Betta fin disintegrating

Question
Hi there, I am a new Beta owner and have a male and female in a tank together. I have had them for just over a week now and they seemed very happy, went I went to bed last night all was still perfect, this morning when I fed them, the male has almost no fins left.  The water was a little milky.  I have done a water change now, but he seems different, he flares his gills up when the female comes near. Will the fins grow back? Please help... thanks

Answer
Jean,

 You need to remove one of them from the tank. YOU CANNOT KEEP A MALE AND FEMALE IN THE TANK TOGETHER. You are very lucky that you still have 2 fish. The Betta also known as Siamese Fighting Fish cannot be housed in the same tank unless you are breeding them. You really should not have bought the 2 of them unless you had to different tanks. It is VERY important to research your fish before you get them. Had you checked into the Betta before buying them you would have known you cannot put the together You now need to get another 5 gallon tank to house one of your fish. I hope that you had them in a larger tank and not a bowl. This is what you need to do and have:

1. 2 5 gallon tanks.
2. 2 heaters
3. gravel for both tanks.
4. a Betta first aid kit that has
     1. medicine for Ich
     2. medicine for fin rot
     3. aquarium salt
     4. A 5 gallon hospital tank that has
         . a heater
         . a sponge filter
  The hospital tank needs to be running at all times with a filter and heater. This is where you
   will place your sick or injured fish.              
5. A water conditioner that removes chlorine from your tap water. this needs to be added to the
   tank on set up and all the water that is replaced in the tank every week.


The males fins are not disintegrating they have been bitten off by the female. As long as they are in the tank together you will continue to see the male flaring at the female. As for the regrowth of the fins, if there is any par of the fin left, then there is a good chance it will grow back. It could take up to a year for his tail to regrow.

If you cannot do any of these things, I would take the female back to the store. Fish depend on us to give them everything they need and it is up to us to give them everything they need. In the future before you buy any more fish research them first. DO NOT bring home any fish if you do not intend on giving them everything they need. Had you researched the Betta you would have known the male and female cannot be housed together and your male fish would not have been injured. You need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get fin rot or any other disease because you negligently put them in the same tank.