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Well, I've the discovered the cause of my boy Enrique's recurring fin rot. It's not rot at all. Just 2 hours ago I was looking at him, and commenting on his amazing fin regrowth and vibrant health. He must have had over an inch of beautiful regrowth on his tail, and he looked very healthy! Fins puffed out and erect, swimming around, bubblenesting...

2 hours later I go check on him and see more than half of that beautiful tail gone. And not torn, because I would see bits of fin on the bottom of his little tank, and not rotted because A) I don't think finrot can demolish 2 inches of tail in 2 hours, and B) because it was terribly uneven and well, chomped looking!


UGH.

I put in a bit of melafix and pimafix to add the regrowth, but geez! HE'd been doing awesome for months!

In the words of comic book guy from the Simpsons,

"Worst episode ever."

Sorry to hear about his tail - What do you have in the tank other than him??? What size tank is it?

Stella

Hey Stella!

nothing. He's in a 3 gallon tank, kept constantly at 80 degrees, with a plastic plant that passes the nylons test, and a little polyresin dolphin cave ornament with no sharp edges

I've been dealing with his receding tail for over 6 months now, and I think before it may have been finrot he got from the store, but now it is definitely him!

Guppy I have a tail biter too. He will get it grown back and then he chews it off again. I have tried everything...putting him near another betta, on his own, different tanks and decor. Fed more often, different foods, etc. Nothing helps. I guess it is like someone who bites their nails...a bad habit.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

Wow - I've never heard of a betta biting its own tail off- Thats why I asked what else was in the tank - That is very interesting - Sorry again about his tail - hopefully he will decide to stop in the near future.
Stella

ohhhhhhhhhh..........
his tail is plit right up to his body now.

I'm so angry with that little bugger!

Now I'm not angry, just worried! He's looking pretty bad, now. The rest of him is fine, he's bright, eating, curious, not gasping, active... It's just his tail that's just a couple of pathetic strips now. I did another water change and added Jungle Fungus eliminator, and melafix. Hopefully my little guy gets better! I also removed the plastic plant, just in case.

any ideas?

I know a -lot- of people always hate this idea, but I swear by it. I always put 1 or 2 female feeder guppies in my tanks with a lone male betta. It keeps them busy, chasing the guppies from the food, etc. Never had a problem.

Maybe this could help your tail-biter. Goodluck*

thanks for the advice, maybe when he is better, I might get him a buddy. He seems to be doing better, the JFE must have helped because his tail isn't rapidly disappearing at such an alarming rate any more. Still, he only has 2 pathetic little shreds left. STUPID BETTA! there is NO way that was finrot, it moved way to fast, and the recession wasn't uniform, or even kinda ragged, a STRIP of tail would be gone at a time! I was so scared for him, but he seems to be picking up now.

Light Bright, what do you find triggers your betta?

[span class="edited"][Edited by guppylove1985 2004-07-18 14:40][/span]

My turquoise ct does the same thing, but my red super dt does not. I don't know why either, but he's still my favorite.

doing a little better today, we actually have some clear regrowth *yay*!

he was fine for like 3 weeks, and there was plenty of regrowth. Today, WE have shredded tail again. I want to kill this fish, for making me worry about him so much!

Did you try adding somebody to keep him busy? That may keep his mind off of his habit long enough to where he'll quit doing it all together...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

In the words of comic book guy from the Simpsons, "Worst episode ever."

Isn't that from the ritz bitz commercial, where Bart gives the comic book guy his empty ritz bitz box for some valuable comic book collectory items, and says "Worst trade ever."?

to stay on track, possibly something to keep him busy would be a ping-pong ball?

Well that's enough to drive you crazy :%)

What size tank is he in? Maybe a friend is a good idea...I've also read the ping pong ball idea from other people, you might try that. How about setting up a mirror for him for a while to distract him?

Good luck and keep us posted please.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean