Do Siamese Fighters need to be 'flared' every day?

[nieve5552]

Hi I've read the most unbelievable rumour recently after joining an online club for tropical fishkeeping in South Korea.

I know from first hand experience (Im originally South Korean.. living in New Zealand) that a lot of South Koreans are lacking in nature/biology-related knowledge since theyve mostly lived in densely populated cities with minimum contact with natural environment.

However this piece of information about Siamese fighters is downright weird (in my opinion) and something I've never thought of or heard of in other places..

They seem to firmly believe that if you don't make a male Betta flare regularly (preferably every day, for around 20 minutes) then their fins will clump up, stick together and start rotting away.

How would this be logically and biologically be possible at all?

Its not like their fins are made of glue or velcro and they will stick together for an eternity if they are not spread and smoothed out every day…

There was one member who expressed his concern about his veiltail fighter having gathered fins with sharp ends, as a lot of veiltails do when they are not flaring (especially their dorsal and anal fins). He was worried that the sharp ends meant that the fish might be showing a symptom of fins-sticking-together-due-to-lack-of-flaring.

I thought this was the most bizarre and unbelievable rumour (but more like a reliable information than a rumour for them).

I may be wrong but I just can't imagine how that would be possible.

I would really appreciate it if someone could either support me or correct me on this one!

Thanks!

Nieve

[Adrienne]

To keep their fins (rays) strong fighters need to flare.

Most breeders use a mirror and systematically place it beside each container or remove the cardboard dividers so they can flare at each other.

Point fins stuck together is more likely to be fin rot starting imo.

You have to remember that in the wild fighters do not look like the commercially bred fighters - they don't have the long fins and tails.

[nieve5552]

To keep their fins (rays) strong fighters need to flare.

Most breeders use a mirror and systematically place it beside each container or remove the cardboard dividers so they can flare at each other.

Point fins stuck together is more likely to be fin rot starting imo.

You have to remember that in the wild fighters do not look like the commercially bred fighters - they don't have the long fins and tails.

Thank you for your reply :thup:

Ok it makes sense that it is needed to keep the fins strong..

But does not flaring make the fins actually stick and clump together instead of the fin rays just simply getting weak?

[chaos0wnage]

Nice rumour you have there...

"Flaring" is territorial display... basically saying this place is mine, trying to make another fish move in order for the male to feel secure. and It would not make sense for fins to clump up if a fish does not flare, fins would need to be stretched every now and then just so functionality does not disappear. The everyday thing I'd call bs on because when mine are taking care of their fry. they are alone in a relatively dark tank (no reflection or anything the fish flares at) I leave the male in for 3 days then I return him to the conditioning setup.

Basically what I'm saying is.... as long as a fish has the capability to flare it can stretch its fins, fins clumping is something new to me and had never heard of it before.

I had a copper in a 5L separator who was flaring everyday doing his thing, after a while his anal fin and other long fins started to degrade so before trying to cure fin rot I checked, there was no irregular bacteria or fungi in the water - no other fins on other fish were damaged (I did stains and observed things on various agar plates and tubes) I could only conclude that after a certain age they are vulnerable to fin degradation either by other fish nipping and not recovering or some other factors. Generally as bettas get older they grow into their fins I remember seeing a huge bodied crowntail at a breeders place in Epsom ~4? 5? years ago and thought he was PK but he was just a little older than the fish we see at shops. think he was a couple years old actually.

[Trilobite]

Too much flaring can cause them to blow their fins and damage them. But not enough flaring will prevent them from reaching their full potential fiinagewise. So there needs to be a fine balance. 20 min daily is overkill imo

I give mine a couple of mins flaring roughly every second day just for exercise and to keep them aggressive, but yeah as others have stated that rumor that their fins will stick together is pretty false.

Sticky fins is usually a side affect of a sick fish