Betta keeps getting fungus

[yanamya]

Hello, folks.

I am relatively new to the hobby (coming up on a year), and have a male betta (Bob) that keeps getting fungus. When I first introduced him to my 10-gallon cycled tank about two months ago, I added him along with 5 WCMMs, who ended up being nippy and stressing him out to the point of him developing fin rot.

I removed the WCMMs into my larger cold-water tank and successfully treated my betta with aquarium salt and Bettafix over the course of a week, and he was active and doing well until a couple of days ago, when he developed what appears to be a fungus. It's a whitish, cloudy-looking slime on his back fins.

I immediately moved him into a 3.5-gallon quarantine tank with a heater and sponge filter set to a gentle setting. I dosed the tank with aquarium salt, KanaPlex, Bettafix, and today did a Methylene Blue dip for 10 seconds, as the growth seemed to have grown a bit overnight.

The water test came back with the following parameters (ammonia = 0, nitrites = 0, nitrates = 0, temp = 75 degrees F, pH = 8.2). While I recognize that my pH is a bit high, it's been stable every time I've tested the tank. I can't account for why it's so much higher than my tap water (7.2), so if anybody has insights on that, I'd love to get it lowered.

The tank is a 10-gallon planted and has been set up for 3 months. I cycled it fish-free for a month before adding in the first batch of inhabitants: the betta, 5 WCMM, two nerite snails, and 2 Amanos. I have since removed the minnows as mentioned and added in 8 cherry shrimp.

The tank has a sizable cholla log (large enough for Bob to swim through), a ceramic cave structure, and a floating Betta log as the primary decorations, along with a number of plants. I'm using Fluval plant and shrimp substrate under a layer of white sand. I do add Wonder Shells into the tank monthly for my shrimp, which might be contributing to the pH being higher, not sure.

I am using a this Hygger sponge filter in the main tank.

I do weekly water changes where I change 30% of the water. I always condition the water with SeaChem Prime, rest for 1 day, and then add it into the tank following vacuuming.

Recently (about three weeks ago), I added in the 8 RCSs, but he seemed to ignore them, patrolling his tank as usual. I did get a new shrimp-friendly fertilizer about 10 days ago, and I've dosed at half the dosage for the past week. It's this one, and I was testing water parameters daily to ensure it didn't cause an ammonia spike in the tank.

Bob eats only Omega One seafood betta pellets. I have tried feeding him both freeze-dried and frozen daphnia and bloodworms, but he has no interest, and they make quite a big mess in the tank, so I've stopped trying. He seems to like his pellets quite a lot, though, and was a hearty eater prior to this fungus.

Any insights would be appreciated; it's super frustrating, as it feels like I'm just constantly researching this fish setup and don't have any answers as to why it's not working out for poor Bob.

 

[Andy Sager]

Part of your problem is that 75 degrees is too cold and Bettas tend to get fungus when too cold. They should be at 78-80 degrees and that alone may solve your problem. If that is too warm for your shrimp, you may need to separate them and set up a tank just for the Betta or just for the shrimp. As for your Ph, if the sand you used was more a crushed coral sand than regular " beach " type sand, that too would raise your Ph. If the wondershells add any kind of calcium to the water, that is what's causing the rise. While it's not an acceptable range for most wild Bettas, the domestic ones can generally handle it so I wouldn't be too concerned. I've bred them here in my 8.4-8.6 well water with no issues. ( Go to the albums in my profile and you can see some of the ones that were bred and raised in this water. )

Hope this helps.

 

[yanamya]

Thank you for the prompt reply, Andy.

For the temperature, would you recommend bumping up the temperature in the quarantine tank as well? I had originally had the betta at 78 degrees, but when he got fin rot the first time, I had read to lower the temperature to 75 degrees, as that would inhibit bacterial and fungal growth.

There is unfortunately a lot of information about the optimal temperature on various sites and forums, so any additional help would be appreciated.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you for the prompt reply, Andy.

For the temperature, would you recommend bumping up the temperature in the quarantine tank as well? I had originally had the betta at 78 degrees, but when he got fin rot the first time, I had read to lower the temperature to 75 degrees, as that would inhibit bacterial and fungal growth.

There is unfortunately a lot of information about the optimal temperature on various sites and forums, so any additional help would be appreciated.

Optimal temps will vary based on whether you are dealing with wild or domestic species. You are working with a domestic it looks like so you need to figure out if the info you are getting is for those or wild fish.
Just so we are talking about the same thing, a true fungus will appear as a white-gray fuzz. Your fish does not appear to have fuzz on it's tail ( or it doesn't show up in the picture. ) As for the lowering of the temperature, that is for while treating the fish and not as a long term temp to keep.

So, to expedite your treatment, here are the 2 scenarios:

IF you have fuzz, then Kanaplex is the wrong medication because it treats bacterial infections and you don't have that, you'd have a fungus. A better medication for fungus is Maracyn Oxy ( not to be confused with regular maracyn ( which is erythromycin) ).

