Beta fins

Question
I have a red male beta fish (Spanky). I got him from a friend's house because he was swimming in filthy poop water. I now have him on my desk at home in a gallon-sized fish bowl. When I got Spanky he was pretty normal looking, but the edges of his fins were a little brownish looking. I'm afraid they have not gotten any better. His color is fine but the edges of all his fins look shriveled and black. The man at the pet store told me that it was not a fungus or it would be white. There is no white, but it doesn't look good... For the past two days he has been sitting on the bottom of the bowl looking pretty sad. After reading other posts, I've moved his bowl and warmed his water a little bit. We'll see how that goes. Let me know if a picture would be helpful. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Camlyn,
 It sounds like maybe he might have "burned" his fins a little in the foul water -- the ammonia damages the fin tissue. This should, in time, go away.  Also, as you note, warming him up might be good.  A lot of people don't realize that as the air temperature drops, so too does the water in an unheated betta bowl, and the betta will naturally slow down to a very low level of activity.  Ideally, you might even consider moving him up to a 5 or 10 gallon tank with a heater.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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