Translucent, Clamped Fins on Betta?

Question

Symptoms: For the last several weeks my Betta has been showing clamped fins with half of his anal fin becoming translucent.  No rips, no fraying and no holes, basically it doesn't look like any case of fin rot I've ever seen, which is what I first suspected. No white spots, copper dusting, white fuzz, yellowing or popped fins.  Slight bloating (which is likely due to overfeeding, whoops).  Normal behavior, hangs out on the top of the tank, but swims around at normal speeds to investigate.  No rubbing/scratching.  

http://img.waffleimages.com/f21addc2a9f0cbc4f9eb3c8f5f740297a24ef9b8/fins.jpg 
Old picture, that wispy/translucent look is now halfway up the fins.  Dorsal fin had some pre-purchase injury in this photo that has now healed.  

Environment: 5g tank, heated to steady 80 degrees, filtered, cycled.  pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are all idle.  No chlorine or anything of the sort in the water.  Pinch of aquarium salt, added slime coat/stress reliever.  The only problem is that our water is rather hard here (the joy of city water).  His tank has two silk plants, an amazon sword and java ferns.  Weekly 10% water changes.  

Treatments tried: Did the 3 day temperature increase with salt, in case of Ich.  
Followed by dosing of Mardel's Maracyn-Two and Maracide (in case of Ich or Velvet due to the clamped fins).  

Any ideas on what could be causing this and what else I can do?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

It could be like subtle form of fin rot. But in that case it sounds like youve got it well covered with the maracyn/maracide. What ive usually noticed about bettas when they start to grow older (you didnt mention his age) is that their fins dont usually quite resemble what they once did. I had a betta whose fins ends were clamped, and he lived the rest of his life that way and was fine. So if the treatments arent working, I would say that perhaps it is old age. They also tend to start losing the vibrancy in their color.

Trending News

Translucent, Clamped Fins on Betta?

1 Answer