What kind of illness can affect Bettas?

[MiamiFishy]

Hello Everybody!
I'm new to the forum and about a year to aquarium and fish.
Got a question, yesterday I bought a Show Betta ( Siamese fighting fish), and following a posted article put it into a quarantine tank with nothing more than an air stone on a under-gravel filter with no substrate..its just "floating" about an 1in from the bottom. The Betta eat some specially for Betta food that I also bought and seems ok. Ill keep it in that tank for 2-3 weeks as suggested in the article. Now to my question!
Guys/ Girls, what kind of illness affect Bettas? and what should I be looking for on this Betta in Particular. It has a white spot, not round more like the termination of one of the lower long skinny fins is white instead of reddish, is that a sign of fungus or something else? or just the color pathern fish ???

I really appreciate all of your comments and help.

My idea is to introduce the Betta to my establish tank with 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Neon Tetra and 2 Cory Catfish... I got a small breeder acrylic enclosure sitting on my main tank to put the Betta there to get it aquaeinted with all the future buddies... if it works!... All your comments are welcome.
Thank you all!

 

[dskidmore]

Is the texture consistant with the rest of the fin? A salt-grain type bump is ick, swelling could be bacteria, or parasite. Fuzzyness is most likely fungal. A smooth texture is *likely* nothing to worry about.

Continue to observe the fish. If it grows, or appears elsewhere on the fish, then it is definatly a disease that needs to be treated before he moves to your main tank.

This is what QTing a new fish is for. You can observe him over time to make sure he's healthy. A once-over look doesn't always tell the whole story.

Keep an eye on the ammonia levels in the QT. When it's new it's sometimes hard to get it properly cycled.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you dskidmore,
And to answer your question, No, the discoloration is more like a smooth texture, like if part of the fish color. Anyway I will keep him in QTing for a few weeks ( 2- 3), and see how he does.
To control the ammonia levels perhaps I could use one of the power filters already establish from my main tank??? or will the Betta dislike the movement ???
I guess the water changes will be better done in 2-3 days intervols?!, The QTing thank is a 2 gallon Betta tank, ( sorry but I really don't have more space for another 10, and I'm trying to get a 29 gal too.) I can add some water from the main tank and some fresh in the water change... max one gallon ..

 

[dskidmore]

Old filter media is a great idea. If it's too much current for the small tank, you can put the dirty floss/sponge/charcoal in the tank without the filter. There's a ton of healthy bacteria there that will help matters.

I would base water changes off of the results of the ammonia testing. If it moves off 0, daily changes are a good idea. If it stays at 0, you can stick to your normal water change schedule.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you again DsKidMore, I'll try the filter and if not do with the sponge floss charcoal combo.

Wish me luck!

Thanks

 

[Fluff]

Good luck with your betta. And welcome to AA!

I'm moving this to the sick fw fish forum.

 

[DepotFish]

A filter in a two gallon I think will be too powerful, I think an undergravel filter is much too powerful for a betta, unless you have a lot of gravel over the top of it. It might be why the betta is at the bottom. They generally don't have the muscle to fight the downward current all day. A water change once a week will do. They don't produce much waste.