Sick Female Betta, Columnaris?

[laranda]

-2.5 gallon tank
-pH 7.2
-I use "Red Sea" brand Fresh Tests to check the pH, and "Kent" brand to remove chlorine from her water
-I'm sorry, I don't know the nitrite/nitrate levels
-Fresh water
-Temp 80 degrees Farenheit
-She is the only fish in the tank
-Two betta bulb plants...one is quite frayed
-There is no filter in the tank
-Last water change was about 6 days ago
-She eats betta balls and flakes, veggies once in awhile
-Current treatment: Betta Revive

Please help. I'm super new to betta care, but I love my fish and I don't want her to die...
She's usually a pinkish-purple but lately her colors aren't as vibrant. she's been sad and is usually at the bottom or top of tank, not much swimming. She still has a big appetite. She is still excited to see me. I started seeing some grayish discoloration near her gills, I'm not sure if I would describe it as "cottony". Then white-ish spots on her chin and she was darting around a lot. I though she might have velvet but I did the flashlight thing and she doesn't look coppery. Her newest symptom is a lump on her chin. I thought maybe she crashed into her castle from trying to scratch...now her chin looks kind of flakey, especially around the lump. I started putting in some Betta Revive and it seems to have stopped her itching but she still has that lump and the discoloration, and most of all, she still looks sad. I tried to take some pictures...but she hates the flash. Your help is very much appreciated. :help:

The white under her eye is the flakiness I was referring to

You can see the grayness near her gills

Her lump, and swollen face

 

[H2Ogal]

Sorry to hear your betta's sick. She certainly looks unhappy. (I bet she's pretty when she's healthy!) I have two female bettas, so I know what wonderful fish they are and how distressing it is when they are sick.

Do you regularly test for ammonia? In an unfiltered tank with no water change in six days, it's quite likely that ammonia has reached toxic levels, and that alone could cause many of the things you're seeing, including clamped fins, darting, listlessness and physical damage. Ammonia poisoning also makes fish more susceptible to other illnesses.

If you've already checked the ammonia and it's fine, let us know the reading (numbers not chart color). And let us know if the Red Sea kit is a liquid test or dip-strips. Liquid tests are much more reliable.

If you don't have a liquid ammonia test, you should probably assume the level in the tank is high and either do a 100% water change now, if the pH of your tap water is close to the pH in her tank. If the pH values are more than one number apart (6.5 to 8 for instance), it would be better to do several smaller water changes over the next 12-24 hours. Don't just do 25% tonight and wait until tomorrow night to do another one. She needs to be in clean water as soon as possible.

Hope this helps.

 

[laranda]

H20 gal, I ran to petco and you were right the ammonia was off :*( I did a full water change (because my tap water doesn't have a big difference in her pH) and replaced her betta revive meds. Also, the tests I use are liquid tests.

She's still lethargic but a little bit of her color is back. How long should I wait to try something else? I was looking up the columnaris symptoms and it kind of looks like what she has. You can especially tell in the second picture, she has a white patch near her fins.

 

[H2Ogal]

I'm lousy at diagnosis so really don't want to advise you one way or the other about columnaris or treatments. You might want to add a quick post in the Anabantoids forum, asking for help and directing people to this thread. (Just copy the url for this thread and link it using the little world/link icon. Easy-peasy.) Betta lovers will want to help, I know.

If I were you, I would continue with daily 50% water changes and do another 100% WC in three days. And I'd test for ammonia even more frequently.

Did you pick up a liquid ammonia test? You'll really need to get one ASAP as ammonia builds up from everything the fish does (breath, urinate, defecate), as well as uneaten food, decaying plant leaves, etc. It's your constant enemy in an unfiltered, uncycled tank. Relying on the LFS won't allow you to test often enough. (I've been known to test day and night, several days in a row, and it's worth it. The lowest level at which a test will show ammonia — 0.25 ppm — is already at a level that can harm fish.)

Also, I don't know about Kent water conditioner so can't advise if it's good or bad, but most people here recommend Prime, which removes chlorine and chloramine, removes/detoxifies ammonia, and promotes slime coat development (which helps fish fend off secondary infections).

FYI, trying to figure out if Prime permanently removes ammonia or detoxifies it temporarily is difficult; even the manufacturer's Web site seems unclear to me. So don't rely on Prime to get rid of ammonia. Frequent water changes are absolutely necessary in an unfiltered tank. I've learned this the hard way, caring for my two betta girls in similar set-ups. Or, to be quite honest, they taught me the hard way, by suffering virtually every problem your girl has, although not all at once. You and your betta have my sympathy.

Good luck and let us know how she's doing. Any new pics would also be helpful.

 

[AtlantisTreasur]

well you could give her an all in one treatment that treats a number of diseases common in bettas.... lifeguard is good and you can find it at walmart and it wont harm her. be careful not to overfeed her

 

[BettaFishMommy]

Betta Revive is an all-in-one treatment (fungal, bacterial, protazoan). When using Betta Revive you have to do daily 100% water changes for the meds to be most effective, since methylyne blue and malachite green are light sensitive and start to break down in the water quickly. I swear by the Betta Revive for fin rot, but have not had occasion to use it for other illnesses in bettas.

personally, i would discontinue the meds and just do daily water changes like H2O said, at least 50% to keep those ammonia levels down. test for ammonia frequently (at least a couple times a day) and change out enough water until the ammonia reading is zero. unfiltered tanks/bowls with even one fish in them can foul quickly. feed lightly until she is feeling better.

i would think very strongly about getting a small filter for her tank. is the tank round on top? (it looks like a large fish bowl) if so, go with a small internal filter, because you'll have a heck of a time finding a hob or hang on filter that will fit the round rim of the tank. or you could upgrade to a bit larger rectangular tank, say a 5 gallon, and that would make fitting a small hob really easy.