Medicating Betta Fish Who Live In A Bowl

[Galanta]

I know that keeping bettas in tanks is much better, but what do I do to treat a betta that does not have a tank?

I am currently trying to "fix up" the two bettas my friend owns. One of them (George, a beautiful red crowntail with lavender spots on his body) originally came to me 2 weeks ago, completely overfed and constipated. I fasted him for 2 days and had to feed him peas for two days in a row, before anything started moving through his system again. Ever since then he is being fed less and all pellets are being presoaked and he has been very chipper and active. However, just before giving him back to my friend, I noticed that the very tips of his fins looked a little white and "frayed". I did not see him for a few days and when I saw him again 3 days ago, I noticed all this white fuzz growing from his fin tips towards the body. I bought Pimafix, which was the only anti-fungal thing that particular pet store had. I was not sure how harsh it is on bettas. so I first only put 1/2 the recommended amount. 24 hours later, fungus was worse, so tonight I stirred the remaining dosage into 12 ounces of water and then stirred it into the overal water of the bowl, taking care not to pour it right onto the fish. According to the instructions on Pimafix, one is supposed to add Pimafix for 5 or 7 days in a row (don't have the bottle near me right now), but I am guessing that it is being taken for granted that it is going into a tank with filtration, etc.

Does anybody know how this works with a bowl? Does Pimafix evaporate? Does it accumulate? I don't think I can just keep adding the medication. Has anybody ever successfully treated a "bowl fish"?

The fungus seems visibly worse every day and I am concerned to get it halted before it can do any lasting damage.

Any past experience or suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you!

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons of water is the bowl.
What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Have you increased aeration with the med.
Is there a heater in the bowl.

I would add some myxazin by waterlife to the bowl if you have aeration in the bowl.
White edging to fins is bacterial finrot.
White strands of cotton can be columnaris.
But fungus can grow on dead tissue.

 

[Galanta]

2-2.5 gal of water in the bowl. Don't have all the readings on the water as the only thing I own is ammonia testing kit, which is fine, but the fish is not in the exact same water I have had my own fish for 2 months and my fish has not any trouble of any kind. My fish is however living at a temperature of about 79 while George is more around 74. But George is very active and does not seem to mind the temperature. Did not know about aeration, can get air stone, if needed. The stuff is cottony fuzz. In the bad places it hangs off with little threads. Is Jungle fungus remedy better than Pimafix? Do i need to add more Pimafix or will the concentration stay constant once added at correct measure? Thank yuou!

 

[WILDER]

You need to buy and airstone for the bowl.
Columnaris is bacterial.
Uk Myxazin by waterlife and pimafix.
United states maracyn.

http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

 

[Galanta]

Dear Wilder, thanks. Very helpful link. Compared pics to our fish and he does not have patches like this unless it looks different due to different area being affected. There is nothing on his body, just on the thin parts of his fins. Looks like very thin white fuzz and in some places it forms little white strings? Is this something different or does it just appear different because small surface area is effected?

 

[WILDER]

Columnaris has many disguises.
Columnaris can look like strands of cotton on the fins.

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm

 

[Galanta]

Thanks. This sounds exactly right. So I am currently doing just Pimafix. Is this fine or do I need to switch? Also, what I still don't understand, am I supposed to add more Pimafix every day or am I supposed to change the water with freshly dosed water every day? Or leave him in correctly dosed water for 5 days? Sorry, but my African cichlid at home has not been sick in the 2 years I've had him and I've never had to medicate a fish. I am especially concerned because the instructions of course assume the fish is in a tank and I don't know if following the same instructions while the fish is in a BOWL will kill him ...

 

[WILDER]

Whats your location. As you need to add a bacterial med to the tank with the pimafix if your'e in the uk.
Never used pimafix so I would start a topic in tropical discussion about it.

 

[Galanta]

Dear Wilder,

Thanks. I'm in Los Angeles. I just picked up some Maracyn and switched him to that since Pimafix was not doing anything and I saw several mentions to use Maracyn. But I have questions on the aeration. Just started a new thread, since I thought this one had fallen off the bottom. If you could advise, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks again for your quick and helpful direction.

 

[WILDER]

You need to increase aeration as med reduce 02 in the water.
Hows the fish doing.

 

[Galanta]

Thanks. I kept the airstone running though I found helpful instructions on how to reduce airflow a little by making a whole in the tubing, so it is not so harsh on the fish. I think I will do that. After a few hours of the airstone runnning he stopped being so frantic about it and found a couple of spots near the bottom where he could hang out without being thrown around or having to swimm "full force". But I can definitely tell that he is working a lot harder to get around.

As regards to the columnaris, it has been steadily getting worse over the past few days. So far it it seems mostly confined to the fins still, but is moving towards the body. He has only been in Maracyn for 12 hours, so don't know how soon I should be able to tell if "it is biting". The fish himself is chipper, swimming around and having a good appetite.

According to the instructions on the Maracyn box it says to medicate on day 1,3, and 5. Do I just keep adding to the water or should I do another water change tomorrow when I add the second dose?

 

[WILDER]

If no improvement in a few days you might need to add maracyn two with the maracyn.
Don't you have a plastic gadget that you can turn flow up and down on the airstone.

 

[Galanta]

Dear Wilder, I ended up just making a little hole in the tube with a toothpick and air flow is just fine now. Somebody on the betta forum suggested to add tree oil in addition to maracyn. Is it safe to use the Pimafix with the maracyn? What kind of improvement should I see within the next couple of days? Just halted spreading or some of the white threads falling off? Never seen this illness b4, so not sure how to tell whether maracyn is "biting". And pls let me know if u think I should go ahead and add Pimafix as well 'for good measure". Thanks

 

[WILDER]

You don't really need to use the pimafix with maracyn. Only in the uk as we don't have very good meds.
Melafix can be used with bacterial meds. It;s just an external bacterial med. But you don't really need to use it with maracyn products.
You can use maracyn one and two in severe columnaris outbreaks.

 

[Galanta]

Dear Wilder, thanks. Fish is doing ok (though he seems a little less active since I added medication/aeration). Still eats like a horse with great appetite. I can't see much change in him other than he lost most of the longer threads. Don't know if this is because they died off or the current just tore them loose. It seems though as if the spreading stopped or at least slowed. Looks like there are no newly affected areas, but all previously affected areas are stll there. He has been on Maracyn for 2.5 days. Does this sound like adequate progress? Really don't know what kind of response to expect from meds.

Additional information: I figured out that the missing "strands" were only due to the airflow tearing them off. He seemed still upset about the bubbles, even though I reduced the flow even more, so I arranged it that he could use his little cave to stay out of the flow - which he has been doing for 24 hours. Net result was that white little strings grew back in a couple of the affected areas.
I really don't know what to make of the whole thing. It does not really seem to be getting better, but is not distinctly getting worse either. I have been changing water and remedicating religiously.