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IMPORANT: Watch For These Disease Signs

220K views 593 replies 187 participants last post by  End Balkanization WLM 
#1 ·
I wish to spread awareness about a disease that has struck several times in the recent months. It moves very, very, very fast, often killing within 12-24 hours. Nothing is known about this disease except that it is a bacterial disease that causes rapid and acute tissue necropsy and that it seems to strike blue bettas in particular. Several people are working on identifying this disease, including veterinary student DarkMoon17, but WE NEED YOUR HELP.

If you have a betta who develops the following symptoms or dies, please DO NOT DISPOSE OF THE BODY. It is very important that we have a body to send in for a necropsy. Several people have volunteered to take the bodies to local universities or veterinary clinics near them. All we need you to do is save the body and contact DarkMoon17 or me immediately.

The symptoms of this disease are:

* graphite gray or near black tissue necropsy that spreads from the bottom of the fins upward to the body within hours
* sudden loss of mobility as the swim bladder is affected
* death or conditions so severe that they require euthanasia within 12-24 hours, occasionally as long as 36 hours

The betta will look something like this:
Blue Feather Organism Fish Tail


There have been speculations about what it is, including suggestions that it is an acute strain of columnaris, but NOTHING IS KNOWN FOR CERTAIN. PLEASE DO NOT post speculations about what this disease may be unless you have been able to identify the disease through lab work. Such speculations only cause aggressive debate.

Any and all cooperation is much appreciated as we work to identify this disease so we can figure out a way to combat it. Thank you very much.
 
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#557 ·
Sick Betta w lump

Hello,
I own 3 Betta fish in a divided tank at my home in Boise, Idaho. I don’t believe there is an aquatic vet here in town so this is the only other place I could think of to turn for help. I have one male Betta that I’ve have for a little over a month now. He came to me looking a bit run down , not too interested in eating and swimming around normally, so I put him in a filtered, heated tank and he seemed to get much better within a few days. Then, about a week after putting him in the tank I cleaned the bottom which stirred up some debris and then noticed the next day he began to grow a small black lump on his cheek between his gill and mouth. The lump grew a bit and has now changed from black to white. It isn’t a tumor looking lump, more a lump of scales as it is un even and flat on the bottom. I have researched as best as I can online and read it could be from breeding (as he is silver and I guess the metallic ones are more prone to such things?) or it could be from an infected cut, or even a virus called lymphocytes. Im not at all sure which one he is ailing from but all in all his temperament is totally normal, he eats like a champ and swims around like he is happy. Again, he is in a divided tank and I worry that quarantining him could make him miserable as he is so happy and shows no signs of stress. Thank you so much for reading my message and if there are any ideas that could be thrown my way I would so appreciate it. I could take a picture and would be so happy to do so for my little friend as I love him so much! Thank you again for all your time and trouble!

Housing
What size is your tank? 10 gallon divided so 3.3 gallons each
What temperature is your tank? 80 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? under gravel
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? one airstone in each section
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? tabiko and pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? two-three pieces twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 25% each week with vacuuming
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? backwater extract and a water conditioner to remove chlorine and IAL

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0- none
Nitrate: 0- none
pH: 7.0
Hardness: slightly hard
Alkalinity: slightly alkaline

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? only the lump
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no, happy, eats, bubbles, swims, flares
When did you start noticing the symptoms? day after cleaning the tank about two weeks after getting him
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? black water extract and IAL tiny bit of dissolved aquarium salt
Does your fish have any history of being ill? he came to me not looking so good then perked up after being introduced to the bigger tank and has acted happy since
How old is your fish (approximately)? unsure really, bought at petsmart and he was an adult size
 
#558 ·
In the space of six days my little Merlin has lost half of his Anal fin, and now on the sixth day the edge of his tail fin has started to grey at the tips.

On Thursday 26/02/2015 i noticed the tip of Merlin's Anal fin had turned a brownish black color, i instantly searched up what it could be then went down to my local pet store where i have a friend who knows a bit about fish, He told me it didnt look like anything too serious, and said it could be a really really minor case of finrot, in any case i got him some Antifungus and finrot solution, i cleaned his tank and then added the solution. Merlin was acting completly normal on this day and was eating with his usual big appetite.

