Please I need help and I need it now!

[Elisabeth83]

I do not know what to do...my female betta tank is plagued with fin rot and one of the females that I can see has werid white worms attached to her. Yetserday there were only 3 that I could see now the worms have trippled overnight. Her fins are clamped and she's starting to dart around the tank.

The fin rot is horrible since I stopped treating for fin rot and started treating for parasites (yesterday morning) the fin rot has gotten worse on some of the girls.

I seriously need all the help I can get...I don't know what to treat for and how to treat it.

I'm using JBL punktol but I guess that isn't working...should I switch to Sterazin which is a gill fluke, body flukes and worm medication...what about the fin rot??

HELP ME I don't want to lose my girls

edit: maybe I should use this: http/www.reptilica.de/shop/product_info....1/lang/english/

 

[The-Wolf]

I'm guessing that you have a Lernaea attack
Lernaea AKA Anchor Worm

Caused by: the copepod parasite Lernaea.

Symptoms: These parasites are elongated with two egg sacs at the posterior end. They usually embed themselves with hook-like anchors in the body wall of the fish, and a raised ulcer can develop where it attaches.

Treatment/Control: treat outbreaks of Lernaea with Dimilin or similar, which effectively interrupts the parasite's life cycle and reproductive processes.

note; pond care dimilin is proberbly the best on the market made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals ltd, but I'm unsure as to it's availablity in Sweeden.

as for the fin rot you can treat with melafix in conjuntion with the dimilin.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi Wolf, no it isn't anchor worm..it's the same exact worms as Bloozoo2's female betta had.

I don't know what they are...maybe a type of anchor worm. Could they be Gyrodactylus http/www.aquaculture.bz/fish-disease/Gyrodactylus.html ?

What medication should I start treating with..it seems the JBL punktol isn't the right one..seems thats more for white spot etc.

Should I give Sterazin a go?? What about the fin rot..use Melafix in conjunction with the Sterazin?

 

[The-Wolf]

yes Sterazin(tm) is a great anti-parasite medication.
and yes you can use Melafix in conjunction with Sterazin(tm)

note Do not use Sterazin(tm) when crustaceans, echinoderms, rays, seawater sharks, pirahna, sturgeon or sterlets and related species are present. In these instances use Paragon(tm).

 

[Elisabeth83]

Ok I did a water change and added the sterazin now...gosh I hope they pull through. I'm so worried and sick

 

[The-Wolf]

fingers crossed Elizabeth

Good luck

 

[WILDER]

Any whitish threads hanging from the gills, also look behind the gills.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I certainly hope this works for you, Elisabeth. I searched the web up and down when bloozoo's girl was sick and I never found anything remotely close to the pictures she supplied.

For some reason the link to gyrodactylus states that labyrinth fish aren't often affected, which is an odd thing to say and I don't really understand that reasoning.
It makes me wonder if this is a parasite that attacks bettas moreso than other fish. But, what are the odds?
If they're not so bad (as in 100's of them like bloozoo's) you could remove her, lay her on a wet towel and attempt to remove them with a tweezer. You would have to dab iodine on the areas that you've removed them from.

Do you use live plants,by chance?

 

[Bloo]

Oh dear Elizabeth ! So sorry to hear I really hope you have more luck than I did ! Sterazin should be fine but I used Interpet which brought some really amazing results to start off with. I think I went wrong with not starting the medication sooner (I only did the salt baths to start off with) and the thing that put the final "nail in her coffin", was switching her over to the fungal meds.

Whatever you do, do not mix medications and if you are (for whatever reason) going to switch meds, give it a days rest in-between and a 100% water change.
I know it's tough not knowing which is more important to treat (parasite or finrot) but she's going to be very weakened, so if you are dosing Melafix in conjunction with Sterazin, use extreme caution and monitor closely.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[jollysue]

Elizabeth. Oh dear what a summer

I have had good experiences talking to the tech at the company for the meds I used. I like Mardel because they formulate their meds to work together and don't require the filters to come out.

Anyway, When my quaratine tank got sick and the little neons and otos started dropping, I got different advice from everyone: in the forums, the articles, the lfs, even fosters and smith. I tried to call the manufacturer, but it was the weekend. Buy the time I got around to calling again, the desease had slowed down, but fish were still dying, and they weren't cured.

