Rotting betta?! SOS emergency

I've recently taken in my moms betta fish who did not have regular water changes and seems to have contracted a fungus of sorts. It’s fuzzy and white, grows and then falls off taking chunks of fin/meat with it. His appetite and energy levels are fine. The only thing I’ve done differently is added a bamboo plant and a heater and I keep it much cleaner. Over the past week it has absolutely exploded and taken his entire top fin and now part of his body overnight. I’ve tried aquarium salt, Bettafix and Melafix and it’s only gotten worse. Considering antibiotics but I’m tired of spending money and getting nowhere. Wtf is going on? What is this thing? I’ll attach some progress pics of the infection

It has a fungal infection (Saprolegnia) and anti-biotics will not make any difference to it. Anti-biotics only kill bacteria and should not be used unless the fish has a known bacterial infection that has not responded to normal fish medications.

Improper use or misuse of anti-biotics can lead to drug resistant bacteria that can kill fish, birds, animals and people.

Get yourself some anti-fungal medication from the pet shop and use it asap. Continue treating the fish for at least 1 week after all the fungus has gone.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

I agree with everything @Colin_T said, also, make sure to do water changes (50%-70%) every other day. Good luck!

I’m afraid it’s Columnaris. You can try Seachem Kanaplex and Furan-2 used together but I don’t believe it will help. These meds are antibiotics that treat both fungal and bacterial diseases. They are the ONLY thing that may help at this point. When you told me that big fluff of fungus came off the other day I suspected it. Best thing would be to euthanize the poor fish. He is much worse than he was. This is a very contagious disease. If you have other fish be sure to disinfect nets and everything with bleach. Good luck!

just treat it for fungus

Colin_T said:

just treat it for fungus

Click to expand...

It’s NOT fungus but OP, do what you feel is best. The Kanaplex will treat fungus anyway. Good luck!

google saprolegnia

Google Columnaris.

Kanaplex will also treat saprolegnia so why are you arguing? Isn’t it better to use what can kill both? Why take chances by trying this and that. The fish is rotting away and doesn’t have time for trial and error. Use the big guns...Kanaplex and Furan-2!

I've tried Kanaplex and Furan-2 for fin rot and a possible fungal infection on my fish and it had worked for me, but my boys infection wasn't nearly this bad. I would consider euthanasia as an option for him as the infection has already taken some flesh with it, but if you feel medication might work I definitely recommend the medication mentioned above. Please keep us updated!

I don't think that all hope is lost yet, I think with a few doses of medication, frequent water changes., and a little TCL, and he will be fine! But yes! Defiantly please keep us posted!

If anything is gonna do it it’s going to be the Kanaplex and Furan-2. You can also order AAP Spectogram which already has the Kanaplex and Furan-2 properly dosed in it. Everyone should keep AAP Spectogram in their medicine kit. Made by American Aquarium Products. I wouldn’t keep fish without it!

I agree with @Deanasue.