My daughters betta has some white spots on his tail and Im not sure what they are. He is keeping his fins tight to his body and spends most of his time hiding in a castle. Im going to move him to an empty, smaller tank(fish bowl actually) so we can watch him better since his tank has lots of stuff in it that is also probably contaminated and he is harder to see in there. I will clean out his regular tank before moving him back into it and then will treat him in there when he is moved back. While looking around on the internet today to see if I could identify what he has, I came across a few articles that talk about using a product called Bettafix that contains tea tree oil/melaluca. I live in the middle of nowhere and have no access to a petstore of any sort, but I do have melaluca that I use on my family all the time. Can I use this for the betta and if so, what do I need to do(how many drops per gallon and anything else I need to know)? I can get Bettafix on Wednesday, but not any sooner.
Melaluca/tea tree oil to treat disease and infections?
- Thread starter jillire
- Start date
Bettafix and all those melaluca oil remedies are garbage. You need to keep your fish in his tank to prevent him from getting even more stressed out and treat the entire tank with real medicine. Pull the castle out if you don't want him to hide. You can compare his white spots to pictures you find on the internet and make an educated guess at what illness he has, then buy the correct medication.
If those are garbage, what should I use? The ones I have seen are Melafix and Pimafix. I have compared his spots but still cant tell what it is for sure. Im thinking it might be fungus because he doesnt look like he was sprinkled with salt and thats what most ich descriptions say. The white spots arent anywhere on his body that I can see, just fins. I pulled out the castle and plants and did a water change but he is still in his tank.
Melafix and Pimafix are also garbage. The company that makes them, API, doesn't even know what kind of bacteria their products kill or feed. They have stopped doing research on it because the products sell well.
Do the fins look like they're falling apart with the white stuff around the ragged edges or does it look more like there are chucks of white stuff hooked on the fins?
Do the fins look like they're falling apart with the white stuff around the ragged edges or does it look more like there are chucks of white stuff hooked on the fins?
Chunks of white at the base of the fins, just where they attach to the body. I havent seen any white further out, but his fins are clamped so there might be and I just cant see it.
Is it possible whatever he has came from the java fern or moss I recently added?
Is it possible whatever he has came from the java fern or moss I recently added?
I don't think the new plants would have made him sick. Usually live plants only help your water quality.
Try doing a search for Flexibacter columnaris pictures. It's a disease that looks a lot like fungus but is actually a gram negative bacterial infection. Bettas are particularly susceptible to it.
Try doing a search for Flexibacter columnaris pictures. It's a disease that looks a lot like fungus but is actually a gram negative bacterial infection. Bettas are particularly susceptible to it.
Ich is tiny white dots, like salt specs, otherwise it is not ich. Keep him in his tank.
Could be columnaris, finrot, or fungus. Post a pic to be sure. Either way you would have to do daily water changes of 50% or more to get water quality supreme and that should help. If it is bacterial then you will need some antibiotics. Fresh water is your best bet at his point, you can order meds online if you need to, you should have some in the house on hand.
Could be columnaris, finrot, or fungus. Post a pic to be sure. Either way you would have to do daily water changes of 50% or more to get water quality supreme and that should help. If it is bacterial then you will need some antibiotics. Fresh water is your best bet at his point, you can order meds online if you need to, you should have some in the house on hand.
That looks closer than anything else Ive seen so far. I dont have access to anything to treat it tonight, but am going out of town tomorrow and will see if the little pet store there or the Walmart has something to treat it. If not, I will be going to a city on Wednesday and can try Petco and Petsmart. Kanaplex, is best right? And if I cant find it, Maracyn 2? What should I do in the mean time?
Keep the water as clean as you can. I'd do 50% water changes each day until you can get the meds. Yes, both of those medications you mentioned are good. If you have any other tanks make sure not to share equipment (nets, siphon, etc). You can accidentally transfer the bacteria into other tanks and infect all of your fish.
Suggest you use neither on your betta; Anabanatoids may have issues with both. This issue is hotly debated, but I wouldn't take the chance.
Post a pic. Could be ich, bacterial, etc. In the interim, concentrate on providing very clean water (frequent water changes) and keeping water parameters stable (matched temp. and conditoned).
Post a pic. Could be ich, bacterial, etc. In the interim, concentrate on providing very clean water (frequent water changes) and keeping water parameters stable (matched temp. and conditoned).
