BETTA FISH!!! FIN BITING???

Question

I am in need of serious help and I'm not sure of where to turn to with a large group of people to help... I've gone to petco/petsmart/etc and I have gotten no help because no one has heard of a fish doing this... anyways, I'm a momma to a betta fish (I know I know judge me, but he is my pride and joy, and I baby him) I have had him for around 2 months now. When I first got him he was in a one gallon, unfiltered tank no heater, I changed the water daily. (pics below). He is a halfmoon so he has a huge tail. I moved him into a filtered 3.5 gallon tank and he has been in for around 2 weeks... he acted like he was loving it, making bubble nests and acting like his normal self... but as of last week he is fin biting!!!!! YES. He is biting off his own fins. I have no idea what caused this, as I take very good care of him... I learned a lot about how to properly care for bettas after the first week, that's why he is in a filtered tank now. And yes I condition the water. You can see in pics he has a beautiful set up now... I don't know what is causing this behavior. He is still active and eats very well. The only thing I haven't done, is he didn't have a heater before so I purchased one today in hopes this would help BUT still caught him doing the biting after it was installed and water was warmed.... 
Please help!!!!! I know he is just a fish but he is my baby. He is the sweetest thing and loves to interact with me.

Answer

I just recently discovered my own love of fish. So, I definitely understand your love for this little guy. I wish I could help you with why he is biting himself. I will say though - you could try adding in something called Melafix. It helps with healing wounds and fin issues. My Gourami Cindy had something wrong with her fin. I dosed the tank with this stuff and it grew back!! Might be worth a shot for your little guy.

Answer

The tank itself may be to big for him. He may be extremely lonely in a tank that huge. My parents used to raise betas and they were in a tank half that size and was perfect. They do like smaller size tanks. I hope you figure it out though hun. He's beautiful!!!

Answer

Maybe move him to a new spot with more stimulation? He might be bored. You could do a larger tank since betas do need a decent amount of room and put a divider in with a female beta on the other side of the divider. Might encourage him not to rip himself apart if he had someone to impress.

Answer

Maybe stress and fin rot? Or is it possible he's seeing his reflection and biting at himself thinking it's another fish (probably not but just a thought). Have you checked the chemical balance in the water? 
This happened with my beta, Hank. He was beautiful when l first got him, giant fins, but after a few months his fins started rotting 😔 l think from stress of too many road trips. I lived in the dorms at the time and had to take him back home with me over long breaks. 
I hope your fish gets better! I understand the love a person can have for a fish. They have such big personalities, it's amazing.

Answer

😍 I had a beautiful beta fish for almost 5 years. His name was Pherell he was just like yours but was more purple colored. I kept him in a 2-3 gallon beautiful glass vase that was just wife enough for him to have space to swim around in. I never cleaned the water every day, they don't like that. Cause as soon as they're getting used to the new water, your dumping it out and replace it and they seem to hate that. Also I didn't have any machine attached to the glass. Just room temperature and never by a window. Pherell died after all those years cause I had to move and my dad kept him for me and put him by the window and he froze. It was summer time, but they are sensitive (even though they are fighting fish) I was so sad! So I went and got another one. This one was all red w purple. I named her missy Eliot. One thing I did different w her was add live plants and she only lived under a year. Got a third beta, named ruby, died only a few weeks later. Good luck hun you seem to love this fish

Answer

Finally biting is stress related. I don't know if you're still having this problem, but something isn't right. Maybe his temperature is off, or his light is too bright, or something small and unnoticeable to you is dramatically disturbing to him. XD When my little guy was eating his tail, I turned the temperature down a little, rearranged his plants, and moved him away from the window. I have no idea which of these things helped, but he stopped after that.

Answer

My first thought is could he possibly be seeing his reflection in the glass of the new tank? They tend to be aggressive towards other beta fish so he may be biting himself mistaken it for another fish?... Just an idea, I've never seen this myself.

Answer

too much water change can stress them out. daily is too much. try weekly and only a partial change. get a filter, not an air stone, and actual filter and a heater. our Betta, Dragon scale, thrives with the filter and heater.

Answer

Maybe Get a divider and get another betta fish, maybe he will focus more on his friend than biting his own fins :/ i hope he gets better!! Also a fosh mommy to 5 tanks but me and hubby dont ahve any bettas but i showed him his and that was his suggestion too :/ or even a frog or snail just to maybe have a "tankmate"!

Answer

Where did you got this fish from? If you got the fish from Petco or petsmart, that will explain a lot. These stores don't take care of animals. I volunteered at an animal rescue inside Petco and petsmart, they do not care for their animals... a lot of them are sick... my stepdaughter got a beta similar to yours from Petco, died after 3 months, then she got a new one who died in a month... and he was well taken care of, she got another one from a fish store, which lasted forever.

BETTA FISH!!! FIN BITING???

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