Fungal Infection?

[sullen girl]

Hey everyone. So I'm new at keeping betta's, but I think that one of my new males might be sick His behaviour hasn't changed yet, but I noticed that he had a red patch on his normally black head - so I don't really know what it is.

red patch


Then I took a close-up pic of his head with the flash on, and the red patch actually seems to be kind of white in colour, so is that a fungal infection?

close up


Any help would be appreciated! And what meds would you recommend - I'll have to wait to tomorrow to buy some though, it's easter friday so the shops are closed.

 

[Phaedra]

It looks like a fungal infection to me, almost definitely. And the close-up looks like he might be suffering from a case of ich (the white stuff on his scales).
I'm new to the hobby myself, so if there are any more experienced members around, I'd be very interested to learn if I'm right...
Your first step is to do a water change. Most fungal infections are caused by poor water quality. I've heard that Jungle Fungus Eliminator is a good medication for fungus. As far as the Ich goes (if that is truly what it is), I'm not certain the best treatment for that. I bought some aquari-sol which states that it is a treatment for ich, but not all medications are created equal.

Edit: Forgot to add, here is a link to a very informative website that you might find useful:
http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

 

[sullen girl]

Thank-you for your reply I was wondering about the little white dots - you can't see them with the naked eye though, only when I took a close-up did I notice them - so I thought I might just be paranoid...

Hopefully he'll be okay till tomorrow when I can get meds, he seems fine for the time being (hopefully!).

 

[Phaedra]

No problem, I'm always happy to help. I hope you have good luck treating your sweet little betta.
It looks pretty white in the picture, but it's also possible that the white flecks could be Velvet. If you shine a flashlight on him, does he look covered in a gold dust?
My Darby's scales don't look like that close up, so I think it's either a secondary ailment or a symptom of the fungus. Might want to do some research into Maracin 1 and 2, lots of people use them around here.