Betta With Fungal Infection

[pablothebetta]

I woke this morning to find some small grey-white patches around my bettas head and I'm pretty certain he has a fungal infection. I do 20% weekly water changes and he is fed on Betta Hikari BioGold pellets. I'm not really sure how the disease entered, but I did add a Marimo Moss Ball from Pets at Home yesterday, could it have entered through here? I've never had this disease before.

Pictures are below. I'm sorry they aren't particularly clear, I'm not much of a photographer and my camera isn't too great.




The cories seem to be acting normally, though my betta does appear to spend more time than usual on top of the filter in the top corner and resting on some of the silk plants nearer to the surface. He does still swim around, just noticably less than usual.

I've done some research, which has revealed I need aquarium salt and an anti-fungal treatment (is this correct? What treatments would be best? Any particular brands?) and that separation from the other fish is needed. I can see this is a good idea, but what if the other inhabitants also have it? The biggest issue with this, though, is that I am unable to set up a hospital tank for my betta to go into. Also, I have only one heater, so even if I were able to set up another tank for him, there'd be no heat for it. What should I do about this?

I have also gathered that a large water change is nescescary - how much should I change?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[HayzH]

Myxaxin is a good fungal med.
Personally i would treat the whole tank. If it entered on the moss then your other fish may get it too.

 

[Man of fish]

Don't use salt and make sure the treatment is for scaleless fish as I believe corys are scaleless.

 

[pablothebetta]

Right, I'm going to try treating the whole tank then - suppose that would be the best course of action if it came in on the 'moss' ball anyway. Will be doing a 30-40% water change today as that is all my buckets can acommodate and hopefully another one of the same tomorrow. Does this sound ok? Should I continue to do water changes until the infection goes?

What sort of meds would be unsafe for the cories? Are there any specific 'ingredients' that would make it unsuitable? I haven't noticed any white/grey patches on them, but then again, they are already a pale colour so I would think it'd be harder to spot.

Sorry about the number of questions, I just want my fish to be ok I've discovered that my betta has made himself a bubble nest since my last post this morning, so I'm taking that as a good sign. Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of the infection before it gets any worse

 

[pablothebetta]

I've been to check out what my local pet store has for meds. It didn't have any of the ones I've heard of, but it did have Interpet Anti-Fungus and Finrot. I am aware that fungal infections are actually bacteria, but it does say that it treats the disease my fish has. It is Phenoxyethanol, anyone had experience with it?

 

[Luzi]

I've used it a few times, and it does treat some bacterial infections as well as fungus. The cories should be fine - medicines usually say when they shouldn't be used with a particular species (like myxazin with sturgeon)
Do a water change before treating, then wait until you've finished the entire treatment before doing another water change.
Good lucK!

 

[pablothebetta]

It's been 2 days since treatment, and I'm very happy to be able to say that the infection seems to have dissapeared. He's back to his normal self, swimming around actively and exploring his tank as usual. The grey/white 'growth' has completely gone and I'm very pleased the infection appears to have passed