with Melafix and ended up overdosing him, which killed him (his wounds were survivable and if I'd done it differently knowing what I know now, he would have been fine).

And thanks, xarumitzu! I had a lot of fun with those tanks and now I'm working on a third planted, themed tank.