Another Betta Problem :(

[halfmoonplakat]

Thanks for your advice, guys- I'll do tons of water changes and will update- shes still eating, acting well
Ugh...and now my sister's betta has issues- it seems to be shedding white stuff? Like actual skin, not scales, or fin, its on its body, and it looks like dandruff/peeling sunburned skin, but white. A lot of it has collected on the bottom of his tank, and in the water column. Everytime he moves, more white stuff falls off of him...its not ich, doesn't look like granules of salt, but its a small thin white patch on top of his scales thats producing the white stuff? Ideas? Help? he does not seem to be acting lethargic, and is still eating normally
Thanks so much
Ugh, I really have to check about whatever is going on with the water...
Will post pics soon
Oh, and @BFM, where did you get the Betta Revive? Thanks

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Here are some pics of the "dandruff" like debris collected at the bottom, she did a water change yesterday night, and she finds this much today

Doing another wc
Params are amm=0, trite=0, trate=3

 

[halfmoonplakat]

bump

Also I need to add that after a wc, my sister's betta always looks cleaner (without the white skin-like patches), but after a bit of time, they reappear
I've read stuff about fungus treatments? Any ideas? Thanks

 

[BettaFishMommy]

it almost sounds to me as if the one betta is producing excess slime coat but it could be a type of fungus as well. what are you using for water conditioner? is the new water temperature matched? any changes in the tank lately like a new filter or anything?

and i've usually found the Betta Revive in petsmart, but i'm sure you could order it online somewhere too.

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Yup, whenever we do a WC, we take empty jugs and fill them with conditioned water and let them sit for the night/week/half week/2 days depending on the frequency of our WCs so they are at room temperature, which is the temp we keep most of our bettas in as we cannot afford heaters for each of the tanks- our house is 74 F
No, we use sponge filters and rinse them weekly with the regular WCs, and replace them when they get worn
Conditioner is TopFin betta conditioner

 

[BettaFishMommy]

the first thing i would do is find a way to keep the betta tanks warmer. i know that funds are tight for everybody these days but keeping a betta at 74F isn't a good thing. is there any way you might turn up the room temperature so that the bettas are at least at 76 to 78?

one thing i do at this time of year, with all the spring run off and the water utilities combating that by dumping extra chemicals into the tapwater, is to double up on my dechlor doses, at least until the water coming from the tap doesn't smell quite so much like a swimming pool every spring. maybe your local water is the same way and this is affecting the betta?

as for the type of dechlor you use, you don't need to be using the 'betta specific' one. basically all the 'betta specific' products are, IMO, watered down variations of the regular products out there. back when i first starting keeping fish and had a couple bettas, i was using Aquaplus's betta dechlor. looked at the ingredients and the dosing instructions on the bottle, then looked at the regular Aquaplus, and lo and behold, same ingredients, just watered down for the betta version. so you actually end up using more product. sales gimmick? oh not at all......

back to your water supply. does your local tapwater have chloramine in it? there are a number of dechlorinators out there that will neutralize chlorine but not chloramine (which is made up of chlorine and ammonia). chlorine will off gas when left out in a container but chloramine will not (you mention making up water and having it sit prior to water change day). if you use one of the non chloramine neutralizing dechlors (just about any dechlor product other than Prime won't deal with chloramine) you are basically putting ammonia into your tank every time you water change, due to the ammonia being 'freed' from the chloramine. i don't claim to be an expert on water, lol, but this much i do know. maybe the betta is reacting to the ammonia and is producing extra slime coat in an effort to protect itself?

and this may sound a tad daft, but you are rinsing your sponge filters in tank water, right? this particular betta's sponge filter, has it been replaced recently? sponge filters should last a long time. i used to use the L shaped Elite sponge filters and even after i took down the 10 gallons i used for my bettas, the sponges were still in great shape, albeit dirty.

