Not sure what to do anymore

[Cattrina]

Originally Posted by Myates

Okay.. rereading everything, and going to do some searching- see if I can find a compatible treatment for both fungus and the bloating and popeye all in one.. so give me a few, got busy today with so many threads, this one got kind of lost in my shuffle- I'm sorry.

Don't worry about it, I'm thankful you're here now.

I have pictures taken of him but no way to get them onto a computer just yet. I should have them up tomorrow though. I'm going to go through everything I noticed and have done to condense everything and make this a little easier.

Current Condition: He is in a 1 gallon QT that currently has 2 teaspoons of Epsom salt and my water conditioner. During water changes he resides in a small cup, I try not to keep him in there to long, he gets stressed. The air temp is around 80 F, we might bring that down, but it's getting cold here so we'll have to see.

Fungus: I don't know how long he's had it. It's dark blue/green in color and is hard to spot. I'm not sure it will show up in the pictures. In the last 24-36 it changed color and became white, however it is back to being dark now. I think it might have something to do with the Bettafix I put in then before changing the water to just aquarium salt, but I'm not sure.

Pop eye: His left eye has the pop eye. I noticed it about 24-26 hours ago. It seems to have gotten larger since then. There are also small white bubble things that are around the eye, one is around the mouth and one is on the top of the right gill. I don't think it's ich, he had the start of it once before but it didn't get bad.

Bloating: He's quite large. He's always been a little bloated though I don't overfeed him. He has gotten larger today and it seems to be most prominant of the opposite side of the pop eye. He is being fed 1mm pellets with a minimum crude protein of 37%. I do have a treat wheel with blood worms and other things but he doesn't seem to like any of the food. I have fed him today, so I will start fasting him tomorrow.

Gills: His gills became inflamed this morning after two 100% water changes. There is no ammonium, I have tested that frequently and have never had a problem with it or nitrates and nitrites. His gills are still very inflamed, but it has gone down in color since this morning.

Waste: It's brown. The only time it hasn't been brown is when I fed him peas and it turned green. It is very long though. I was told healthy betta waste should look like a cinnamon roll, but his looks like a cinnamon stick.

Behavior: He has stopped sitting on the bottom of the QT, and stay near the top now. I'm not sure if he's having trouble swimming or not, but he doesn't seem to be having troubles breathing anymore.

I'm not really sure what Columnaris is. Is there anything in specific I should look for? The pictures will be up tomorrow to help with all of this. I'm not sure how good they are, my camera isn't the best. Thank you guys for all the help and information, it means a lot to me.

[Myates]

Lowering the temp isn't a must do- but lower temps will slow down the fungus growth, as well as help kill it.. fungus thrives in warmer water. So if you can get it to 76-78* then that would be helpful, if not, it's okay.

I wish he wasn't bloated or I would tell you to keep him in the AQ salt, since that will help speed up the fungus problem, it can also help some with the popeye.

Columnaris is a fungus that hits the body and fins. A white spot/wound about in the body maybe 3/16 inch, that within a week the white increases to a larger strip in size. A white to grey cottony growth (that appears like a fungus) but it appears to be eating away the fish’ skin, as well appears the outside skin is eaten away down to the 'meat'. Sometimes the infection where Columnaris is present is a blackish to fleshy in color. A lesion that appears like a white/grey “Saddleback” near the dorsal fin (which leads to the other common name for this disease: “Saddleback Disease”.
In gills, Columnaris can cause disintegration of the gill filaments. As the disease progresses the gills can change from their natural color to a light or dark brown.
Cottony Growth that eats away at the mouth, Fins rapidly disingrate, starting at the edges. Gray areas around head and gills, As the disease progresses the gray lesions may change in color to yellow/brown/red. Lethargic, Loss of appetite, Clamped, Gasping for air are other signs.

If he has Columnaris, the treatment would be either Mardel’s Coppersafe, Maracyn I & II, API Erythromycin, OR API Triple Sulfa, combined with Jungle’s Fungus Eliminator (if possible).
You can use any of those with Epsom Salt.

[flowerslegacy]

The occurance of the spots, the inflammed gills and black to white spotting could all be indicators of Columnaris. If this is the case, then the treatment would need to be strong. Especially if he's in an advanced stage. However, pics are really needed to be sure. Especially with the bloating issue and pop-eye. If you can first post pics before dosing, that would probably be best. That would give us the advantage to proper diagnosing since he has multiple symptoms.

[Cattrina]

I apologize for the lack of pictures, my computer has been having issues and I have not been able to connect to the internet.

On that note, I thank you all for your help and your kindness, but Blaine has passed away. You're advice and words have been very much appreciated, but I guess I came to you guys too late. Thank you all.

[flowerslegacy]

Oh Cattrina, I'm so sorry. You tried your best. I hope you won't give up on the wonderful world of bettas. There's another friend out there waiting just for you! Thank you for the kind words. We hope to see you on the forum again soon!

[Hisaki Yuki001]

I'm so sorry for your loss. This reminds me so much of what happened to my Mr. Moto. When I got him he had a hug white spot on his head due to an infection. he eventually went belly up from bloating and his tummy almost exploded. After trying UN-iodized sea salt since I had nothing else as a last resort, I was thankfully able to save him. To this day though he still has issues with bloating when he he eats more than a slight pinch of crushed flakes. I can't even feed him brine shrimp or pellets without his bloating getting really bad due to his internal damage.

I'm sorry for your loss. You did everything you could do. I'm sure when you're ready, another little guy will be happy to live under your care.