Sick Betta

BettaBum873

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One of my male bettas is usually very active and playful, flaring at everyone and everything. But this morning he was just laying at the bottom of his bowl and he had white fuzz covering one side of his face that wasn't there last night. Now hes still acting very lathargic, hell swim around a bit but mostly hes just resting at the bottom of the tank. Hes still eating and pooping and everything, not breathing heavy. I'm treating him with Bettamax, which is specifically for bettas. It treats bacterial and fungal infections. What do you think he has, am I treating him correctly? Any help would be great. thank you!
 
Sadly it sounds like columnaris, is it on the gills as it would account for the heavy breathing, not sounding in good shape i'm afraid.

Not the writer of this informaion below.

Columnaris (a.k.a. Mouth Fungus)



Symptoms:

An infected fish will have off-white to gray cotton-like patches on the head, fins, gills, body and particularly the mouth. In time, these areas will develop into open sores. Gill swelling may occur, gill filaments may stick together and excessive mucus may develop in the gill area. Rapid breathing can be seen. Fins may deteriorate to the point of leaving the fin rays bare. Muscles may be inflamed and capillaries may rupture. Fish, particularly livebearers, may exhibit "shimmying". Infection may be acute (killing an infected fish within hours), or chronic (lingering for several days before eventually killing the fish). As with most diseases, not all symptoms need be present.



Cause:

The bacterium Flexibacter columnaris.



Treatment:

Ensure that your water conditions (e.g., Ammonia, Nitrite, pH, Nitrate levels, and water temp.) are within their proper ranges. If not, perform a water change and/or treat the water accordingly. Recommended medications include: Furanace, Fungus Eliminator, Fungus Cure, Furacyn, Furan-2, Triple Sulfa, E.M. Tablets, Tetracycline, or Potassium Permanganate. Medicated foods are also recommended. Columnaris can be highly infectious and may quickly kill all aquarium inhabitants; therefore, early treatment is essential. All fish, including those not yet showing visible symptoms, as well as the aquarium they inhabit should be treated.
 
Can you describe it abit more, is it fluffy looking.
 
It looks like thin cotton on the side of his face, its not on his gills. Hes eating and pooping and swimming around a bit. Then he'll just kind of chill at the bottom for a while then swim around again. He's not breathing heavily at all.
 
I began treating him with a tablet containing Nitrofurazone and other ingredients. Todays hes looking 100 times better then he was yesterday. He's still resting at he bottom a bit but swimming around a lot more. The Fuzz on his face has gone down a lot, its almost unnoticable. He's eating and pooping and seems happy. I'll keep treating him until its completely gone, but its a good start.
 
That's good news, he's not out of the woods yet, good luck.
 

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