IF you just have the fin melting with possibly redness at the edges, that would be a bacterial infection and the Kanaplex is the right med for this. As long as you are using an antibiotic, I would gradually bring the temperature back up to near 80 degrees during the treatment then gradually reduce to 78 before putting him back in his main tank.

Once the fish has healed and back in the main tank, water quality is very important for keeping those fins from getting infections. You'll want to make sure you are doing some cleaning of the substrate to get any uneaten food out of the water.

While it's only a slight possibility, your shrimp may also be the cause of these persistent infections. If they are chewing on his fins when he's asleep, that and the cooler temperature would keep him from totally rehabilitating from the infections. You should do some nighttime searches in the tank to make sure the shrimp aren't having those " midnight munchies".

 

[yanamya]

Thanks, Andy.

So he did have what appeared to be cottony tufts on his tail prior to me dipping him in Methylene Blue this morning, but the tufts have since disappeared. Given that methylene blue is an anti-fungal treatment, I'm hoping the one dip was enough to remove the main culprit there.

My understanding is that fungus often takes hold after a bacterial infection has started, so assuming that the fungus has been resolved, I can continue to treat him with the KanaPlex for a few days and see how he does.

I've bumped up his temperature to 80 degrees at your recommendation and will see whether he seems to improve in the coming days.

For the water cleaning, as I mentioned in my original post, I do a 20% water change with a vacuuming of the substrate once a week, and I check my parameters frequently. Would you recommend doing something different here?

In general, it sounds like he and my shrimp are just not as compatible as I was led to believe, and so I'll separate them out into two tanks. I think Bob is just meant to live alone.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks, Andy.

So he did have what appeared to be cottony tufts on his tail prior to me dipping him in Methylene Blue this morning, but the tufts have since disappeared. Given that methylene blue is an anti-fungal treatment, I'm hoping the one dip was enough to remove the main culprit there.

My understanding is that fungus often takes hold after a bacterial infection has started, so assuming that the fungus has been resolved, I can continue to treat him with the KanaPlex for a few days and see how he does.

I've bumped up his temperature to 80 degrees at your recommendation and will see whether he seems to improve in the coming days.

For the water cleaning, as I mentioned in my original post, I do a 20% water change with a vacuuming of the substrate once a week, and I check my parameters frequently. Would you recommend doing something different here?

In general, it sounds like he and my shrimp are just not as compatible as I was led to believe, and so I'll separate them out into two tanks. I think Bob is just meant to live alone.

Okay, the fuzz was a fungus and the methylene blue is a fungicide so the right med for that. Fungus does not always mean a bacterial infection first. I does mean a wound first tho.
You need to do a full treatment of the Kanaplex: ( Use 1 level measure (180 mg) to every 5 gallons (20 liters) every other day for 3 days. ) to know if it was effective. If there is no change or improvement after the full treatment, and no re-occurrence of the fuzz, you can switch to Triple Sulfa. It's another good broad spectrum antibiotic for high Ph water. If the fuzz returns, either continue daily dips in methylene blue or switch to the Maracyn Oxy. ( Do not use the M. Blue in the main tank as it will kill the nitrifying bacteria. )

Not to be nit picky, but your original post said you did 30% water change. Now you are saying 20%. Whichever it is, if it's keeping the water clean, keep doing it. If the water is not as clean or the test results change, increase the amount of water you change. Make sure you give your sponge filter a squeeze or two to keep it from getting blocked up. Use the water you just removed to squeeze the sponge in. You can do this every other water change unless the water coming out of the squeeze is really dark. if it's really dark, squeeze every water change.

 

[yanamya]

Thanks, Andy.

Apologies for the typo – I do 30% water changes (3 gallon bucket out of a 10-gallon tank) weekly, assuming tests are fine.

I have a double sponge filter, so I clean the sponges in tank water on alternate weeks, so each sponge gets cleaned every two weeks. That seems to keep the flow of water consistent out of the filter.

There seems to be a tiny bit of white fluff still on the tail, so I might attempt another Methylene Blue dip today and I'll finish out the Kanaplex. He stopped eating yesterday, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks, Andy.

Apologies for the typo – I do 30% water changes (3 gallon bucket out of a 10-gallon tank) weekly, assuming tests are fine.

I have a double sponge filter, so I clean the sponges in tank water on alternate weeks, so each sponge gets cleaned every two weeks. That seems to keep the flow of water consistent out of the filter.

There seems to be a tiny bit of white fluff still on the tail, so I might attempt another Methylene Blue dip today and I'll finish out the Kanaplex. He stopped eating yesterday, so we'll see how it goes.

That's okay, I was just pulling your chain.

You'll want to keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite in his tank now as Kanamycin can suppress the nitrifying bacteria as well.