The tech at Mardel recommended the correct medication and plan of treatment. No more fish died, and they are looking good. I also talked to the tech at fosters and smith and they recommended different than the supervisor during the weekend. They recommended the same treatment for the Mardel products as the tech at Mardel.

I was using completely the wrong med and preparing to combine meds that had been recommended in articles for the treatment of the disease that the manufacturer said not to combine.

The main thing seems to be to diagnose correctly, decide on your medical manufacturer, and follow their advice. Aquarium Pharmicueticals is well regarded. Melafix in my recent experience will slow the finrot down but may not cure it.

God bless the fishies

 

[wuvmybetta]

One other thing you could try is garlic. It does indeed kill parasites,plus since it's natural you can use it with your current meds.
Your lfs should sell a liquid form.I soak my frozen food in it just for good measure, but you can use it directly n the tank as well.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Do you use live plants,by chance?

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Yes! This seems to be when it first started. I bought live plants 4-5 weeks ago after only ever using silk and plastic before. I thought the girls would love it. My thoughts are either the plants brought something in or that because I didn't have the proper lighting or C02 the plants ended up slowly dieing dropping bits of roots and leaves that at the time I didn't think were a big deal. I've now found out dead plant matter can cause nitrItes and ammonia to rise as well as oxygen levels to drop as they decay. This I think brought on stress leading to the fin rot and parasites

As of now I am just using the Sterazin. I decided not to add the melafix. I tried it once...using some of my homemade stuff but my fish acted strange when I used it that I immdiately did a water change and I haven't used it since. I've never used 2 medications at once because with the medications I have here they say not to mix.

After I'm done using the Sterazin (10 day treatment course) should I start using a fin rot med or should I just do water changes and add salt to the tank?

I can only see maybe 10 little worms when I use my magnifying glass so I could maybe try and use tweezers to pick them off. I just need to see where I can buy iodine

I just think it's so odd that your female bloozoo2 got these little white worms and now a couple weeks later my female gets them. I just wish I knew for certain what they were and if I am using the right treatment. They must not be too common considering when you read about diseases they arn't listed.

Another thing I am wondering about is could one of my females whos very aggressive brought on the stress leading to the fin rot and parasites from dominating all the others? Maybe I should put her in a kritter keeper (just like my boys) once the treatment is over?

The garlic ..I can try at the natural health food store here..see if they have any. If I can get the liquid drops what is the dosage for using it in aquariums?

 

[jollysue]

I have Kent brand Garlic Xtreme. It is recommended to enhance appitite and attract. It is recommended to boost the immune system and for visible wounds and parasites. Fosters and Smith has recommended it to me several times.

It is garlic 99% garlic extract (garlic juice) with citric and ascorbic acid. If added to the water it is 1 drop per 10 usg. In food it is 2 drops per tsp of food, not more than 2 drops per feeding.

Actually Melafix is natural too and should be able to be used to slow the fin rot while you work on the parasites. The natural antibiotic is tree tea or something. It is used best in combination with PimaFix. Of course they have an ingredient known to cause cancer. B) Anyway it could slow the finrot down while you work on the parasites.

The parasites have to come from somewhere. I doubt they just float around dosing until the fish get tired or stressed. They are an internal parasite, right? That's different than and external parasite like ich. Are these more like tape, round or hook worms.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Ok, I'm going to have to make a trip to the stores here and see if they have any then. It sounds like great stuff. Do you use it just for when the fish are sick or can you keep it in the water always?

edit: The melafix well I mixed it up myself following a recipe I got off the forum here but I'm not so sure it works good with bettas. I can't remember what was going on then..this was a long while ago but I did try it on them once before and they acted very odd sluggish and kind of gasping at the surface. I believe I used half dose because I read your not supposed to used melafix with bettas but that its the same thing as bettafix (I think that's what it's called ) just at a higher concentration.

No these worms they are on her actual scales so they are external. They are creepy to look at like little white hairs poking out

 

[jollysue]

I think it could be used regularly but it gets costly so you might want to use it for specific purposes like loss of appitite, immune booster, or wound healing stimulant--or God forbid parasites.

Like wuv said she uses garlic xtreme to soak her frozen food. That sounds like a good idea actually.

Poor little girl.

Yeah I read that bettafix is the same ingredients too. I don't know there's so much stuff said that contradicts. Wuv seems to be a good community source. But frankly I would call the manufacturer of the medication you are using and get a recommended treatment.

Yuck, poor girl