2nd Sick Betta in a month - fin rot/fungus? Help needed

[Gavin]

Hello all

Unfortunately my lovely red Betta had to be put out of it's mysery recently as it was suddenly struck down with illness and was clearly suffering. Having changed water & cleaned the tank I recently bought and added a new Betta to the tank last weekend, and in the space of one day, he's now in the same state.

Symptoms are:

Area of dead or diseased skin suddenly appearing on an otherwise healthy tail, accompanying this there's some white fur/fuzz on the rear of the body adjoining the tail.

He seems to have reduced motion/abilities to swim, has started hiding in quiet corners ro dark spaces and has also stoped taking food.

The other fish - 3 small Guppys and 3 Tetra are fine and have been all along.

The tank's a 30 Litre bi-orb. When tested 3 days back the water quality was good, although I was planning a partial change and a filter change for the weekend.

I'm concerned as this fish was perfectly healthy until I went down this morning so whatever it is it happens fast.

I'm guessing it's a bacterial problem but it's odd that it only affects the Betta and no other fish have suffered at any point.

I'm going to check the net some more and ask at my LFS but any experience or advice would be appreciated!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Moved to Unhealthy Forum

 

[DepotFish]

Sounds fungal. Keep in mind that bettas in their little tap water cups from the store don't really get to build up any sort of slime coat for protection, and they really don't seem to have as much resistance as other fish. I have a feeling that over time it could affect your others, but they are much more healthy than the betta. I'd treat the tank, but first maybe somebody could recommend a medication thats safe enough to treat the whole tank with? I know some medications will kill the healthy tank bacteria so hopefully somebody will know a safe one.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Sort of sounds like columnaris to me. An external bacterial infection that is often mistaken for a fungus because it can produce a cottony/furry appearance. Like DepotFish said, bettas and other labyrinth fishes are more prone to this infection that other fish. It's likely bought on from simple stress in the move home. How did you acclimate him?

Regardless if the betta makes it or not, I'd treat your tank with Maracyn-Two to kill the bacteria as soon as possible. You can find it at any pet store. Columnaris can kill an entire tank in less than a day, and I've seen it kill a fish in hours.

http://www.2cah.com/pandora/Disease.html#External