Grey blotches on fins and body (help!)

[Jiirim]

I rescued this poor guy about a month ago from walmart, who had stupidly dumped him into a community tank with fin nippers and just about killed him.

From day one he has had disease after disease. First week he had Ich, which has been fully treated for about a week and a half now. Then the next two weeks he has had Fin Rot and Mouth Fungus.

Now I noticed he's developed large grey-ish purple patches along whats left of his fins (fin nippers ate them at walmart. His caudal fin is basically scraps and bone) and there's one of those patches on his body. Is this another disease? Or has the Fin Rot gotten worse?

His activity changed as well. First, when I brought him home, he was still active and brightly colored even after his injuries. Then, after battling ich he lost some color but still maintained an appetite. Now he's almost completely grey, doesn't eat, and lays on the bottom of the tank or floats at the top. Poor little guy has suffered so much

The medicine I have used for the Mouth Fungus and Fin Rot is called Melafix.

Here's a picture. You can see there are two large grey spots on the caudal and anal fins and then a spot on his body.

[callistra]

Melafix will not help this and it contains an ingredient that can coat their labrynth organ and cause them to suffocate. You need to do a full water change and remove it.

More info is needed:http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

But for meds look for Kanaplex, Maracyn Plus or Furan 2.

[Jiirim]

Originally Posted by callistra

Melafix will not help this and it contains an ingredient that can coat their labrynth organ and cause them to suffocate. You need to do a full water change and remove it.

More info is needed:http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

But for meds look for Kanaplex, Maracyn Plus or Furan 2.

From searching around, it sounds like my betta has columnaris. The only store around only has Maracyn Plus. Would this work?

[callistra]

Maracyn Plus has potential to work on columnaris, yes. All three of those have potential to work on it. Just make sure you're not confusing with with Maracyn or Maracyn II.

Please fill out the link to give more info.

[Jiirim]

Originally Posted by callistra

Maracyn Plus has potential to work on columnaris, yes. All three of those have potential to work on it. Just make sure you're not confusing with with Maracyn or Maracyn II.

Please fill out the link to give more info.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gal
What temperature is your tank? Mid 70s. I can't find my Thermometer to check, but I keep my room at the same temp and it keeps the water around 74-76.
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Not directly, I keep my house really warm.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Bloodworms and Hikari Betta gold pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? once every day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I'm been doing 100% water changes for this guy once every two to three days since his illnesses started. 30-50% change daily.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Look up
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? The topfin water treatments and, lately, melafix. I recently took him of the Ich medication, but that is no longer in the water.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No, my strips are at home. I was going to get them later this week since I recently moved back up to college and accidentally left them behind.

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Turned dull/grey in color and has several grey blotches on his body that have started growing fungus. White fungus around the mouth.

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Does not eat, barely swims, either rests on the bottom of the tank or floats at the top.

When did you start noticing the symptoms? When I got home last weekend. I left for two days, came back, and noticed his dramatic change.

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I believed it was finrot and basic mouth fungus, so I started treatment with melafix. Seemed to work for a little bit and suddenly just seems worse.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, I've had him a month and he has been sick the entire time I've owned him.

How old is your fish (approximately)? I don't know, I would guess a year or so?

[callistra]

He's freezing at that temperature. You need a heater. Your bowl temp will be several degrees below room temp so unless you keep your house one steady temp (not dips or peaks) of 80F+ you always need a heater. You also always need to use an in tank thermometer to keep up on temp. Unfortunately with a bowl of this size all you can use are those preset heaters so be careful because they tend to fail, overheat and/or cause swings. I would give it a thorough test run for 24 hours with similar size container and thermometer to make sure it will hold a constant appropriate temp of 78-80F. You would also need to acclimate him to the new water slowly by floating him in the heated bowl for an hour.

1 gallon is okay for a while but to keep him healthy long term you need a larger tank of at least 2 gallons. With this you could use a good adjustable 25w heater like marineland visitherm or jager.

Normally a bowl of 1g will require two weekly water changes of 50% and 100%, but even then he will see ammonia before you do a change. Prime as a conditioner will help with this but it won't replace water changes or fix the problem entirely. For this reason bettas who live in 1 gallon bowls tend to live shorter lives than those kept in larger containers. I have seen an average of 2 years as opposed to double+ that in larger containers.

Now, with his weakened condition, you need to be doing 100% daily or 50% 100% alternating every other day. By 3 days you could easily see as much as .5ppm ammonia and strips are an inaccurate way to test. Drops kit like this are more accurate: http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater.../dp/B000255NCI

If you do large water changes with same temp water (using thermometer to confirm the running tap is the same temp as the bowl), preconditioned it before adding him, and always include a good acclimation period you will not shock him.

[Jiirim]

Originally Posted by callistra

He's freezing at that temperature. You need a heater. Your bowl temp will be several degrees below room temp so unless you keep your house one steady temp (not dips or peaks) of 80F+ you always need a heater. You also always need to use an in tank thermometer to keep up on temp. Unfortunately with a bowl of this size all you can use are those preset heaters so be careful because they tend to fail, overheat and/or cause swings. I would give it a thorough test run for 24 hours with similar size container and thermometer to make sure it will hold a constant appropriate temp of 78-80F. You would also need to acclimate him to the new water slowly by floating him in the heated bowl for an hour.

1 gallon is okay for a while but to keep him healthy long term you need a larger tank of at least 2 gallons. With this you could use a good adjustable 25w heater like marineland visitherm or jager.

Normally a bowl of 1g will require two weekly water changes of 50% and 100%, but even then he will see ammonia before you do a change. Prime as a conditioner will help with this but it won't replace water changes or fix the problem entirely. For this reason bettas who live in 1 gallon bowls tend to live shorter lives than those kept in larger containers. I have seen an average of 2 years as opposed to double+ that in larger containers.

Now, with his weakened condition, you need to be doing 100% daily or 50% 100% alternating every other day. By 3 days you could easily see as much as .5ppm ammonia and strips are an inaccurate way to test. Drops kit like this are more accurate: http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater.../dp/B000255NCI

If you do large water changes with same temp water (using thermometer to confirm the running tap is the same temp as the bowl), preconditioned it before adding him, and always include a good acclimation period you will not shock him.

Well.. I was going out to get medicine right after dinner... came back to get my keys and the poor little guy is deceased. I tried... at least he isn't suffering now.

[callistra]

Sorry you lost him :(

[eemmais]

It's great that you rescued him from Walmart so he didn't have to die in a stressful, violent way. RIP

[LittleBlueFishlets]

I'm sorry you lost him.

It was suggested on another thread that gray patches might be a sign that the internal organs were shutting down. I don't know if this was the case with your guy, but it certainly sounds like he'd been through a lot.... You did everything you could to help him, but maybe his immune system just couldn't handle anything more.... SIP little guy!