My betta is sick :( Anyone know if this is fungus or Columnaris?

[svtcontour]

Yesterday I saw some fuzz on the lower fins so until I get medication I did a full water change in his bowl and treated with melafix and pimafix together. If its fungus, would Maroxy which is available at my LFS be a good choice or does Pimafix work just fine?

If it is Columnaris, whats a good medication to get? I have Tetracycline at home but not sure if that works well on this illness. Any help or suggestions welcome.

Here are some pics.

http://powerthings.com/pics/sickbetta/1.jpg

http://powerthings.com/pics/sickbetta/2.jpg

[mel_20_20]

I'm sorry he's feeling poorly...I don't know what that is.
I'm still pretty new to fishkeeping and have not had anything like that.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along to help.
Hope he's better soon.

[thebrandon]

that doesn't look like any columnaris I have dealt with. I wouldn't rule it out though because I am no pro.

Fungus is a rare occurrence, it is possible though. It looks like what happened to my friends goldfish. It got something that started off like that from poor water quality, I took the fish in now and he is doing much better.

What are your water levels?

Your pics are HUGE!!!!!!!

[BettaFishMommy]

water changes, water changes, and more water changes! that's about the best thing you can do at this point since the fungus (or whatever it is) has not gotten far. And by the looks of it, the 'fungus' is only on the ends of his fins that would rest on the bottom of the bowl, which makes me wonder if it's your substrate causing it (some form of not so good bacteria in the gravel?). i used to keep my male bettas in bare bottom tanks and bowls, which made water change/bowl cleaning day a lot easier. personally, i would take the substrate out of his bowl and do water changes every day, a percentage of which you think would be sufficient to keep the water pristine and not stress your finkid too much, using a piece of airline tubing (think mini gravel vac, lol) to suck all the gunk and fish waste from the bottom of his bowl. I wish you luck and keep us updated!

[svtcontour]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm going to do the water changes as well as continue with the melafix and pimafix then and keep him as stress free as possible and hope he gets better. He's a really fun little guy and keeps my day at work more mellow.

PS Sorry for the huge pics but I figured its good to get a close look if need be.

[lorindaleigh]

Did you say that he was in a bowl??? That's your problem. The minimum tank for bettas is 2 gallons.

[littlerodia]

If you're just using fresh water, I would add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon. In unplanted bowls, I usually put 1/4 teaspoon of salt per gallon as a preventative. Also, there is some debate over whether melafix is good for bettas. I've had mixed results. The best stuff I've used is Jungle Fungus Clear. It bubbles and turns the water bright green, so you'll want to remove any false plants or anything so they don't stain.

[svtcontour]

Its a 2 gallon bowl. I've got a plant in there too (a real one). I've also got two other setups just like this one which have been ok for about a year now. Just happened that this little guy got sick. I didnt have time to cycle the tank becuase I rescued him from walmart. He was in a filthy little cup with only 1/2 of it with water. For all I know, he was sick to start...maybe I never really noticed.


Did you say that he was in a bowl??? That's your problem. The minimum tank for bettas is 2 gallons.

[BettaFishMommy]

quite possible it was already affecting the poor lil guy when ya got him. every time i go into the local walmart i stand in front of the fish displays making tsk tsk noises all the while.

i personally wouldn't medicate any more until you figure out what this is. daily water changes for a week to see if that makes a difference, then reconsider medication if there is no improvement. think of it this way: if you were sick but you didn't know what was wrong with you, would you pump yourself full of a medication in the hopes that it would work?

as for cycling ("I didnt have time to cycle the tank"), a bowl will never cycle because you need biological filtration in order to cycle a tank. if you are not running any sort of filter you will never have a cycled tank.

[svtcontour]

I'm pretty sure the inch and a half of gravel as well as live plant might allow for cycling. Beneficial bacteria should be able to grow within the gravel or even on rocks - at least from what I've read. While it probably wont be a lot, I think it will be something. I think the live plant would normally help the water quality too - if its living and growing and not just dying off and decaying :)

Its sad really - the state that most walmarts and some pets stores keep their pets in. Poor little critters.


quite possible it was already affecting the poor lil guy when ya got him. every time i go into the local walmart i stand in front of the fish displays making tsk tsk noises all the while.

i personally wouldn't medicate any more until you figure out what this is. daily water changes for a week to see if that makes a difference, then reconsider medication if there is no improvement. think of it this way: if you were sick but you didn't know what was wrong with you, would you pump yourself full of a medication in the hopes that it would work?

as for cycling ("I didnt have time to cycle the tank"), a bowl will never cycle because you need biological filtration in order to cycle a tank. if you are not running any sort of filter you will never have a cycled tank.

[BettaFishMommy]

true, the substrate and live plant could have some of the good bacteria 'growing' on it, but with a bowl you will not get the same kind of 'biological environment' as a tank with a filter. just for a lark, i did water testing (yes, with the API liquid kit) every day on one of my 2 gallon betta bowls for a week in between water changes and all i saw was a rise in ammonia and nothing in the way of nitrite or nitrate. so this would tell me that there was no nitrifying bacteria present in the bowl.

keep up with the water changes, keep his bowl clean, and hold off on the meds. that is my advice.