Friday 27/02/2015 The Dark color on his anal fin had spread to half way up his fin, he would stay in one corner from morning to early afternoon, i again went to the petshop and asked again what they though, and they said it was moving too quick to be Finrot, but they werent sure as they hadnt seen anything like it before, so i bought a new water testing kit. His water was in perfect condition. So i again cleaned his tank to get rid of the parts of his fins that where just floating in the water, after the water change he was back to swimming about happily which installed some hope in me, and his appetite remained the same as always.

Saturday-Sunday He was his normal happy self, he played and ate as usual, the grey piece where slowly falling off, one piece remained by the end of sunday which had turned black. I changed his water once over the weekend.

Monday 02/03/2015 Installed alot of hope in me that he was finally getting over this, the black piece was slowly flaking off and bar getting used to swimming with a smaller fin, Merlin was pretty happy.

Today 03/03/2015 I read a comment on the forum i had been posting on about merlins progression with what i first thought to be Finrot, and was refereed to this forum, and then i went over and said hi to Merlin...who happily greeted me...the black piece had finally fallen off...but it was then that i saw a tiny white/grey mark on the edge of his tail fin...And i just cried not knowing what else to do because it wasn't over...and so far from all ive read is that there isnt any hope for him.

Please someone tell me that there is a cure, that i can somehow save him, I've called up numerous vets and no one will look at a fish.
Has anyone had a betta who has contracted this disease but has survived it?
i really need some help, i dont want my boy to die :'(

(Here are some Progression Shots of the spread, sorry if some of the pictures are bad quality)
 

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#559 ·
Wait a minute I just now saw this. I lost Asa today. I was mystified at what was wrong with him until I read this. I joined yesterday because I needed help with his illness. He started to get lethargic last week but he was still eating. Whatever he had mimicked fin rot so I treated him for fin rot. There was absolutely no change. Then his blue gills underneath him turned white and spread very quickly to the end of his tail to the rest of his body. I ordered every medication for him that I could find, I had him in salt. Nothing seemed to help. The last two days he went from being sort of active and eating to complete loss of appetite and he went downhill quickly. Whatever he had was aggressive and it was fast, and it mimicked at least two different diseases but the usual treatments didn't help. I hope it isn't contagious because I have another one. Elsa is in her own tank though, but they have been near each other and I may have mixed up their faux plants.
 

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#565 · (Edited)
Unfortunately I've just come back from work to find my betta dead. I'd been battling with some fin rot - of which was just under control and the tail was growing back. This morning (7.30am) he displayed this graphite patchy tail, didn't eat and wasn't swimming. By the evening (6pm) he'd passed. This is the second betta I've lost to this disease now, I'm hoping that some answers start coming through!

Here's some pictures of the disease, though these were taking (perhaps hours) after death.

http://i.imgur.com/ZceziGG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0dXruZx.jpg
 
#567 · (Edited)
Guys, this is Mycos. There is no cure. This can spread to humans also, so please be careful. Tanks can be bleached 50/50 for about 7 days, then wiped clean and sprayed down with 91% iso alcohol and let set for 24 to 48 hrs. They should be safe to reuse by then. When I had it, I bought hospital grade solution that kills TB (human mycobacterium) and STILL let my equipment set empty for 3 months before I got more. IF you see these signs, put the fish down. There is no saving it. I am being hard nosed about this...I've been through it. I put down close to 100 fish in 1 day because of this. I understand these are your pets. All these fish were my babies!!!...the youngest ones were 3rd and 4th generation for me. I cried for weeks after that. I felt even more horrible that I let the ones that DID show signs suffer for months before they died. This disease eats the fish alive for the most part.

PLEASE quit referring to it as "graphite disease"...it is Mycobacterium. It can only be diagnosed by a lab that has to take a live fish (dead fish decompose too fast) and cut it up and look under a microscope. Every picture I see posted, I see my fish and what I went through.

If daily clean water and salt for 7 days don't stop fin rot, then it probably isn't fin rot.

ADDITION: I sent a single fish with a friend as she was going through the same thing. ALL 6 fish (she sent 5 plus my 1) as positive for Mycos. I sent 5 more fish to be diagnosed by a lab in FL. I think I still have the emails from the lab. I got a phone call from the Manager of the lab and she told me it was mycos. I didn't have the strain IDed...what was the point in spending more money...still no cure.
 
#569 · (Edited)
Is this Fish TB/Mycos?

