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Fungus?

569 views 10 replies 3 participants last post by  callistra 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 2 G
What temperature is your tank? Just got a new heater, last one burned out 2 weeks ago. Was typically 65 now it's about 70 and rising
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? plant, but no.
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? Sometimes Top Fin Color Enhancing Betta Bits, sometimes Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 4 in the am 4 in the pm, but lately less.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? twice a week, sometimes once a week if the water looks and smells fine
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 98
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? 7 drops per gallon betta safe by Tetra

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He has white patches on the outside of his gills
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Yes, he almost looks like he's having a hard time swimming. He does have a swim bladder infection, and he doesn't eat as often. Won't attack bloodworms like he used to
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I've been putting salt in his tank for the past three weeks
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not since about 2 months ago
How old is your fish (approximately)? I have had him for about a year, maybe a little over.
 
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#2 ·
Hey there,

Sorry to hear that your boy is unwell:-( I had a look at the photo and it doesn't look like fungus to me but it is a little difficult to tell..... The white patches, do they appear to be fuzzy and cotton wool like? or does the skin appear normal and just changed in colour. If your heater broke a couple of weeks ago and you have only just got another one then your boy may have experienced a fluctuation in temperature in his tank water during that time which would have lowered his immune system and put him at risk of infection or illness. If it is fungus that your fish has then a good way to fix it is by increasing the temperature in his tank slowly over a few days until it finally reaches about
28-30 degrees Celsius, do not go higher than 30 degrees Celsius. It may take a week or so depending how severe the fungus is but it should cure it. Once you are sure that the fungus is completely gone decrease the tank temperature again. This is extremely important because while short term it is safe to increase the temp if left at a high temp long term bacteria will flourish and can make your betta sick. Good luck with your boy and keep me posted:)
 
#3 ·
It's weird because the only time you can really see it is when he's stressed. When I just went to look at him it was almost nonexistent. It was very visible when I netted him to hold him while I switched his water. Idk if I'll be able to get his tank that warm, maybe 27-28C or as I like to call it about 80F lol. It could be fuzzy but not very. Not like I've seen before on here but it did seem to have a different texture than his fins.
 
#4 ·
Hey there,

If it disappears at times then it cannot be fungus....... When bettas stress they can get a bit pale and change colour like that. I bought a betta the other day and he had similar white patches on his cheek/around his gills too but it was just a change in colouration from the stress, they have gone now he is happy and settled in. Do you have a PH/ammonia test kit? If so you could test his water as if the PH is too high or low or there is ammonia present this could stress him out and cause the patches.
 
#5 ·
I don't have a test kit. Do I need one if I change his water every few days and it have neutralizer? Idk it's just weird because it never used to be there so bad. He also seems weaker than usual. I know he has swim bladder infection but that never has inhibited him from swimming as much as it has been recently. Right now he's hanging out by the new heater which is much better than the last so hopefully that'll be a nice pick-me-up for him.
 
#6 ·
Looks like Velvet to me. When you shine a light on him is it gold/rust colored?

You can only treat with salt for 10 days or you risk doing more harm than good.

I would only feed the omega ones. They're better. Try cutting back to 2-4 for the whole day instead of 4 twice a day and make sure you give him a good fast a week. If he's still constipated epsom salts are what you want.. predissolved and pure with no additives per the ingredients label. You can start with 1/4-1/2 tsp per gallon and increase up to 1 tsp if needed.
 
#7 ·
He didn't seem gold or rusty. His water used to have particles that looked like that. The water looked dusty after only one day but it doesn't do that anymore, I figured it was paint from the tank furniture. Constipation? I should stop the salt? I read on another forum that every tank should have salt as an essential additive as important as the water itself. I should fast him?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Ideally you want to treat this conservatively by bumping up heat and salt like here: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73332 However, since he's already been on salt 3 weeks he needs a break. And even if you give him a week or two off it and want to start again, you can't treat with salt in cool water. Their life cycle will be way too slow to be effected.

For constipation and swim bladder issues use epoms as outlined above.

For Velvet, you'll need something with malachite green, copper safe or prazipro. Follow instructions very carefully in the case of malachite green and copper based meds as they are highly toxic. You need to heat up the water as much as possible like you would with salt, because the lower the temp the longer their life cycle and the longer it takes to treat. Treatment for 3-4 weeks is needed to make sure it won't come back as their life cycle will be about two weeks (when warmed up properly). Also your betta's immune system will always be low. He needs to be warmed up for longevity health reasons. Also if you can keep the bowl in a place without light or put a blanket over it so that light can get to it that would help.
 
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