Worried about my Betta

[Aryanah]

Hello everyone. Recently I got a new Betta from my local pet store. I'm new to keeping Bettas but after doing research for around the past year I finally decided to get one myself. He's just a common Betta but after a few days I realized the reason his fins didn't look the best was he had been in early stages of fin rot at the fish store but they apparently hadn't seen it. And I didn't know enough about it myself until doing more research. I knew of the disease and I knew it was common in bettas so as soon as I saw the discoloration I suspected immediately it was fin rot. I treated it immediately by separating him into a different tank. He's a very peaceful boy so I put non-fin nippers with him and a small clean up crew.

Well, this is his second day of treatment and there is something strange and white on him. The meds treat multiple things but looking at it...it doesn't look like new growth, it looks like fungus. I don't want to jump to conclusions and put more chemicals in the water if not needed. I inserted a picture here. Can anyone tell me what that is? Do I need to get more meds for him?

 

[Guest14017]

It is *DEFINITELY* fungus.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Its 100% fungus, I would try 1 rounded tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons of water and see what happens then. DONT use table salt. Salt for aquarium use only. Just remember, medications are the last resort, so only medicate the tank if you absolutely need to.

 

[Aryanah]

Alright I'll pick up the salt. How often what you recommend putting salt in the water? How long should he stay in salt water? And how often should I water change? PH is at 7. No ammonia. No nitrites. So his current water is fine. The old tank got a massive water change for the other fish just in case.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Alright I'll pick up the salt. How often what you recommend putting salt in the water? How long should he stay in salt water? And how often should I water change? PH is at 7. No ammonia. No nitrites. So his current water is fine. The old tank got a massive water change for the other fish just in case.

Keep the betta in the salt for about 3 hours, then do 1, 50% water change to remove half the salt, leave him like that overnight. After that do another 50% water change first thing on the morning. Next, put 1 rounded table spoon of salt per 5 gallons again then leve him for 3 hours again and do 2, 50% water changes. That should work. If there are any other fish in the tank with him quarantine the betta. If you can't quarantine the betta than use teaspoons instead of tablespoons.

 

[Guest14017]

Please do not listen to this member - he/she is a minor. That is not how you dose salt for a Betta... or any fish really.

The first thing you need to do is get all the medications out of the system. Clearly they aren't working and dosing salt on top of them can sometimes be lethal.

 

[Guest14017]

Then you need to remove all the healthy fish from the tank. Why would you treat healthy fish with meds? Also - Bettas ideally should be kept alone anyway. He needs to be alone in the hospital tank.

What to do if your fish gets sick

If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...

www.fishforums.net

This thread has a good guide on how to use salt to treat fungus and fin rot. You don't just slam the fish with salt like that initially and the fish has to be kept in the salt for longer than that to see any results. You don't just add salt and then in 24-48 hours - fish is all better. No. Just no.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Please do not listen to this member - he/she is a minor. That is not how you dose salt for a Betta... or any fish really.

The first thing you need to do is get all the medications out of the system. Clearly they aren't working and dosing salt on top of them can sometimes be lethal.

What i told the op to do worked for me?

 

[itiwhetu]

Out of interest what is your Nitrate level and how many plants do you have in your tank?

 

[Aryanah]

It was at zero as well. It was a new tank. The old tank had mainly tons on Anubis, a Java fern, and water lettuce. There was pearl weed too but it didn't take so I took it out after the first day. I Used the large Api kit to test everything. That was the first thing I did then did a large water change and retested.

 

[Aryanah]

The new tank only has water lettuce and a coconut bridge with moss on it. (Mainly cause he loves sitting above and below it.)

 

[itiwhetu]

Something has stressed this fish, for it to look like that.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Something has stressed this fish, for it to look like that.

Hmmmm, God thinking, the number 1 killer for fish is stress.