Flaky Epidermis - what's wrong ?

[Bloo]

I'm not having much luck getting to the bottom of what's wrong with my female betta - though Abstract and Wilder were trying to help, I'm still none the wiser as to what to do or how to treat her.

Perhaps one of you guys might know better....

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=103171

 

[rarefish]

The 'worms' are definitely parasites. Since she has clamped fins, it means that they are not harmless. They are definitely bothering her in some way. The best thing to do for her would be putting her in a quarintine tank and to add PimaFix or another high quality parasite medication. Hope this helps!

rarefish

 

[WILDER]

just in case. not the writer of this information below.


Anchor Worm (a.k.a. Lernaea)



Symptoms:

Infected fish can be seen with whitish red worm-like threads, about ¼ inch long. Trailing at the rear of female parasites are two long, tube-like egg sacs. The parasites can be found anywhere on the body of the fish, including the eyes, gills and fins. Raised ulcers may appear at the site of attachment. Consequently, secondary bacterial infections may occur. The tale-tale sign that your fish is infected will be if you notice it rubbing or scraping against objects in the aquarium. It does this in an effort to remove the parasite.



Cause:

The parasitic crustacean Lernaea. Lernaea burrow into the muscle and gill tissue of fish, often times reaching as deeply as the internal organs, causing severe damage. Heavy infestations can cause significant weight loss and death.



Treatment:

You should kill all visible worms by dabbing them with a cotton swab, dipped in Potassium Permanganate or an anti-parasitic medication. Then you should carefully remove them from the fish with tweezers. You should kill the parasites before removing them because if they have burrowed deeply, removing them alive could cause the fish pain and significant physical damage. Once you’ve removed the parasite, you should then dab the wounds with Methylene Blue to prevent secondary bacterial infections from occurring. It is highly recommended that you feed the fish with medicated food. The tank will also need to be treated to kill any unseen, free-swimming juvenile parasites. You can use Fluke Tabs, Clout, Paragon or Trifon for this.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I was looking at your thread the other night,bloozoo, and I believe those are Anchor worms as well. I began searching around sites and never made my way back to post links


How's she doing now? Have you removed her from the tank yet?

 

[Bloo]

Wow thanks guys - I'm horrified
Yes, she's in isolation but I still did not know what to buy to treat her with so I'll have to get some meds for worms tomorrow.
She's still herself apart from the clamped fins
Will report back !!

 

[black angel]

no thats not anchor worm, anchor worm would have killed the fish by now as theye are a lot longer and have a definite twin tail. the worms on the betta are really small, planaria can and does atach iself to fish and the fish feels uncomfortable.
http/www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Lernea

 

[Bloo]

Thanks BA - I just went to buy the meds and was going to dose her (in isolation now) and the whole tank she was in, tonight.
Personally I'm not convinced it's anchor worm - the mere fact that she must have had this for more than a week now and is in a community tank where there are absolutely no other visible signs on any of the other female bettas or fish in the tank.
I just don't know what to do - I don't want to medicate for nothing.
I bought Interpet no. 12 "anti crustacean parasite" meds.
She's still exactly the same. Swimming with clampd fins, but not itching, rubbing and she's eating as normal.
What to do ???

 

[abstract]

first off you're right about not medicating the whole tank - that is something i wouldn't even think about since she is the only one with symptoms...

i'll say it again, but i would give her 3 salt baths a day 5 minutes each and see how she looks after 2 days...with that high of a salt concentration you should at least see them start falling off of her if they ARE parasites...if she doesn't improve after 2 days of these salt baths you can be sure it is something else and maybe start medicating then....the good thing about salt baths is that they are relatively safe to do assuming you keep an eye on the fish...if it passes out put it back in it's tank and it should come to quickly...

even if this is NOT a parasite, the salt bath will help...it causes the outside slime coat/layer of skin to be shed so you should def. notice some improvement..i wouldn't wait much longer whatever you do...we don't want it getting any worse

 

[WILDER]

Your're right not to use that med in the whole tank, it's very powerful and it wipes the bacteria colony out in a day.

 

[wuvmybetta]

It does look exactly like Planaria, that's what's so confusing...why would they attach themselves like that? And why would the general concensus of planaria be that they aren't harmful if they in fact attach themselves in such a way..I've never seen anything like it. They're not really considered a parasite although they are a free swimming predator. For as common as they are it seems this should be a common problem. The only other thing I could possibly think of is fish louse perhaps in a larva form, but I don't think that's it. It resembles a nematode (Chronogaster gracilis possibly?)

The salt baths may be your best bet for now. I wonder if you could 'scrape' them off of her

 

[abstract]

The salt baths may be your best bet for now. I wonder if you could 'scrape' them off of her

[snapback]869454[/snapback]​

i was going to suggest something like that if the salt bath had no effect

 

[Bloo]

OK, thanks again guys & girls. Just got home and she's exactly the same. Looks fine apart from clamped fins. But guess what ? - I now have the Interpet no. 12 meds at home, but no salt
So it will have to wait until tomorrow.

@ fish shop that told me to medicate whole tank. I actually took a full blown copy of the picture into the shop to get their opinion too. They too said it looks like anchor worm.
But I didn't actually pay much attention to the guy who told served me - The staff there are usually fab, but this must be a part time guy and he didn't look too convinced himself.

Anyhow, will report on progress with salt baths

 

[WILDER]

Not the writer of this information.

Parasites
The signs of a parasitic infection are usually very visual. Increased mucus on the fish usually indicates a large infection level, visible as a pale sheen on the body of the fish. Fish will often flick and flash as they try to scrape the irritation. Some parasites such as argulus, (pictured) leeches and whitespot are actually visible on the fish. Gill infections can be harder to spot, but are more dangerous to the fish, harming delicate gill membranes. Mucus will build up on the gills, so look out for puffed gills and difficulties in breathing. Parasites being present on fish is quite natural and harmless to the fish unless something in their environment changes that allows the parasites to multiply unchecked. Salt treatments are often effective against parasites, and often a better first course of action before chemicals such as formalin and malachite are used.

Bacteria

 

[black angel]

Are there just bettas in the tank? what is the set up?
I am currently treating my fighter for something in his gills, probably gill flukes and i am using salt at .3% and he is doing so much better.
The planaria have attached themselves because they just happened to catch hold of the fish , usually its glass or other static objects, so she must have done what bettas do and stood still somewhere long enough for them to attach. As far as i know they just anchor themselves and feed through the water by taking in particles of food.

If you want to try the salt then i can talk you through it, but first i would remove any live plants and give the gravel a good vac doing a large water change and cleaning the ornaments and sides of the tank. Just curious, but can you see them on the inside glass of the tank. look really closely.

 

[Bloo]

Nope absolutely no sign whatsoever anywhere. Zip, zero zilch.
I clean this tank approx once every 5 days or so and it's very well filtrated. The 3 females share their tank with 2 twig catfish, a tiny flounder and a small plec. Oh and 2 baby mollies growing out.
It's planted and has CO2.
Are you suggesting that I treat the main tank with salt too ?
At the moment the little blue female is isolated in 1 gallon. No substrate or plants.
I will be able to start the salt treatment tomorrow evening when I get home - if only I thought about it today, I would have bought some salt too but it's not something I've ever used so yes, would appreciate some help on dosing etc.

Edit: on second though - is it possibly that she came with the planaria ?
I've had her for about 3 weeks now though.