Some Sort Of Mouth Rot?

[Ryefish]

We've had this female fighter for three weeks weeks now and I am seriously concerned about her.
We have one of her sisters aswell and she is fine, settled in nicely and has filled out well too. This female is really scrawny, damage to her fins aren't healing, and her face seems to be almost being eaten away.

I'm assuming this is mouth rot but it is above her mouth, between her top lip and her eyes. It started on her left hand side but there is pink flesh there today moving towards the right so its spreading and getting worse.

She lives in a 125L tank that has been established for around 4 years now so water stats are fine (they have been tested aswell). Only other sign of disease in the tank is possible fin rot on another female fighter. The tank has just finished a 7-day treatment with Melafix for it

Photo's (please note her mouth is NOT open in any of these pictures even though it might look that way):
where the new damage is:

not sure if it is watermarks on this pic because she doesn't look to have a mould-type growth on her irl. the older damage that isn't getting any better:

We have placed her in a breeding trap in the tank to ensure she is getting enough food to try bulk her out a bit and to give her a break from the other girls. They are fed flake, pellets and frozen / sometimes live food rotated every other day.

Should I try another course of Melafix or something else? Any suggestions would be helpful

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It is hard to do diagnosis remotely, However, consider the following:

Mouth Fungus is so called because it looks like a fungus attack of the mouth. It is actually caused from the bacterium Chondrococcus columnaris. It shows up first as a gray or white line around the lips and later as short tufts sprouting from the mouth like fungus. The toxins produced and the inability to eat will be fatal unless treated at an early stage. This bacteria is often accompanied by a second infection of an Aeromonas bacteria.
Penicillin at 10,000 units per liter is a very effective treatment. Treat with a second dose in two days. Or use chloromycetin, 10 to 20 mg per liter, with a second dose in two days. Other antibiotics can also be effective. Kanacyn (kanamycin) will treat both bacteria at once. Maracyn (erythromycin) is effective against C. columnaris, and using Maracyn 2 (minocycline) in conjuntion with it will treat the Aeromonas bacteria as well.

From Animal-World

 

[Ryefish]

It is difficult to diagnose face-to-face because I haven't seen any fungal growth like i've seen on other cases of mouth rot. Plus it isn't directly the mouth thats being affected, it's the rest of the face.
I'm still not sure what to do about it all. If needs be, I can contact the vet and see if they will treat fish and buy some antibiotics - we were planning on breeding from her but now that's all up in the air

 

[Athena]

Could there have been some fighting going on that you haven't noticed? You know when they fight they clamp their mouth over their opponent and drag them downwards. Maybe she got damaged that way before you bought her home? War wounds can very quickly develop secondary bacterial infections, leading to lesions like this.

I'm not entirely convinced that Melafix is a good enough anti-bac treatment - some would even say don't use it with Bettas anyway. I have used it in the past on a male betta at half doses to heal fin damage with good results but never as a general anti-bac treatment. You may need something like Myxazin or other good anti-bac med to help with this severe problem.

Poor fish eh? Looks awful. Hope the fish isn't in pain with it.

Regards, Athena

 

[Ryefish]

Thanks for the reply.

Her mouth looked a bit wierd when we bought her, almost a lil lop-sided. She was imported in her own container so no damage caused there. Not sure how the breeder kept her though.

Im trying interpet no.8 anti fungus and finrot. The other bettas fins still not healed. Ill let it run its course and see if it makes a difference. Its helped heal my corys in the past.

I feel terrible for her. Im sat watching her feed which is making me feel a bit better. The moment that she cant feed anymore i will have to end this because it isnt fair on her. She seems to be enjoying her food at the minute. Maybe even once weve fought this battle she will drop her stress stripes and we can see what colour she is meant to be if shes anything like her sister she will be a beauty

 

[marieukxx]

Just wanted to say I hope she gets better. I have a female Betta too they are great fish. I am new to fish keeping so can't offer much advice sorry. I can see it looks bad in the pics. I hope you can clear it up