White or fuzzy or wormy looking stuff on fin

[jadaBlu]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 74.6 (going to get a different heater this one is lower watt but all the store had it was supposed to do 5 g)
Does your tank have a filter? Not yet but I have bought one and I am having issues getting it to work Posted about that too
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes

What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none
Food - My fish is recovering from swim bladder issues
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Not feeding but if I did I have Tetra betta bits color enhancing- When I did feed him it was another brand of color enhancing food. That seems to be all they sell at Petsmart.( I took back the one that resulted in this problem) I also have Aqueon Freeze dried bloodworms. Which I have not fed to this fish yet. I have only had this fish since 10pm 2/14. It was already sickly in appearance and in dirty water in the plastic cup. I set up the tank on 2/15 and fed it 3 pellets at the same time.
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I am due to make my weekly one in few days. The water level is lowered to about 2.5 to 3 gal to make getting air and reaching plants easier.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I plan to do a 25% change since water level is already low and add more water since he is getting better.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I have Prime and also a Aloevera slime coat type of declorinator.

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

Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:7.2
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Seems darker brown in appearance light orange on fins is not visible they are opaque and not clamped. The top dorsal fin has the wormy fuzzy stuff on it. It's a small white circle that moves as he swims.

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Shy and hides from me at store it seemed sociable. This partly due to swim bladder issues.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? After I brought it home and put it in the tank.
Have you started treating your fish? No need a diagnosis first
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Don't know but considering the filthy condition I found it in I would not be surprised. I felt sorry for it and it seemed to be sociable fish so I took it home.
How old is your fish (approximately)?Not sure.


I have another betta I bought the same day he is doing great in another tank. Same set up, plants ect.The temp on his tank is 84. (higher watt heater warmer room) He is active, he comes looking for me. He made a bubble nest by the 2nd day. The room the sick one is in is cooler room thus the lower temperature.

[Aluka]

He probably has finrot from the pet store. Remember no matter how much you want to rescue bettas, do not buy sick bettas. Sometimes they have been kept in poor condition for so long that is next to impossible to get them better.

Repeat it out loud "I will only buy healthy fish from the petstore" x 10!

[jadaBlu]

I have kept fish before but it was quite awhile ago. I have never had bettas. I go to the pet store often for my other animals. Every time I go I've had to pass the bettas in their little prisons and felt bad for them. On impulse on Valentines Day I decided to do something about it. I was at a big box store (even worse than a pet store the fish are in the back and an afterthought) I picked one pretty, active blue fish and one that was active but I thought rather was ugly that I thought no one would buy and certainly would end up dead if it stayed there. I was a little worried about the color I thought rather pale. However, I think this is the fishes natural color and that it's a dragon scale it's a light brown with some orange highlights. I don't think it's an old fish. It does not have much in the way of fins but this also looks natural. The fins look something like this fish but a bit longer and cellophane:


There are no black margins on the fins. Can a fish have fin rot and not have an black margins?

[callistra]

We can't see from the photos. He could be shedding his slime coat, which is a sign of stress and/or disease.

Just make sure when you do a water change you always use same temp water, and premix with conditioner before adding it to the tank.