 

[halfmoonplakat]

Yep, I've been rinsing in tank water, lol
Our water supply doesn't have chloramines
And thanks for the betta specific products tip, I will go buy the non-betta specific product tomorrow
Do you have any ideas on how to get his tank warmer? Thanks

 

[BettaFishMommy]

you could do what i do..... crank up the free heat in my apartment so the tanks stay at a good temperature for the finkids while i roast, lol. i don't have heaters in any of my tanks. and my power bill stays low, lol.

the most logical solution (albeit not the most financial friendly, lol) is to get a heater for each tank, but if the bettas are in really small tanks (less than 5 gal each) then i wouldn't put a heater in there, due to safety concerns (melting of the tank if it isn't glass, water heating too quickly/too much, etc).

you could move the tanks to the warmest room of your home, or do multiple mini water changes each day with water a little warmer than the tank to keep the temp up, keep the tanks together and have one incandescent light above them all (but not close enough to warm the water too much - this method does take some experimenting!). just a few ideas in my noggin.

 

[H2Ogal]

Yup, whenever we do a WC, we take empty jugs and fill them with conditioned water and let them sit for the night/week/half week/2 days depending on the frequency of our WCs so they are at room temperature, which is the temp we keep most of our bettas in as we cannot afford heaters for each of the tanks- our house is 74 F

Since conditioning the water removes chlorine which is intended to kill bacteria, etc., I'm wondering if letting the water sit in the jugs might be allowing something unknown to grow in it? Bacteria, fungal spores, etc. are pretty much everywhere, just looking for a soft (or wet) place to land, so to speak. Do you allow the jugs to stay damp inside between fillings? Might want to do a diluted-bleach treatment, followed by some serious rinsing and a long period of air-drying.

as for the type of dechlor you use, you don't need to be using the 'betta specific' one. basically all the 'betta specific' products are, IMO, watered down variations of the regular products out there. back when i first starting keeping fish and had a couple bettas, i was using Aquaplus's betta dechlor. looked at the ingredients and the dosing instructions on the bottle, then looked at the regular Aquaplus, and lo and behold, same ingredients, just watered down for the betta version. so you actually end up using more product. sales gimmick? oh not at all......

Could it be that betta products are "watered down" in order to reduce the concentration to levels that are safer for bettas? Betta owners frequently advise using melafix at half-strength, for instance, because they feel it's safer. (Not trying to extend the melafix debate, just using it as an example of a full-strength treatment that is deliberately "watered down" by some users. )

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Sorry to hear about your sick bettas. Will be sending them good fishy wishes!

 

[BondDouble08]

Alright we all know melafix treats the SYMPTOMS and to help healing not the cause, and thats exactly what I stated. As soon as someone see's the word melafix they love to jump down "its worthless" bandwagon. Yes it does coat the gills making it harder for some fish to breath, was your fish gasping Reframer when it passed? I doubt 1/4 a dose could kill a betta so quickly IMO but you saw it first hand so I don't know.
All I'm saying is that when I used melafix on my angels 1/2 dosage during a treatment of tetracycline for fin rot the fins grew back twice as fast against not using melafix. But melafix should never be used to treat a severe case of fin rot on its own = worthless.
I also have many snails/scaleless fishes in my tank so jamming a bunch of antibiotics in the tank is not healthy for them so I always try natural approaches first if QT is not an option.
And as for betta revive, malachite green is an ICH treatment (or many external parasites) if I'm not mistaken, finrot is a gram negative bacterial infection (double check on the positive or negative gram because I'm not positive - Ha pun) so I would stick with a more anti-bacterial approach. But again someone who used it first hand with luck is always a good bet ; )

Summary:

Melafix: - natural remedy use alone = worthless

-Safe with combination with most medications and aids with the HEALING and SYMPTOMS but not the source one has to always keep that in mind.

-Make sure the ingredients in the medication are treating the diagnosed disease and/or parasite. ( But always take first hand experience into account )


Good luck with the betta, and keep us posted!