Tail biting?

[Flyby Stardancer]

Earlier this evening, I caught boyfish biting his tail. I distracted him as soon as I realized what he was doing, but it's still frustrating, especially since I thought he had just damaged his tail before on the first baffle I had in with him.

Any suggestions? I have half an IAL in the tank with him, I've added a beefier baffle and beefed it up even more... I added a bunch of tall stem plants on Saturday.

I have been battling water quality issues for a few days now. ammonia was spiking, but not above what chloramines put my tap water at so I've only added prime. Today nitrates spiked, well into the dangerous range. Did two water changes (60%, then 50%) to bring them down to a safer level. I noticed all of my plants are bubbling , so hopefully they'll handle the ammonia added from the WCs, and some of the nitrates that are still left. (Higher than I would like but at a safe level, so I figured I'd be better off just watching them than stressing him out with another WC.) I'm still not 100% happy with the baffle, but I'm leaving it alone for the moment. I am much happier since I've bumped up the light levels a touch (the sponge baffles were blocking too much light from the long, narrow CFL, so I switched it out for a spiral CFL, that also happens to use 4 more watts).

[Flyby Stardancer]

I think he's still biting. :( I'm not really sure what to do. There should be plenty of cover from plants, he has both a cave and a hidey spot behind the filter/heater if the sun is too much... I've baffled the filter as much as I can... And yet there's two wedge shaped pieces missing from his caudal fin, one deeper than the other, and much of the rest of the edge of the fin is tattered. :( His tank is warm (sometimes too warm, but I can only do so much about that), as clean as I can get it, and there's an IAL in there to add therapeutic tannins. I'm just losing my mind for what to do!

[ekfishlover2011]

I had a tailbiter. Fought with it for a year before i gave up. Sometimes its not enough to do, sometimes its too much to do, sometimes they just do it and there is nothing you can do. That's how Reaper was. Do you have any plastic plants in the tank? Plastic plants can shred the fins too. If they are all real plants then try maybe giving him a mirror for no more than 5 minutes at a time two or three times a day and see if that stimulates him more and maybe helps. Depending on tank size (which what is it by the way?) you could try to add a cheap replaceable friend like a ghost shrimp or a snail that might give him some enjoyment as well. Reaper did best when he had some young dwarf cories and frogs to play with. I wouldn't suggest starting with either of them though if you dont know how the betta is with other fish or if the tank is under 10gal. Try the mirror and if that doesnt seem to do anything after a few weeks try a snail or shrimp. Hopefully one of those solutions can work for you.

[fishmommie]

ekfishlover had great suggestions. bettas often get bored. try setting something colorful in front of the tank for him to ponder over - a ceramic statue, a pringles can, a colorful book - something that will give him a distraction. I often float a baby toy - like a colorful rattle or a tube with bright colored beads in it just to give my crown tail something to distract him.
my betta's tank is planted but I also have a hollow ceramic log that I got from Fosters and Smith setting on the bottom. He LOVES it. he's always swimming in and out of either end and the extra holes in the sides. It looks fairly natural and has proven to be a great distraction for him.
good luck. hope you get your water issues straightened away soon

[Flyby Stardancer]

First off, I think whatever was causing him to bite has been fixed. There is no new damage and his tail looks to be healing. Whoo!

And now, direct replies...


I had a tailbiter. Fought with it for a year before i gave up. Sometimes its not enough to do, sometimes its too much to do, sometimes they just do it and there is nothing you can do. That's how Reaper was. Do you have any plastic plants in the tank? Plastic plants can shred the fins too. If they are all real plants then try maybe giving him a mirror for no more than 5 minutes at a time two or three times a day and see if that stimulates him more and maybe helps. Depending on tank size (which what is it by the way?) you could try to add a cheap replaceable friend like a ghost shrimp or a snail that might give him some enjoyment as well. Reaper did best when he had some young dwarf cories and frogs to play with. I wouldn't suggest starting with either of them though if you dont know how the betta is with other fish or if the tank is under 10gal. Try the mirror and if that doesnt seem to do anything after a few weeks try a snail or shrimp. Hopefully one of those solutions can work for you.

The only plastic in the tank is what's on the equipment. Heh. There is a ceramic cave with no sharp edges, and a ton of live plants. I think he finally settled in and got comfortable when I packed in the tall stems. There are some MTS in my tank, but I've been having water quality issues (I have a thread in the General Freshwater going about this tank), so I don't want to add anything else. And I think there's something in my tap affecting the MTS, which is not good. :/

Oh, forgot to say. It's a 5 gal tank.


ekfishlover had great suggestions. bettas often get bored. try setting something colorful in front of the tank for him to ponder over - a ceramic statue, a pringles can, a colorful book - something that will give him a distraction. I often float a baby toy - like a colorful rattle or a tube with bright colored beads in it just to give my crown tail something to distract him.
my betta's tank is planted but I also have a hollow ceramic log that I got from Fosters and Smith setting on the bottom. He LOVES it. he's always swimming in and out of either end and the extra holes in the sides. It looks fairly natural and has proven to be a great distraction for him.
good luck. hope you get your water issues straightened away soon

I tried the mirror thing with him once... He "lost" to the "other betta" when I tried to remove the mirror to make the "other betta" lose. So yeah, not trying that again for a while. My cats do like to go watch him, and they'll paw at the sides of the tank, too.

[Betta113]

The cats might like him but he might not like the cats! :cat:
Sometimes I'll put the color sales circular next to the tank and my betta will study it for a while. Also, I try to wave at him whenever I go into the room. I have heard that bettas need outside stimulation or else they get bored. I do have some small beads from a baby toy that I might try. I have also heard of freezing a piece of food in treated water so that he can "investigate" it in the tank. You also might try a floating bottlecap that he can push around the tank.

[Flyby Stardancer]

Yeah, I don't think he likes them much. LOL

I'll come in and watch him and try to interact with him... He's very skittish, though.