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Post by christina on Mar 25, 2017 17:55:34 GMT -5
My betta, Glory, developed a white growth on his gill. The gill became swollen also. I isolated him to a 2.5 gal hospital tank. I have done one bath with methelyne blue and treating the hospital tank with kanaplex and furan 2. I read somewhere to mix all of these into the 30 minute bath. Would that be better than doing the methylene bath seperate and the kanaplex/furan2 in the tank? Or all in the bath and still the kanaplex/furan 2 in tank? Would adding salt help? I am getting really confused! I am very concerned about him!   Attachments:
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Post by Carl on Mar 26, 2017 8:57:23 GMT -5
Welcome to Everything Aquatic & Beautiful Betta! You can combine the Furan & Kanaplex in the bat too, but that is generally in lieu of a hospital tank which you are already employing. Adding salt, both Sodium Chloride and Epsom Salts, to the bath is a good idea Here are some tips for use from our Fish Baths, Dips, Swabs article: "Epsom Salts can also be used too at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon in baths used for treatment, especially in cases of bloat, water retention, selling, etc. This salt should be pre-dissolved prior to introduction of fish to prevent burning of gills.
The salt (regular salt; NaCl) can be increased for difficult treatments (such as Columnaris), especially with salt tolerant fish such as livebearers.
It is best to slowly add dissolved salt to increase levels gently in salt amounts over 3 teaspoons per gallon, even in salt tolerant fish.
Generally for most fish (even catfish based on University of Florida studies) 2 teaspoons per gallon can be tolerated for up to 30 minutes (many fish can tolerate 4 teaspoons per gallon), although if unsure about your fish’ tolerance, gradually add the salt via a dissolved solution during the first half of the bath."The gill looks very infected and may require a swab using Methylene Blue (do not use Potassium Permanganate near gills) Carl |
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Post by Carl on Mar 26, 2017 9:06:01 GMT -5
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Post by christina on Mar 26, 2017 16:29:52 GMT -5
Can I use both aquarium salt and epsom salt in the methylene bath at the same time? And would the dose still be 1/4 tsp each per gallon? For the record, some other meds I have on hand are: Paraguard Maracyn Maracyn Two Maracyn Plus Mardel Bactershield Fungus Cure (already did one round of this with no effect) The current treatment has had minimal effect, but isn't getting worse either. Swelling looks like it may have gone down a tad. The timing of this is awful as I will be going out of town for a couple nights and my husband will be in charge of treating him. He has zero knowledge of keeping fish. At the moment, I am continuing the Kanaplex (2nd dose is tonight) and Furan 2 (third dose is tonight), both after I do a 25% water change. I will also give another bath tonight also. Since I have these meds already in his aquarium, I will not add them to his bath. He acts fairly normal. Wondering about switiching the kanaplex dose to be added to food and have him eat it instead of added to tank. Would that be better? Do you think this is columnaris? I ask because he was in a split 10 planted tank with another betta who is showing absolutely no signs of illness. He is dark colored so this likely would show. The white on Glory first showed a couple weeks ago but he was going through a color change and first that is what I thought it was. After about a week is when I realized it was something more, then the swelling began.  There is a lot of info on the websites you posted. I have read through them but will do so again to try to get as much info as possible. Any tips are welcome.  |
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Post by Carl on Mar 27, 2017 8:50:10 GMT -5
Can I use both aquarium salt and epsom salt in the methylene bath at the same time? And would the dose still be 1/4 tsp each per gallon? Yes, as per the pasted information from the Fish Baths article, however the sodium chloride is up to 2 teaspoons per gallon can be tolerated for up to 30 minutes. The Maracyn Plus might be useful if this fails Kanaplex added to the food would likely have little effect here You may need to performa direct swab of Methylene Blue to the infected area Knowing tank parameters, filtration, maintenance procedures would be helpful. 0 Ammonia/nitrites a stable pH, mineral Cations are essential for successful treatment It is common for Columnaris to infect gills, but this does not look like a classical Columnaris Gill infection I tried blowing up your picture until it would get pixelated, and I could not get it large enough for optimal definition, but it appears it MAY be a fungal/Saprolegnia  Different conditions play a role in certain infections Further Reading: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.htmlCarl |
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 27, 2017 16:59:04 GMT -5
Great answers from Carl... Still wanted to say WELCOME!
