Sick Betta Girl

sandig

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Hi

I have a betta girl, it looks like her mouth is melting off. She lives in a 10 gal with 4 other girls. The tank is cycled, tons of hidey places and the ph, amonia etc levels are all good.

I have had these girls and tank set up for over a year. It is a peaceful tank and I am lucky to say I have never had a problem with fighting. (I am sure this is because the vegetation is so thick that they don't see each other much).

I put her in a 1 gal isolation jar with a little aquarium salt. In the tank when I noticed her, she was just swimming around. her mouth looked uneven and when I took her out, she is missing most of it. I can not imagine it being bitten, too much is missing. Can a fungus or bacteria do this? She must be in pain and I feel awful that she is sick.

has anyone ever heard of this and what meds can I give her? I am thinking an antibiotic for infection...

Thank you in advance
Sandi
 
Ugh...we have been healthy for such a long time here. None of the other girls in the tank are showing any symptoms. What do you recommend I treat the tank with to head off any further problems?

Thank you so much for your speedy reply.

Sandi
 
Sorry it was quite late when i answered that post and was on my way to bed, so sorry for the long delay, just some water changes on the tank, and just keep a close eye on the fish, good luck.
 
I want to thank Wilder for his help with my Betta. I wanted to update this just in case someone else's Betta comes down with this so that if they search the forums this may help them.

First, the good news is "Belle' is still alive and on the mend. I do not know if she had flex or some other kind of bacterial infection. I really thought I was going to have to euthenize her. when I first posted. The top part of her mouth, almost to the bottom of her eyes is still gone but I think I halted the spread of the infection. I used Maracyn I and II at a higher dose (I at 1.5x and II at 2x the recommended dose) I also used aquarium salt in the water.

Throughout this whole thing, Belle never acted sick like other fish I have had in the past with flex. This surprised me because it must hurt to lose part of your face like that. She was not able to eat the first day I posted but yesterday she ate blood worms and today she had 3 ball pellets. I am not sure how she is eating with only part of a mouth but I am relieved that she did. The infection stopped right at her eye line (bottom of her eyes) and I do think her sight is not as good as it was. She can see me when I come up to her jar but I have to guide her towards bloodworms.

Thank you again
Sandi
 
Don't want to dampen your spirits but she still in a bad way, to be honest never known a fish to live with mouth rot, but i do wish you all the best, but i don't know how she can live if some of her mouth and face is missing, plus there always the chance once you stop a med that the infection is just going to kick off again, i wish you all the luck and keeping my fingers crossed for you.
 
Thank you Wilder....I could use the good luck. Right now she is acting fine and eating (day 3 of the antibiotics).

Sandi
 
Or bless her, good luck.
 
Thank you Wilder...so far so good. She is just amazing. She is eating and wiggling and acting happy. She still has 3 more days on her meds. I will probably put her into her own 1 gal. after she is healed. I am hesitant to put her back in the main tank with her new deformity, just in case her former friends get catty with her. All of the girls in the main tank are still healthy, which makes me wonder if this is possibly a cut or scrape that got infected.

I am attaching a so-so pic. You can make out where the top of her mouth is gone. Her chin/bottom lip are still pretty puffy in this pic.

Sandi
 

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Bless her, how she now doing any better.

She still looks pale you could be treating her up to a month.
 
She has nothing to be vain about LOL....I am guessing her mouth will grow back with scar tissue.

Wilder- I want to make sure I understand your comment about medicating for a month. She has always been a little pale. What are your recommendations with how long to use the Maracyn I and II?

Sandi
 
To everything has healed, i wouldn't cut the treatment to short, it could take up to three weeks just to make sure the infection has gone, as it was a bad infection to do that damage, bless her good luck.
 

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