Betta With Bacterial Infection

[bubblover]

I've had Finley now for just over a year; he's my first betta.  He's been in a 1.5 gallon bowl, which I know isn't the greatest, and I was probably not watching the water quality closely enough.  In any case, last spring he started showing some fuzziness around his fins and stopped eating.  On the advice of the local aquarium guy, I dosed him with Pimafix for a week, after which he regained his appetite and seemed to be okay for a while.  Since then I have been more careful about water changes, but he didn't seem to be completely well and rather than medicate him again, I added salt to his water (1 tsp per gal).  
 
He's had times of poor appetite, but didn't seem to really be getting worse until about 6 weeks ago when he developed a small (size of a pin head) wound on his back, just below his head.  It changed color and became sore looking and then began to get larger.  On the basis of online research, I thought he might have columnaris.  I put a medicated wonder shell in his bowl, and gave him medicated 20 minute baths (methylene blue, kanaplax and furan-2) for 10 days.  He had stopped eating by the time I began this treatment, though still remained somewhat active.  Honestly, I think all that pulling him out of his bowl for the treatments was pretty stressful, and of course, he began avoiding me.  When the treatments were done, I cleaned his bowl and he's been in unmedicated water (plus 2 tsp salt per gallon).  During the treatments his wound (looked like the classic saddleback of columnaris, but became deeper) grew dramatically, and another opened up on his side (see photos).  Afterwards, they began closing up but not completely, and it's hard to say if the infection is gone.  He was initially just very still, though I could tell he was still alive.  It's been a week now, and Finley has just become a little more active and has begun to start eating again.
 
I'm amazed he's pulled through, but would appreciate any comments or advice regarding care while he recuperates, and if and when I should resume treatment.
 
Thanks.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Can you post any kind of water stats please? (sometimes that can give you a pretty clear answer with what is going on in the tank)
Also, how often are you doing water changes?

 

[Wildbetta]

First a couple of questions need to be answered. 
 
1.  How often are you doing water changes?  How much water is changed each time?
2.  Do you have a filter running on this bowl?
3.  Do you have a heater in this bowl?
4.  What are you feeding, how much, and how often?
5.  Do you have a testing kit to test for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte?
 
 
At this point, I recommend for you to move this guy to a container (rubbermaid/steralite work nicely) of at least 3 gallons although 5(20 liters) gallons would work much much better.  Keep it bare bottom and the water very clean.  Since it looks very similar to columnaris , I suggest you treat him with Kanaplex/Kanamyacin and possibly see if you can get a hold of some medicated food since this has been going on for so long already.  Make sure you have a heater (and thermometer) and keep the temperature no lower than 80F.  I do not recommend adding salt to a betta's water unless you are treating ICH or velvet as it really does not do anything good for the betta.
 
Just for info, wondershells do not do anything for bettas and medications ending in the word "fix" (melafix, pimafix, bettafix) are not good for bettas or any other air breathing fish since those medications contain tea tree oils which can hinder them being able to breathe.

 

[bubblover]

Thank you.  
 
On current care:
 
I have only been using an ammonia alert indicator, which shows the water at the safe level, .02 ppm.  I am ordering a more comprehensive test kit.
 
I have been feeding Nutrafin Max Betta flakes. I crush it up small because when he started eating again he would spit out the pellets (got from my local independent aquarium shop where I got the fish).  He also spit out dried blood worms, and seems to have no interest in frozen beef heart.  In other words the flakes are the only thing he will eat right now.  I found a medicated food with kanamycin available from amazon, would you recommend that, or something else?
 
I have been feeding twice a day, and then skimming the water for leftovers after a half hour or so.  I have been turning this into a daily water change of about 10%, and every second day, 20%.  I do 100% changes once a week.  No filter.
 
I do not have a heater in his bowl, but I live in Florida and my room temp is usually 77-78F.  On that point, I have been advised by someone else to keep the temperature lower for treating columnaris, like 75-76.  Would you know why I'm getting conflicting information on this?
 
The extra salt was also advised by this same person.  

  It's confusing for a betta newbie.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

I have never personally heard of anyone lowering the temp to treat a betta. This site is a very reputable source and everything on here tells you to bump up to 80 when your betta isn't feeling great.

We can be much more helpful when you get a testing kit. The liquid test is much more accurate than strips btw.

Wildbetta is a betta expert so I would take any advie she gives you ^-^

 

[Wildbetta]

I would never say I am an "expert" by any means.  LOL    But thanks for the confidence. 
 
 
The conflicting info about the temperature is because in most cases of this infection, lowering the temperature actually slows down the disease and can give you time to treat the fish.  Most cases kill the fish really quickly and there is hardly any time to treat especially once symptoms have started presenting themselves. In a case like yours, I suggest once you start treating, to raise the temperature because that will help the fish feel better, will help his immune system, and help give him an appetite which helps when feeding medicated food.  The food with the Kanamyacin in it is a good choice to see if you can get him to eat it along with treating the water he is in.  As for the salt, there are people who believe that it is good to keep some in the tank at all times and others like myself who do not agree with that thought since the betta is a FW fish and salt can eventually start bothering the kidneys.  Salt baths while they can be helpful in some cases, don't really do anything but stress the fish out when dealing with a bacterial issue and I don't recommend them.
 
Now for your regular upkeep.  The ammonia indicators are known to be unreliable and would especially be so in such a small amount of water.  You really need to get a test kit or at least get the testing supplies to test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate so that you can keep a better eye on your parameters.  I would up the water changes to 50% every other day.  In the amount of water you have the betta in without a filter, the ammonia can build up really quickly and can really impact the health of the fish.  I also would feed something other than flake since that can bring about bloating and constipation issues in bettas rather easily.  I also would steer clear of the freeze dried food since it is really bad to cause bloating in bettas.  If the betta is reluctant to eat the pellets you have offered, try another brand, a different size, or try soaking them in garlic.  For frozen food, I would go with brine shrimp, bloodworms, and glassworms instead of beefheart and only be fed any of these a little each week and not as a stable food source.  You need to get a heater for his water so that you can keep it a stable 80F.  If your room temperature is around 77F that means his tank water is closer to about 74F which is way too cold for a domestic betta to stay healthy and in the best shape possible.

 

[bubblover]

Thank you.
 
I got a 3 gal kit to use as a hospital tank (it has a small filter), and I'll be doing some research on good components for a more permanent 3-5 gal set-up.  I have ordered a thermostatically controlled heater (couldn't find the right size in stores), and for now will use a bowl heater and monitor the temp with a thermometer. 
 
On the food: I'm picking up some frozen food today, and will take it easy on the flakes.  Could you say more about soaking pellets in garlic?  Like, do you mash it up with a little water?  Whenever I've tried soaking pellets in water, they sink right away and then don't get eaten.  
 
Your advice and suggestions are very helpful and much appreciated.  Thanks.