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Post by christina on Mar 30, 2017 20:39:19 GMT -5
I apologize I have not responded. I had to go out of town for a few days. Here are the tanks parameters: ph 7.2 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5.0 ppm KH 53.7 ppm GH 89.5 ppm Water is changed 25-50% every 3-4 days, filtered with a tetra 1.5 to 3 gallon filter, temp steady at 78 degrees. Heater is not adjustable but maintains this temp well. Glory has been treated with Methylene blue baths for 30 min ea daily for 3 days, kanaplex and furan 2 in tank for 1 round of each. Last week he did a round of fungus cure. There has been absolutely no effect on the white swelling on his gill. That is about the best pic I can get. He won't sit still for long. He is eating and swimming fine, other than generally not being happy at being put in a hospital tank that is half the size of his home. I can tell it has affected his spirits. I may spruce up his hospital tank to see if it helps his mood. He has a floating log and a hide in the tank with him already. What would you recommend as my next treatment option? Maracyn Plus (The website you mentioned showed Maracyn Oxy. Are these meds very different? Should I order the Oxy?) It also mentions for difficult cases a mix of fungus cure and paraguard. I have already used fungus cure by itself to no effect though. I did a post of this on Facebook and several mentioned that it looks like a tumor. But would a tumor be as white as this?  Please help! |
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Post by Carl on Mar 31, 2017 9:08:18 GMT -5
I apologize I have not responded. I had to go out of town for a few days. Here are the tanks parameters: ph 7.2 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5.0 ppm KH 53.7 ppm GH 89.5 ppm Water is changed 25-50% every 3-4 days, filtered with a tetra 1.5 to 3 gallon filter, temp steady at 78 degrees. Heater is not adjustable but maintains this temp well. Glory has been treated with Methylene blue baths for 30 min ea daily for 3 days, kanaplex and furan 2 in tank for 1 round of each. Last week he did a round of fungus cure. There has been absolutely no effect on the white swelling on his gill. That is about the best pic I can get. He won't sit still for long. He is eating and swimming fine, other than generally not being happy at being put in a hospital tank that is half the size of his home. I can tell it has affected his spirits. I may spruce up his hospital tank to see if it helps his mood. He has a floating log and a hide in the tank with him already. What would you recommend as my next treatment option? Maracyn Plus (The website you mentioned showed Maracyn Oxy. Are these meds very different? Should I order the Oxy?) It also mentions for difficult cases a mix of fungus cure and paraguard. I have already used fungus cure by itself to no effect though. I did a post of this on Facebook and several mentioned that it looks like a tumor. But would a tumor be as white as this? *Do add you any mineral Cations (as per low GH)? *I would definitely perform a direct swab of Methylene Blue as I noted earlier. *The close up of the infection does not look like a tumor, but it is still possible *Maracyn Oxy is different from Maracyn plus and is intended for fungal infections while Maracyn Plus is for bacterial infections Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/FritzMardelKordon.html#fritz*If this treatment is in the bath only, it may need to be used in a hospital tank or main tank for longer exposure. As well to make it stronger yet, the addition of a Medicated Wonder Shell (or maybe ParaGuard) might be used Carl |
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Post by christina on Apr 2, 2017 14:13:10 GMT -5
I have not added any mineral cations as I am still fairly new to this and this is the first major illness in a fish I have had to deal with that has not been responsive to treatment. I have one other betta that had a major fungal infection on his fin but fungus cure took care of it and the guy is doing great now and his fins are slowly regrowing wonderfully. I am about to do a water change on Glory's tank to make sure all previous meds are out then I will be starting him on Maracyn Plus. I am very nervous about doing a direct swab of Methylene Blue on Glory for a couple reasons. One, he does not like to be touched/handled/moved at all. Anytime he is moved or handled in any way, he becomes extremely wiggly and highly stressed. He is also still a very small guy and swabbing behind his fin at his gill will be extremely difficult to do without causing him further harm. How about using a dropper instead to drop some methylene blue directly on that area instead of a swab? That way I may have better luck getting to the gill and behind that fin without hurting him. I have ordered the medicated wonder shell, but don't know when it will be delivered. Can I add the paraguard to the Maracyn Plus treatment? Seems like I read that I could on a website you gave. I do read all the ones you mention, I promise, its just an awful lot of information and I need to go back over it repeatedly. Should I continue the methylene blue and salt baths along with the maracyn plus and paraguard? I have attached some photos of him I was able to get today. I am not sure they will be of help as he doesn't really care for having pictures taken of him. He won't stay still very long at all. |
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Post by Carl on Apr 2, 2017 16:26:34 GMT -5
I have not added any mineral cations as I am still fairly new to this and this is the first major illness in a fish I have had to deal with that has not been responsive to treatment. I would definitely utilize mineral Cations to lower oxidative stress. This is more of a preventative, but these still help make other treatments more effective. The Medicated and Regular Wonder Shell both do this. Of course a true UV Sterilizer can help too Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Redox_Potential.htmlThe best blow up doe not look to be fungus, but it is not clear enough to tell Using a dropper is perfectly acceptable. A direct application will also show it it stains the tissue which cn be helpful in knowing how serious the infection is[/quote] Assuming you mean the baths and a main or hospital tank treatment with the Maracyn Plus/Paraguard combination; YES Carl |
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Post by christina on Apr 3, 2017 18:42:18 GMT -5
I have continued the salt baths and paraguard/maracyn plus in tank. I did manage to put some methylene blue directly onto the white swollen area. It did not stain it.
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Post by Carl on Apr 3, 2017 19:56:57 GMT -5
I have continued the salt baths and paraguard/maracyn plus in tank. I did manage to put some methylene blue directly onto the white swollen area. It did not stain it. This is a good sign that there is no dead tissue & that there is a healthy slime coat. This also adds some more credence to those who suggested this might be a tumor Carl |
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