Betta May Have Fungal Infection.

[GuppyGoddess]

Over the past few days I haven't been watching one of my female bettas as closely as I should. Last night, I looked at the top of her head, which is normally grey and it has two small white patches on it. This morning there is another tiny spot. (A few days back, I thought she was flicking, but didn't see anything on her - so that is why I didn't watch more closely.)

The tank is NOT cycled.

I did a 1/3 water change this morning and added aquarium salt (much less than the box recommended).

Should I change out more water and add the full dose the box suggests?
Should I go ahead and treat with Jungle fungal meds?

The tank is 10 gallons. I had hoped to add more fish this week to help with the cycling process and also make the aquarium more lively. On Friday I planned to get two Platies and then next week add my female guppy to the tank.

Guess those plans are out, right?

I don't know the ammonia levels, but do know there isn't any nitrite or nitrate.

 

[WILDER]

How big is the spot. Is it the size of a grain of salt.
Any redness to the spot.
The white patches do they look fluffy like cotton wool.

Fish can also flick in bad water quality.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

How big is the spot. Is it the size of a grain of salt.
Any redness to the spot.
The white patches do they look fluffy like cotton wool.

Fish can also flick in bad water quality.

None of the above: not a grain of salt (not ich), no redness, no fluff. Just patches of lighter grey. Maybe she's been that way and I haven't noticed it before?

I'm going to change her water again tomorrow morning and add more salt. After googling a bit, I read that bettas who live in aquariums which have aquarium salt added rarely get fungal infections. Not sure if this is true, but since I already have a box, makes sense to test it out. She's acting fine (usual behavior, if I put my finger near the water, she swims over to "attack" it for food.)

 

[WILDER]

Patches of light grey can be parasites, columnaris, ph shock, bad water quality.

If no signs of flicking and rubbing I would take the bacterial route.
Also it quite common for columnaris to present it's self on top of the head region.

What does the fish mouth look like.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Patches of light grey can be parasites, columnaris, ph shock, bad water quality.

If no signs of flicking and rubbing I would take the bacterial route.
Also it quite common for columnaris to present it's self on top of the head region.

What does the fish mouth look like.

Her mouth looks normal and she's still eating fine. The patch hasn't spread at all. . .I'm wondering if it's just a color that I didn't notice before. I'll keep an eye on her. I really wanted to add more fish to her tank soon.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Good Luck.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

She seems fine. I've been feeding her one betta pellet twice a day and nothing has changed. Maybe it's coloring that I never noticed before.

Yesterday, I went to purchase her a platy for a playmate but the gal said that the betta may nip at the fins of the platy. Not sure what to do now. The 10-gallon seems ridiculously empty with one tiny female betta swimming around. There's plants and stuff, but no activity except a little blue fish gliding along the front!

 

[WILDER]

Ask in the betta section on fish which get along with female betta's
Good Luck.