skin condition?

[smittypip]

We have 1 female betta fish who is 2 months old that lives in a 10 gallon tank with 3 other female betta fish. This betta fish displays a small white protrusion on the left side of her body, as well as a whitish film on her fins. She hasn't been eating for 2 meal times so far and we have already given the whole tank 1 dosage of melafix since we noticed this. She does not swim around as much as she used to, generally sticking to the corners of the aquarium around the bottom of the tank and hiding behind decorations, not coming up for meal times. She used to interact with the other fish slightly, but now she refuses to interact with them. She's not rubbing against the decorations or sides of the tank and she is not flashing, as she remains generally stationary. What could I do to help her and what is it?

There is a heater for the tank, but we don't turn it on because the room and water get warm enough with the temperature staying between 25 - 28 degrees Celcius. We also currently have a filter who's cartridge is replaced every month and the water in the tank is replaced twice a month along with a complete aquarium clean, including using a gravel vacuum, adding conditioner, bacteria supplement, and melafix.

[jriley]

Is your betta really only 2 months old? That's still pretty tiny. Anyway...

Beware the Melafix. If you check the rest of this website, you'll see there are some definite dangers associated with using Melafix with bettas.

Wish I could be of more help--maybe someone else will speak up?

[smittypip]

Thanks so much for your help jriley! Unfortunately a few hours after my original post my betta, Smitty, began floating sideways and sunk in an awkward position, while still breathing. I put her in another container to supervise her in but only a few hours after that she passed away. I just hope someone would be able to tell me exactly what went wrong so I can watch out for my other betta fish. Thanks again and I'll definitely look more into the dangers of Melafix.