Please help

[Creat]

My female betta in short has had a range of issues and now I fear the worst
-she started with a small tear in her fin and i left it becuase it looked liked it was healing
-the whole grew a fungus through her fin larger in 24 hrs. and she lost a chunk of her anal fin
-started treatment of aquarium salt and higher temp
-fungus started eating up her body
-raised salt content
-she got dropsy around the wound and in a few hrs it moved to her whole body
-she passes food still though all of this
-flushed the aquarium salt and started with epsom salt
-dropsy got worse and the fungus ate half way up her body
-and just now she became lethargic and wont swim
Please help I am out of ideas and i couldnt get meds because the pet stores were closed

[Oldfishlady]

Fast moving Flexibacter columnaris is what it sounds like and sadly most fish will not survive and it also sounds like she has gone into system shut down as well.....lower water temp, 3tsp/gal aquarium salt, aeration while in QT can sometimes help the slow moving flex....but sadly it does little for the fast moving...it hit hard and fast usually eating away the flesh in 12-24h and death soon follows......sometimes euthanasia is the kindest treatment.....sorry.....

[Creat]

I euthanized her... and thank you for the advice is there some way to prevent this in the future?

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry for your loss....often that is the kindest thing to do as hard as it can be sometimes......

The bacteria that causes Flex is always in our tank and not a lot you can do about it....the fish immune response will keep it from being problematic.....once condition change that can compromise the fish immune response then this bacteria will strike....two types-one is fast moving and usually kills within 12-24h and another that is slower moving that the fish can survive

Stress is the big factor in how it attacks-stress from poor water quality, overcrowding, chasing, sudden temp changes, pH swings and open wounds are only but a few things that can cause compromised immune response....

Prevention-by maintaining water quality with regular water changes, maintaining a stable temp and water chemistry

This is usually a secondary infection and why you have to be careful with water temp when your fish get sick or injured...Flex will hit hard on a compromised fish when the water temp is raised and often our first instinct is to raise the water temp when our fish is sick or injured to the upper 80's when you should lower it slowly to the 76-77F range...kinda like a- rock and hard place issue in a sense.......when you are dealing with bad pathogens sometimes it is important to make the conditions not to their liking and yet still keep conditions that will support the fish and good pathogens needs as well...by creating conditions that will allow the fish immune response the ability to kick in and fight the bacteria without killing all the good bacteria...will sometimes benefit the fish more....

The sudden rise in temp and not every illness and injury will result in this secondary infection- but if regular water changes have not been done to maintain water quality and in turn allowing the fish to maintain a strong immunity...then the odds are not in favor of the fish.....

Sometimes even with the best care these things can happen from no fault of the hobbyist...some things are hidden and we will not know that we have a problem until its to late...stuff happens.....all we can do is provide the best care that we know how.....