My male and female betta are in a divided 5 gallon tank. The female has what looks like fuzz on her head. I have been doing water changes and using aquarium salt and now you can just barely tell it is there and only because it is a slightly lighter color. Now my male looks like he caught his head in something. It looks like the back of his head and his gills have scrapes. What should I do?
These are crummy pics but the fish HATE the red autofocus light.
He does look like he got some scrapes. Could he have done that on the cave structure? It looks like the holes are ample and smooth.
I enlarged the pic of the girl; that worries me a little. You mentioned in the pm that you have added some salt in their tank and the fuzzy patch on her head is looking less fuzzy than it was.
I think some salt is probably a good idea. I would do big water changes every day, maybe as much as 80-90%, and get the temperature in their tank around 76 and no higher. 74 would be even better if that temperature would not make them uncomfortable.
Watch them like a hawk, and especially watch for the slightest sign that the area on the girls head is becoming fuzzier.
Honestly, if you could get him into a separate tank I would. He looks like he has mild injuries, but she could have something bacterial going on there.
I know you keep your parameters perfect and this is important. I would add an airstone to each tank, if you separate them, or on each side if they stay together.
How are they looking today, Jacki? If the patch on the girls head is looking like Columnaris I would continue with salt, for her and for him, but only if that looks like a real possibility.
I believe you have them in appx. .6% salinity, based on what you said in your pm, so that's no too much, but if it looks like she doen't have Columnaris we can back off of that and just continue with big daily water changes and observation.
I'm a believer in using salt if we're pretty sure Columnaris infection is the problem. I read a convincing abstract of a study conducted by Auburn University on the effectiveness of salinity during the treatment of Columnaris.
They found that adding salt was helpful in reducing the spread of the infection, preventing infection of uninfected fish that had been exposed, and reducing mortality in infected fish. Saline concentrations of 1%, 2%, and 3% was observed in tanks containing subjects exposed to Flavobacterium columnare.
All groups showed benefits compared to the control groups, but the subjects in 3% had no mortality, and it seemed that the salinity prevented the bacterium from adhering to the fish's body.
If this is Columnaris you will need to get a good antibiotic to treat it and I would gradually increase the percentage of salt, but I'm hopeful that this is not what's going on.
I have had a betta with bloat but these guys have always been plump, especialy the female. She acts like she never gets to eat. My BF says even my shrimp are fat. I know that most of my fish are. LOL
