Alright, I'll pick something up tomorrow. Any suggestions on just what I should get to treat it? What are you currently using?
Thank you so much! Hopefully I can nip this in the butt and he can finally get to feeling better.
You're welcome! Before I went to the petstore, I looked at some reviews and Mardel's Maracyn products seem to be popular. Maracyn Plus antibacterial therapy was my top pick after reading reviews. Maracyn 2 should also do the trick. The store closest to me only had Maracyn-Oxy, which claims to treat common bacteria, fungus, and viruses, so that is what I am currently using. Basically, you want to look for something that treats gram-negative bacteria.
What size is the tank he's in? Keep in mind that some of the products are hard to dose, as mine is a half-cap full (2.5 ml) per 10 gallons and I put my water into gallon pitchers.. so I use 1/16th of a cap every container of water :P. If that's important to you, read the directions to check out the dosing before you purchase one.
Sorry for the late reply. I've been super busy. I did pick up some Maracyn 2 and started treating him right away. The downside is, he's on his fourth day and I have seen no improvement. In fact, I think he's getting worse. I've noticed more dark black spots on his body, like the one shown in the picture, only these are much smaller but, I can see larger gray spots starting to develop under his skin. Eventually these develop into black spots. The problem is, that these black spots look a lot like rot and not tumors so, its like his whole body is slowly starting to rot from the inside out. To top it off, today I noticed that he has developed small holes in his gills. He's also started getting a little clampy, though he is more active than he was before. On the bright side, he no longer has the cotton like growth on his fins and he's not throwing himself against his tank anymore. The downside is he has developed new some new problems.
He is currently in a heated 2.5 gallon tank.
Oh, and I did move his tank next to another one of my bettas(one of the calmer ones) a couple of days ago, and he seemed to do better. Even now he seems to do better when he is close to another betta. Don't know why.
Sorry for the late reply. I've been super busy. I did pick up some Maracyn 2 and started treating him right away. The downside is, he's on his fourth day and I have seen no improvement. In fact, I think he's getting worse. I've noticed more dark black spots on his body, like the one shown in the picture, only these are much smaller but, I can see larger gray spots starting to develop under his skin. Eventually these develop into black spots. The problem is, that these black spots look a lot like rot and not tumors so, its like his whole body is slowly starting to rot from the inside out. To top it off, today I noticed that he has developed small holes in his gills. He's also started getting a little clampy, though he is more active than he was before. On the bright side, he no longer has the cotton like growth on his fins and he's not throwing himself against his tank anymore. The downside is he has developed new some new problems.
He is currently in a heated 2.5 gallon tank.
Oh, and I did move his tank next to another one of my bettas(one of the calmer ones) a couple of days ago, and he seemed to do better. Even now he seems to do better when he is close to another betta. Don't know why.
Well if the cotton growth is gone, he probably did have a bacteria infection, that has been/is currently being treated, so that's good. Keep him going on the Maracyn for the recommended treatment time.
However, my next guess would be a fungus. I looked at this website: http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/septicemia-infection/. Is says black coloring will appear with this fungus and it usually goes hand-in-hand with a bacterial infection. Does this sound like what he has?
Kind of, only I have been treating him with both the Maracyn 1 and 2 just as a precaution. Yet there is still no change. As for the similarities, there is no redness on his body, just gray and then the gray turns to black and doesn't go away. His gills are fine, not inflamed or anything. Though, they still have that gray coloration on them, and now the holes.
Kind of, only I have been treating him with both the Maracyn 1 and 2 just as a precaution. Yet there is still no change. As for the similarities, there is no redness on his body, just gray and then the gray turns to black and doesn't go away. His gills are fine, not inflamed or anything. Though, they still have that gray coloration on them, and now the holes.
Hmm.. how long do the medications say to use them for?
What do these holes in his gills look like? Could you post an updated photo of him?