Ugh! Female Betta has a flesh eating disease!

[shellieca]

Violet, my female Betta at work has taken a bad turn since yesterday. She is in a 1g aquarium (I know not ideal) with some plants & a recently added heater, I always add aquarium salt & water conditioner when changing water. A couple weeks ago I noticed a grayish spot on her back & added Pimafix to her aquarium, it seemed to be going away. Earlier this week it was back but a little worse, I changed her water & added the Pimafix on Tues. & today it's MUCH worse, her top fin is all but gone & she didn't want to eat this morning, she's mostly just laying in the bottom of the aquarium. I did another water change today & added Pimafix & will go at lunch to get the Melafix. I think I made a HUGE mistake when I added a plant that I didn't buy specific for an aquarium, this all started shortly after. I hope it's not too late, whatever this appears to be eating her flesh. I feel so bad because she doesn't feel good, she's usually watching me while I work & getting excited. Not today :-(

 

[RussellC]

Sorry your betta isn't well.

I don't have any experience with what you describe, but I suggest water changes, water changes, and more water changes!

Keeping ammonia and nitrites in check is going to be very important -- good water quality will help your betta's immune system fight off whatever is ailing it.

Since you stated that the 1 gallon isn't ideal, I'm guessing you know that it is very hard to maintain good water quality in that small of a volume of water.

I don't understand your circumstances, so this isn't a criticism in any way, but just some advice.

In my opinion, were it me, in one gallon, I'd do 50% water changes daily as a matter of routine. Pollutants can build up very quickly in that volume of water -- and as soon as I could, I'd try to upgrade to a 5 gallon filtered and heated tank -- or as close to that as I could manage.

Best of luck and I hope your betta improves!