I gave my boi a haircut

[jerrysbetta]

So this section has been really quiet for some time now aye?

I enjoy my long-finned red halfmoons, all their droopy fin glory and do want to see them happy at all times. So on my second attempt to spawn the pair I have with me, I noticed the male tiring out easy from all the skirt chasing going on. After 2 days of half-hearted wrapping/embracing, I was sure for some reason that this spawn was not gonna succeed. So I decided to separate the pair and try something I've successfully done once before many years ago on a similar red hm with finrot. I gave him a haircut aka fin-trim. The process took me about 2mins to execute before he was placed in a recover tank. After about an hour, he began eating again. I placed him in his 10L abode and boy did he seem so much livelier and happier than before. He now looks like a beautiful blend between a long-fin and plakat variety with his beard(ventrals) long and thick

Now I know there will be some out there who may have the notion that this is painful for the fish but you gotta put yourself into the shoes of a halfmoon, especially one with the rosetail genome. You'll see that all that weight from the fins is literally such a drag and would be relieved to have that baggage reduced. There is such a thing as pain before pleasure Took some pics of the happy bugger just 2 hours after the operation!

[kandeecane]

Oh wow. O_O;

I guess if he was in that much distress about it he'd probably tail-nip.

But then again. If they nip their own tails.. Then it can't be /that/ painful.

[Chuckie]

Since it's impossible to critique a fish with its fins trimmed, I have moved this thread from the Critique forum.

Please try and post in the logical forum, guys :D

[Marianne]

I have read that fish have no arteries or nerves in their tailfins, and that's why it's sometimes recommended to trim their fin if they have early stages of fin rot. So I don't have a problem with it:) Looks cool:)

[splendidbetta]

Fish do have arteries in their fins, albeit small ones. See the top of page 289.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I7WhoP...nce&f=false

I have found papers explicitly confirming the existence of sensory and motor nerves in fins. I have not been able to find anything about pain-receptors in fins. However, it makes no sense that such large and delicate parts of the anatomy would not have pain receptors.

Fish fins often get damaged naturally, and they have the remarkable ability to heal and regenerate easily. I do not agree with trimming fins for aesthetic purposes, for example to reduce the length of the anal and dorsal fins to make them match a show standard. But I am fine with doing it to improve the fish's wellbeing :D

[Fishchick]

I regularly trim damaged fins. they heal much faster and without infection. As for the pain - it can't be that bad - seeing as how most of the damage is self-inflicted. Recovery is very quick.

When I used to breed HM I would trim the heavier finned males. It's hard to cut a perfect tail!

[bewarebrunette]

How do you keep them still? just got to be quick i guess

[paul]

And is it done with scissors or a scalpel blade?

I sometimes wonder if the long fins increase drag and therefore make the fish less energy efficient...and also make it harder to manouvre for coupling while spawning?

[Neffy]

I have a HM male with pretty long fins but hes chewed them to rags and they havent healed or improved at all, would trimming them help ?

[killimike]

I would be very nervous about cutting into part of my fish! Especially a beautiful HM male! But for his wellbeing, sure. Those things must be tiring to carry around all the time, and as it helps in wound recovery (Maybe RAINMAN should give it a go if all else fails?) it seems to have a few legitimate uses. Re pain, thanks for the info Stefan!

I want to know too, what do people use to cut, and do you use anything on the cut fin edge afterwards?

There was an old TFH article about the same procedure on male delta tail guppies, they recommended knocking the boy out w soda water or something first so he didn't flip around, and then razor blading off half the tail, and dabbing on mercurichome or some such.

Edited February 16, 2010 by killimike

[zhong89]

knocking the boy out with soda water? huh? How does that work?

It's amazing you can cut so well, he's a beautiful boy. If it hurts wouldn't he be in shock and kind of sitting in the bottom of the tank and not moving around? So it can't be that bad

[MJay]

knocking the boy out with soda water? huh? How does that work?

soda water is just carbonated water and co2 in the right amount will have an anesthetic affect, so introducing a fish into such an environment may knock them out, may also be fatal if your not careful. you could also use clove oil, or Phenoxyehhonal to sedate the fish, these are sometimes used when transporting large fish. Becareful with them though as too much will kill them.

I imagine it's better to just be as quick as possible without any sedation, but i'm no expert on bettas. I'm sure someone who does it often (someone) could advise..

[splendidbetta]

At certain concentrations, clove oil is an irritant. If you don't want to see your betta thrashing around violently in the solution, do not try it at doses bellow that used for culling.

(Unless you know the sedative dose and don't intend to kill your betta)

[kandeecane]

I'd really love to know if trimming Zip's fins would possibly help. He isn't a thrasher out of the water anyway.. Seeing as I just netted him to get him into his tank again after his 100% water change... And he just lay there in the net.. :/