Mysterious Betta Illness?

[xtinana]

I will attempt to post half-decent pictures, but cell phone quality is never good! My betta has a plethora of issues. He has just been moved from a one-gallon bowl to a five-gallon tank, and I am going to start slowly heating the tank up soon. However, he has developed these spots on his face that are a mix of shiny and white, as well as discoloration around his "chest" and pectoral fins. I saw him clamping the pectoral fins last night, which he has never done before and not done since then. He also has maintained a raggedy look to his fins since treating him for fin rot a few months back, and they are transparent towards the bottom...as if they are going to regain color, but it has been months. Some of the fins also appear to have small holes in them, but they have not gone away. They do not get worse or better. The pictures can probably explain this better than I can. I just want to find out if the spots around his face are something to worry about, and if there is anything I can do about the fins...maybe the fin rot came back. The only "shiny scale" disease I can think of is velvet, but it is not on his body. Perhaps it's just aging or discoloration from being in a bowl. Anything is possible.
HUGE photos, so I am just going to provide links.

http/img80.imageshack.us/img80/4861/facefront.jpg
http/img687.imageshack.us/img687/3166/finclose.jpg
http/img87.imageshack.us/img87/3139/bottoms.jpg <- okay, he started going to the bathroom, but that white area by the gills used to be red...
http/img51.imageshack.us/img51/8676/facejc.jpg

 

[BethK]

What are your water tests showing i.e. ammonia, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite.

I would say he has a case of fin rot but with it being on his face, I want to lean towards Ammonia burns. However, you have said he has had fin rot, unfortunately, those pin holes you describe, are finrot too.

What were you treating him with before? So that he doesn't snag his tail and fins, remove ornaments and fake plants etc, from his tank.

He would really need to be treated with an anti-fungal/fin rot treatment.

I would also be inclined to say change 75% of his water and every day, change 50% of his water.

 

[xtinana]

What are your water tests showing i.e. ammonia, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite.

I would say he has a case of fin rot but with it being on his face, I want to lean towards Ammonia burns. However, you have said he has had fin rot, unfortunately, those pin holes you describe, are finrot too.

What were you treating him with before? So that he doesn't snag his tail and fins, remove ornaments and fake plants etc, from his tank.

He would really need to be treated with an anti-fungal/fin rot treatment.

I would also be inclined to say change 75% of his water and every day, change 50% of his water.

Unfortunately, I don't have a water test kit on hand, but I will see if I can borrow some supplies or get my own, and get a result posted. Tight on money right now. I was using Maracyn, then I figured out it would not work because it only treats gram-positive bacteria. His fins have looked exactly the same since I treated him. No better and no worse. The red coloring spread down a bit in one of the fins, but that is about it. If not Maracyn-Two, what type of treatment would be best? When he was in the bowl, I was not changing the water enough at first, since I did not know how often to do so. I wonder if the bowl ammonia spiked and got to him. :[

 

[BethK]

I've used intercept anti fungus and fin rot and in 24hrs, I've noticed a difference in my betta's fin rot. Other people use API Melafix and say it works well.

I've never had to use Maracyn before but my LFS and others have suggested that either of the above two are better

 

[silverrabbit]

Clean, warm weater is really the best thing. Seeing as you've moved him, i'm assuming (if it is filtered) that the filter in his new tank isn't cycled. This means that it cannot process ammonia yet, so you need to keep on top of water changes, which should help the finrot too. I can't notice much on his face tbh, but the pic are blurred a lil.

Are they like grains of salt? If so then they could be Ich. From the pics it just looks like his facial markings to me.

I'd say remove that prickly looking plant thing, as that can be ripping your boy's fins up a bit.

If you have access to the Jungle brand medicine, you could try that

 

[loraxchick]

having owned a solid red betta, i can say with relative certainty that the shiny spots of his face and "chest" area are 100% normal. unless they show white fluff or fuzz, it is just them ageing (i called it his white beard-not in reference to a flaring beard mind you). you described that "symptom" very well. normal as they get older. so as long as it looks like normal scales, fine.
the finrot concerns me more. pin holes are fin rot, NOT from poor water (ammonia burns)! the absolute best first remedy is clean clean clean water and good high protein foods. if you are able, change no less than 50% every other day (30% every day would be better) for a week. and feed frozen bloodworms in this time if you have them. protein helps grow new tissue. roll them around in chopped garlic if youre able to do so (boost immune system). and keep that water clean.
do not use any medication in this time. a healthy fish in good environment can usually fight off infection by themselves. give your fish a chance. meds actually can add to the problem (ie stress) and the fish takes a bad turn. never ever use antibiotics unless you know what you are treating for. xtinana brings up a great point. finrot is usually gram neg bacteria. and often we choose the wrong medicine. can make the problem worse.
the clear bits you see on the tips of the fins is regrowth. will color up with time. so long as the fins arent getting shorter, all's well
please never ever use melafix with bettas. bad things can happen aquarium salt is a better choice.
hope that was helpful. keep us updated.
cheers
btw-he is so very handsome red vts are my favorite

 

[xtinana]

The tank is not cycled. I have to change water for another betta in a bowl (waiting for a tank) every day or two anyways, so water changes are just a part of my day! The spots on his face are just strange in that some of them are shiny at random, otherwise it's just a regular white color. No salt grains, no fuzz. So maybe it is just a color change...that's much better! I do have frozen bloodworms; I have been using them for newts, but I will give it a try with him too. See, that's another reason why I moved him out of the bowl...I hoped it might somewhat improve on his own. I'll raise his water temp, feed better and see what happens!
And to loraxchick's compliment, thank you!

 

[ellena]

I have a red vt and his face goes like that when he's stressed. Is the white tips on his fins th eonly symptom of finrot? might just be his colouring?

 

[xtinana]

I have a red vt and his face goes like that when he's stressed. Is the white tips on his fins th eonly symptom of finrot? might just be his colouring?

The tips as well as very tiny pinholes. And his face just changed color over time, so I did not know if it was natural or disease.

 

[BethK]

Pinholes are a sign of fin-rot, unless he has snagged them on something

 

[xtinana]

Well, looked like things were improving with my betta...there was color coming back into the transparent parts of his fins...and then I woke up this morning to see a few red dots on the edges and tearing. So I guess it's back with a vengeance. He is still very active and hungry though!