Hi all, I've been reading about Mycobacterium in fish (which is what Coppermoon was referring to) and now I'm terrified.
Some history:
My betta has been mostly normal aside from occasional swim fits into the rounded corners of her aquarium. This includes swimming, eating, activity, etc.

For a while now she has what looks like an indentation in her side. It could be a depression or it could be from a curved spine I'm not sure.

She lives in a 4 gallon tank treated by TopFin Betta Water Conditioner and Aquaeon Betta Bowl Plus Water Conditioner. It has a filter and a heater, and sits with the black/opaque filter side facing a window. I haven't moderated aquarium temps before but current water parameters are as follows:
pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10-20ppm (it was close between the two)

I never formally cycled it, but the values indicate that it may have cycled itself? Is that possible?

She's been in this tank for about a month now, with one 100% change about a week ago.

Since then I took the four attached pictures. Her head has become increasingly more grey with time and is grey even when she's at her most vibrant. She has perpetual faint stress stripes that developed several weeks ago. Her body has been deformed for nearly two months.

Please help me, I will respond speedily with answers to questions you may have.
 

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#571 ·
Not sure if its the same thing but my female betta last night looked a bit burned at a tiny area on her top fin but i thought this was just her pattern or smth but this morning i woke up half her body looked burned and black though she is still alive now but i know she wont live any longer for a fe more minutes or hours she is sitting on the bottom on one side just breathing though i want to end her misery cause shes suffering so much T.T
 
#572 ·
I just got a betta 2 days agao from PetSmart. He was staying in the bottom of the container but moved around still. I just thought that he was stressed because he has large fins and in that small cup for who knows how long. Went and got him a tank with a filter and light, stones from the bottom, a resting leaf, red fake plant for him to hide around and a black oriental style decoration. When I got home I had noticed he was not swimming around at all in the cup (was still setting up his tank) so I looked up what may have been wrong with him and all I could find was possible swim bladder disorder or disease. Looking at this thread now I am scared he may have whatever this is. He has a black head and he faces to a very dark rich blue (his name is Cobalt) and if this disease affects blue bettas I am scared he has it. What are the early warning signs so I know how long he has and how long I can keep him comfortable and as happy as I can make him? He is also not eating or moving much now and seems to have trouble getting to the surface even with the filter off. Please any help with anything that may be wrong with Cobalt will me so much
 
#574 ·
Guys, I need help with this disease. It the same type of concept as Graphite, but it's different. Other than it being non contagious, I want to know if it's the same type of thing?
The fins rots away, but it's not black, I made a thread on it:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=6821769#post6821769

I understand I seem like those people who must post about their pretty fish all the time, but I think new diseases are more important. Help?
 
#576 · (Edited)
I've been reading about this, and please don't laugh - but I really think heavy metal contamination is going on here at least in part. Google geoengineering one word just like that, our entire environment is being contaminated by aluminum and its sprayed in such minute particulate that its being absorbed into marine life and fish in the wild are showing symptoms of this. I think it self replicates. I know thats science fiction creepy but that's what I think. Our natural environment is not so natural, any more.

Test him for aluminum, that's what I say.
 
#577 ·
Is this mystery disease?

Hi there, my blue betta Drogo isn't looking good. He was fine yesterday flaring and swimming well. But this morning I notice his pectoral fin and the tissue around it is dark gray and looks necrotic. He's not using the fin at all. I haven't noticed any fungus on him recently, he's been doing great in his planted, cycled, divided 10g (filtered, heated, I keep up with water changes and gravel vac). Water params are perfect. I removed him from the tank and took this photo. I'm worried for my tank and the snails, shrimp, and other Betta in the tank. Is this mystery disease? Columnaris? I don't know what I should do next. This really sucks, I really like this fish. Thanks.
 

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#580 ·
I just got on...I had already flushed my poor betta Fraser (sky blue veil tail) who had all these symptoms including dropsy, Popeye and more I couldn't determine as he was already dead. It happens over night, his water was in perfect conditions, temp and everything. I'm really sad to see him go...I'm really sorry I didn't take any pics but I can describe things for you if need be....
 
#581 ·
Just lost my DTPK Maui to possibly this mystery disease. Hit fast and almost his entire body is gray except for some bits of his normal royal blue hue. I will note I haven't disposed of his body yet as I don't want to flush him if he did get this.

I only have post death pictures as I didn't realize it had hit until he was gone. He was fine last night.
 

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