Bettas fin

Question
This won't be a techically described problem..sorry!

Our little betta seems to be losing his long fin...it looks half "eaten", and has just these spindly tines at the end now.  He is old...almost two years.  Are we doing something to hurt him?  What causes this?  Is there anything that we can do for him?  He is still active and is eating fine.  (Let me say here, we just guess that he is a male, we don't know for sure.) We haven't done anything different than we have since the begiining, we keep his tank clean (it has an aeroater (sp?) and I change the water at regular intervals.

Thanks!  we know these fish don't last forever, but we like our little guy and if there is something that I should be doing, I'd like to do it!

Thanks again!

Answer
Hi Kathy;

"Technically described"? LOL! You should read some of the wording I've used in my responses! They are pretty 'down to earth' sometimes. I get questions from young kids sometimes too so I have to be very specific without being too scientific. I want them to know the correct terminology but not scare them away from trying to learn them. Could get scary! Anyway, back to your fish, cuz I guess that's what we're here for ;-) .........

He has a case of finrot. Older bettas seem to get it easier than younger ones. Keep his water very clean. Finrot is related to water conditions. If the tank is larger than one gallon, change it every week. If it is less than a gallon, change the water twice a week. If the tank has a filter and not just a bubbler, you only have to change 25% to 50% of it every time. With no filter it should be 100%.

There are medications you can use if the water changes aren't enough to help him heal. At his age I think it's a good idea. Here is a link to a good article about it;

http://www.healthybetta.com/articles/Illness%20Diagonsis/finrot.html

Hope he feels better soon......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins