Help! How to proceed with medication

[GuppyGirl20]

Hi.
I have a carbon filter. One of the cheapy nothing fancy kind so the carbon cant be removed without destroying the filter. It's been in use for longer than 4 weeks so the carbon part should be ineffective, right?
I suspect my poor betta has somehow got a fungal infection. His poor mouth area has turned white, his fins are looking ragged, and hes stopped building a bubble nest. He eats and swims normally though.
Do I still need to remove the filter before administering the medicine?

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Forgot to mention, I had my water tested at the pet store and it was the associate there who suggested fungal infection. She told me not to do a water change because all my levels are exactly where they need to be. (I know I need to get a kit of my own but my budget hasn't allowed that yet )

 

[Colin_T]

Can you post a picture of the fish?

The first thing you should do if any fish looks sick, stops feeding or dies in a tank, is a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. This does two things.
1. It dilutes any harmful chemicals like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, aquarium plant fertilisers or chemicals that got into the water from outside the aquarium.
2. It dilutes the number of harmful disease organisms in the water and buys you time to identify the problem and start treatment.

Even if the water is "good" or "where it should be", a big water change and gravel clean will usually help. On top of that if you do a big water change and gravel clean before treating a tank, you remove most of the rotting organic matter from the substrate and that leaves fewer microbes in the tank, and that means any medication you use, can go towards treating the fish instead of killing the bacteria living in the gunk in the gravel.

It's also a good idea to use a clean soap free sponge to wipe the inside of the glass. This removes the biofilm and reduces the number of micro-oganisms in the tank allowing the medication to focus on the fish.

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Carbon should be removed from any filter before adding a medication. If the carbon is in a filter pad, you can cut a small slit in the filter pad and tip the carbon out and throw it away. Then put the filter pad back into the filter so you don't lose the beneficial filter bacteria living in and on the pad. If the pad is dirty you can squeeze it out a few times in a bucket of tank water before putting the pad back into the filter.

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What medication did you get?

Do not use Melafix or Pimafix on labyrinth fishes like Bettas and Gouramis. It can leave an oily film on the surface and kill them.

Please post a picture of the fish and tell us what medication you got. If you got an anti-fungal medication and the problem is bacterial, the treatment will not work. And anti-bacterial medications won't work on fungal infections, and most antibiotics will kill filter bacteria and cause water quality issues.

And do a big water change and complete gravel clean while we wait for the picture. Leave the fish in the tank and use a gravel cleaner (like the one in the link below) to remove some water and clean the gravel. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

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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.

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

 

[Essjay]

She told me not to do a water change because all my levels are exactly where they need to be.

That is a terrible piece of advice. You don't do water changes only when the levels are not right, you do a water change whenever necessary. And a sick fish means that water changes, and lots of them, are necessary. Even when the fish are not sick, if the tank is filtered water changes should be done every week; in an unfiltered tank they should be done more often.
Did she say what these "exactly where they need to be" levels were? A lot of fish shop employees will tell you that the levels are fine when they are not. Until you can get a test kit, always ask for the numbers when you get a shop to test.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

The files are too large and the pictures wont upload.

I bought Tetra Fungus Gaurd

 

[GuppyGirl20]

The white doesnt look cottony. More like his lips are painted white.

 

[Colin_T]

Can you set the camera resolution to a lower setting, like 2mb? The lower resolution will make the image smaller and you might be able to post it.

Alternatively put the image on an image hosting website and put the link here.

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Columnaris is not that common in aquariums and is caused by a flesh eating bacteria. It starts out as white lips and quickly spreads over the nose, head and bottom jaw. The fish usually dies within 24-48 hours of the lips turning white.

Fish can bruise their lips by bumping into objects in the tank or even the glass sides. The bruised lips can look white and inflamed. However, Bettas are not fast swimming fish and don't normally have this issue.

Fungus can sometimes infect the mouth and lips but it is usually white and fluffy with little white bits sticking up. Fungus normally gets into damaged tissue after there has been an injury.

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Tetra Fungus Guard tablets contain NITROFURAZONE and POTASSIUM DICHROMATE. The Potassium is very toxic and carcinogenic so try to avoid getting it on your skin and wash your hands and arms well with warm soapy water after handling it and working in the tank. And keep it away from children.

This medication should treat a wide range of diseases, however I have never used it so can't be sure as to whether it will work on the Betta.

Personally, I would do a couple of big water changes first and see how the fish looks after 24-48 hours. If the lips have not improved after doing 2 big (75%) water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate, then treat it.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PMdtjeZGMK8iquU88

 

[GuppyGirl20]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NxjP6FQiUUJzrwMx8

 

[Colin_T]

How long has he had the white mouth for?

His eyes are looking a big bulgy too and his fins are sagging?

Have you added any new fish or plants to the tank in the last week or two?

 

[GuppyGirl20]

I have not added anything to the tank and it has been established since March.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

I noticed the whiteness last week and did a real good down in the gravel water change and theres not been any change which is why I went to the pet store today for water testing

 

[Colin_T]

Since nothing has been added to the tank in the last few months, and he has had it for a week and hasn't died then it isn't columnaris, so that is a plus.

How often do you normally do water changes and gravel cleans, and how much water do you change?

 

[GuppyGirl20]

I do a water change ever Saturday. I change about a gallon out. I've never heard of cleaning the gravel so idk exactly what you mean by that. I dig my siphon into the gravel but that's about it.

 

[Colin_T]

How big is the tank?

If you get a gravel cleaner like the one in the following link, you can use that to drain some water out and clean the gunk out of the gravel at the same time.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

You start draining water out of the tank and into a bucket. While it is draining out you push the wide gravel cleaning tube into the substrate and lift it up. The gunk in the gravel lifts up and gets drawn out with some water while the gravel sinks back to the bottom. You gravel clean as much of the substrate as possible in the time it takes to drain out 50-75% of the tank water. That dirty water gets poured on the garden and clean dechlorinated water gets added to the tank.