Afraid Of Losing Second Betta To Similar Problems...

[Emi Miyuki]

Hi! I just got a betta a few weeks ago, Aki, who is naturally lazy, but I've noticed a spot on him that appears white in the light, but transparent when light is not directly on it just this morning. There also seems to be a piece of something floating off of it He's only in a 1 1/2 galloon tank, and I've unfortunately not enough to get any aquarium salt or heater. My first fish, an excitable one, was in the same tank, and had something similiar...I searched online, was told it was a fungal infection and was recommended Bettafix, and used it for over two weeks...it didn't do anything and my fish had become horribly dropsy and died several days later.

It's located right in front of his left gill on his face...I have a poor camera so I couldn't get a clear picture past all the bubbles in his tank. Any help would be greatly appreciated by both me and Aki

 

[Chris5787]

I didnt think bettafix would help fungal infections, its a weak version of melafix which doesnt help fungal problems from what i remember. Pimafix stops fungal infections i believe, but not sure if its safe for bettas.

Also the lack of a heater is probably causing the betta to be lazy as low temperatures make them lethargic.

 

[Neon.Tetra]

If the waters quite chilly (or just under room temp), then you might want to think of buying a cheap heater. It will perk him up abit and will make him less susceptible to disease. I'm from the UK but I know that petsmart or Walmart sell cheap 7.5ish Watt heaters which would make such a difference to your betta and his personality.

Good Luck and hope he gets better. =]

 

[ReMz]

Bettafix will not kill a bacterial or fungal problems. You need a broad spectrum treatment. I recommend Maracyn 1 and 2 in conjunction for this sort of thing.

Although I'm not entirely sure what is going on..... It could certainly be fungal, but I would need a clear picture.

Right now, you can do a 75-100% water change and try to get the temp in the tank up. A small heater would be ideal, but it is difficult to find heaters for such a small tank.

 

[Emi Miyuki]

Thank you! My Dad got some Pimafix today, and some aquarium salt, hopefully it helps him! Unfortunately since my tank is plastic I can't get a heater for it...the worker there told us that the plastic would just melt...though I've used a heating pad on medium under the tank a few times to heat up the water. It's difficult to keep it warm. My sister let me use her digital camera, so I got some clearer pictures. It's the bubble-like spot on him.

 

[littlest]

It is really hard to tell from the picture, but I was wondering whether it could be argulus (fish lice).

Do a google image search for argulus and compare the pictures to the thing on your fish.

If it is argulus you would need to remove it from the fish with tweezers and treat for external crustacean parasites.

(This is just a guess for, so don't try and remove it until you have positively ID'ed it, and get some more advice about it first - maybe try the emergency section).


good luck

 

[Amunet]

Could be a problem w/ his slime coat.
I had a female betta who would get white fuzzy stuff on her, but it wasn't fungal or bacterial. It was her slime coat coming off b/c the water quality was bad (newbie mistake of getting fish before tank cycled).
How often are you doing water changes?

 

[Emi Miyuki]

Thank you all for your help, but...
Aki has died
I followed instructions on how to treat him with aquarium salt, and even got the tank heated, and slowly rose the temperature of the container he was in so it matched.
But as soon as I put him in, he started ramming into things, and before I could get him back into the container, he went upside down, and his gills seemed to burst, but he's in the container now I haven't gotten any movement since.