Red spot/welt on my betta

[cherrybello]

Housing
What size is your tank? - 1g
What temperature is your tank? - room temperature
Does your tank have a filter? - no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? - no
Is your tank heated? - no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? - none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? - pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? - once daily

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? - Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? - 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? - Stress coat

Water Parameters: This sounds naughty, but I have never tested water parameters for small tanks...

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? - large red spot on the side of his body
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? - lethargic, stays on the bottom of the tank, it looks like he's struggling to stay upright as well, he seems to be using his fins to balance himself on the bottom of the tank. He has stopped eating.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? - 2 days since noticing the behaviour, a few minutes since noticing the red spot
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? - I have no idea how to treat him
Does your fish have any history of being ill? - none
How old is your fish (approximately)? - 1 year

Chartreuse has been in an unheated tank since I had him, he's been perfectly fine, no particular problems aside from tail biting... until very recently. I had 2 other bettas dying of the same symptoms as I have been neglecting them due to a relationship issue. From previous researches, it looks like bacteria infection... but I have no idea how to treat him, help please?

Also, if it is in fact bacteria infection, what am I to do with the tanks that housed the fishes that died of it? Can i reuse anything from that tank?

[Olympia]

Hi there, sorry to hear about Chartreuse.
Can you give a better description of his spot? Does it stick out from his body at all? Are there still scales there, or does it look more like an open wound?
For starters I think you should at least start doing daily 50% changes for him to keep the water cleaner, we don't want this getting infected, especially if it's an open wound.

[cherrybello]

Thanks for the reply Olympia, it looks like a red open wound, and it's sticking out.
Things are getting hectic right now, but I'll do my best...

[Sakura8]

It sounnds almost like a cyst of some sort that has burst. Do you think you can get a pic of it?

Let's go ahead and add 1 tsp of aquarium salt to his tank (as long as there are no snails, shrimp, or live plants in it). Predissolve it in a bit of tank water. When you do water changes, be sure to keep track of how much water you are taking out so you know how much salt to put back in. So if you take out 50%, put back in half a tsp of salt. If you take out 100%, put back 1 tsp.

The cleaner the water, the less likely the wound will become more infected.

[cherrybello]

Thanks for the advice Olympia, I have started him on the aq salt treatment, Chartreuse is getting weaker, been lying on his side like his other brothers went through...

I think it's bacterial infection, but just to be sure, here is a pic...

[Olympia]

You mean Sakura.

Ouch, poor guy. I hope he pulls through, but be prepared for the worst..
Definitely looks like something burst open. Hopefully keeping the water super clean will keep it from getting any more infected. I'll be rooting for the little guy!

[cherrybello]

Oops
Sorry Sakura =X
I am so tired tonight so I didn't look properly = =

I am prepared for the worst for Chartreuse, I shouldn't have neglected them the way I did... but I'll do my best to treat him. Should have noticed when I saw all the uneaten food on the bottom of his tank... aye!

[Sakura8]

Hi Cherrybello. Sometimes life gets in the way of our best intentions so don't be too hard on yourself.

It does look bacterial. If you can, look for API Furan-2. It's a broad-spectrum antibiotic that may help him. In the meantime, continue with the AQ salt and lower the water level if necessary so he can reach the surface and breathe.

[cherrybello]

Thank you Sakura...

Chartreuse passed away last night. It was relatively fast for the same kind of infection as his brothers. Thank you Sakura and Olympia for answering to my thread.

Last question, is it ok to reuse the tanks that housed my sick fishes? If so how should I clean them? If not I am going to throw them out...

[TheCheese909]

You can clean them with hot tap water. If you boil the water before putting them into the tanks then that should kill off anything. But if you're unable to fill the tank(s) with boiling water then hot tap water sitting for acouple days should do the trick. Since it's only 1 gallon however, you shouldn't have a problem.

I'm sorry about your fishy, alteast he went relatively quick.