Help Pls - Betta with white fungus

o2bndsea · Oct 31, 2006

After finally finishing my fishless cycle I added fish on Sunday afternoon. This afternoon my betta has a white fungus on his mouth. I have had the betta for 3 months and kept him in one of those small "betta" tanks and he was quite happy and healthy... Put him in the 29 gallon with 4 peppered cory's and 10 neon tetra's on Sunday to populate the newly cycled tank. I lost one neon tetra by the next morning and assumed it was stress/rough handling by LFS, didn't notice anything on him after we removed him. I have moved the betta back into his small "betta" tank. Have looked at the other fish in the 29 gallon and don't see anything unusual... Also have sent my Husband to the LFS to get some Melafix... My big question is... Should I treat both the betta tank and the new big tank? Will it screw up my biological filter? Anything else I should do?

Tank specs are:
29 gallon
Penguin 150
Small pea gravel
Artificial driftwood and silk plant
Heater

Water Parameters:
Am 0
Ni 0
Na 10
pH 7.0-7.2

Inhabitants:
4 Peppered Cories
9 Neon Tetras

1 male Betta now in small "betta" tank

kcooley · Oct 31, 2006

pick up some salt, pimafix, and mela fix. dose all of them at normal amounts together.

o2bndsea · Oct 31, 2006

Should I dose both tanks? Is salt ok for cory's?

kcooley · Oct 31, 2006

yes. 1tbsp salt per 10 gallons. melafix and pimafix will take care offungus and bacterial infection and salt helps with slime coat and gill function

o2bndsea · Oct 31, 2006

Thanks - one more question...

Will it screw up my biological filter that I just established?

corykid · Oct 31, 2006

Just a thought after u are done dosing the salt and meds keep dosing the salt for the amount of water u take out of ur tank during water changes...make it a regular thing ur fish will benifit

Bitsy · Oct 31, 2006

corykid said:
Just a thought after u are done dosing the salt and meds keep dosing the salt for the amount of water u take out of ur tank during water changes...make it a regular thing ur fish will benifit

NONONONONO!!!! Do NOT continue to add salt to your tank once everything is settled down. It has been shown to be detrimental to fish if used LONG term. This has been debated many times on AC (you can do a search if you'd like) with the same outcome each time: Salt is beneficial for disease treatment, once whatever you are treating has been eradicated from your tank it is imperative to remove the remaining salt through water changes.

webcricket · Oct 31, 2006

I wouldn't use salt in with your cories unless the fish in that tank are showing signs of illness. Cories and salt do not mix - if you buy the pet store aquarium salt, there is even a warning on there for use with cories. You could use the Melafix on the bigger tank though for a few days, that stuff is safe.

o2bndsea · Nov 1, 2006

Update

Sadly, the betta (Henry) died overnight. When I woke this morning his whole face was covered in soft fuzz. I'm glad I moved him back into the little betta tank, but I should have never put him in the big tank. Is it possible it was just the stress? I have read that the fungus is always present in the tank it just surfaces when there ar other underlying factors, in this case new environment and stress? My water parameters are good.

I have tried to observe the cories and neons in the tank but they are so fast, it does not look like anyone has any fuzz. Is it still advisable to dose melafix for 7 days as a preventative measure?

bettagurl · Nov 1, 2006

I would dose the tank with melafix,better safe than sorry.
I have had a betta die from the same kind of fungus,it spreads very fast,I rescued this guy from my LFS.but he died overnight


zoomed.com	hikariusa.com		aqaimports.com	Store

Search

Search

Help Pls - Betta with white fungus

o2bndsea

AC Members

kcooley

freeswimming

o2bndsea

AC Members

kcooley

freeswimming

o2bndsea

AC Members

corykid

SPACE COWBOY

Bitsy

Intelligent,Conservative,Beautiful

webcricket

(So chill.) No wonder it's freezing

o2bndsea

AC Members

bettagurl

Colby's Pincher (24X)