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Post by Finney on Dec 8, 2019 16:22:07 GMT -5
Hello-
I have a betta in what I believe is early signs of columnaris. I had a bloodfin tetra die recently from what appeared to be mouth fungus and now one female betta has a raised "squiggly" line behind her eye. It is not a "patch" but resembles the wavy edge of a columnaris patch.
So I want to apply Merbromin to it and then I was going to give her a bath using a Bettamax capsule. She is just one small betta so I don't need 2.5 gallons, even a gallon seems large.
So how do I calculate for a smaller bath?
Or would I be better off just treating the whole tank for columnaris? I have Bettamax & Spectogram on hand, it's a 20 g lightly planted tank.
Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
Thank you!
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Post by Carl on Dec 9, 2019 18:04:56 GMT -5
This does not look like Columnaris to me. While I could not zoom in close enough it looked more like a growth of some kind, even maybe fungus. Definitely Merbromin (AAP Wound Control) directly to this growth. A bath is a good idea too using Bettamax as double strength. measurement does not need to be exact as this is not a strong or highly toxic med. Since double strength is 1 capsule per 2.5 gallons, I would divide accordingly such as a little less than 1/2 capsule for 1 gallon of bath water (exactly 1/2 would be perfectly fine too) www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquatronics.html#bettaCarl
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Post by Finney on Dec 9, 2019 21:01:45 GMT -5
Thank you Carl, She is in her bath now. Hopefully, I have a jump on whatever it is.
And nice to have the right meds on hand for a change!
You do good work, it is much appreciated~
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Post by Carl on Dec 10, 2019 10:25:11 GMT -5
Thank you Carl, She is in her bath now. Hopefully, I have a jump on whatever it is. And nice to have the right meds on hand for a change! You do good work, it is much appreciated~ Thanks! You're welcome! BTW, I do not currently see a need to treat the main aquarium other than MAYBE with StressGuard or a Medicated Wonder Shell as well as using AAP Res-Q as your water conditioner for water changes www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquatronics.html#resqCarl
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Post by Finney on Dec 21, 2019 18:03:37 GMT -5
Hi, I have now given her 10 baths in Bettamax & applied Merbromin each time. It seemed like it was getting better but now the white area is closer to and behind her eye, kind of starting to grow around the eye even a little bigger now. She is doing well otherwise, eats fine and is a cooperative patient for bath time, doesn't even seem to stressed after her bath I feed the tank and she eats right away. I am also dosing Stressgaurd in the tank, so far no other fish are showing symptoms. I will give her another bath in Bettamax but am wondering if I should swab or do a bath with Potassium Permanganate instead of the Merbromin & Bettamax? Is there something else you'd recommend? I unfortunately do not have Res-Q on hand... Thank you, again
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Post by Carl on Dec 23, 2019 14:20:03 GMT -5
Sorry for the slow response, I guess I missed this post.
Yes PP in a 50/50 diluted swab would be a good choice. I know you do not have Res-Q, but this is an excellent follow up in this case
Carl
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Post by Finney on Dec 30, 2019 18:43:39 GMT -5
Hi Carl,
My betta's face fungus? continues to grow in-spite of ongoing treatment.
I switched to Spectogram baths and decided to treat the whole tank as well.
So currently she is on day 4 of baths w/Spectogram, salt, & MB and I am applying Merbromin before each bath (dripping it on from a syringe) I just did a 25% water change and added the 2nd dose of Spectogram to the tank.
This started with a Bloodfin tetra whose mouth was white and her face was eaten away inspite of me trying to treat her she died. I have also lost 4 of the corydoras pygmaeus though I never saw them sick and only found 2 dead when doing a water change-there was no visible signs of illness
Because of this I decided to treat the whole tank w/Spectogram.
Current tank parameters before water change: 20 g 75 degrees F using test strips it shows Amm 0 Nitrite 0 nitrAte 10 PH 6.8-7 KH 8 GH 300
I have 1/4 of a med wonder shell in tank
Current stocking is: 6 Pygmy Cory's 2 Bloodfin tetras 4 Rummynose tetras 4 female bettas (including the one that's sick)
Everyone seems happy and healthy, even the betta with the face fungus is acting normal
QUESTIONS;
1. Can I use stressguard w/spectogram in tank? 2. Should I continue baths w/Spectogram or go back to Bettamax w/spectogram in tank? If I do the baths w/bettamax will it be a problem to use her tank water that has spectogram in it already for bath water? 3. What else should I try if the fungus continues to spread?
I have attached a more recent video of her to show the spreading on her face and one of the now deceased tetra that started this
This hobby is supposed to be fun right?
As always, thank you!!
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Post by Carl on Jan 2, 2020 17:53:48 GMT -5
Sorry for the slow response as I was out of town & I thought Devon would help while I was away Anyway, your Betta definitely looks like he has fungus, although a close up still picture might tell better. I am surprised PP swab has not helped here, but at least he looks quite active (which is a good sign) I would swab with straight AAP Wound Control (Merbromin) Your whole tank treatment with Spectrogram as well as everything else you are doing is correct from what I read. Do NOT combine Spectrogram with StressGuard as StressGuard may affect the strength of the Spectrogram (which can be safely doubled if need be) Switching to the stronger Spectrogram in the batch along with MB is a good idea too As for other alternatives, I prefer to take one step at a time, but MaracynOxy might be another later step (in tank & assuming this is truly fungus) www.americanaquariumproducts.com/FritzMardelKordon.html#maracynoxyCarl
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Post by Finney on Jan 2, 2020 18:04:09 GMT -5
Thanks for getting back To me Carl it helps to have the support. I will keep working on her, though I think she's getting tired of her field trips to the "spa" I would really like to see some improvement in her, it just keeps spreading, and yesterday it was looking kind of raw on one side so will be sticking to merbromin now. Hope you had great holidays with your family
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Post by Carl on Jan 3, 2020 10:41:57 GMT -5
I spent some time thinking about this Betta after I quickly answered your questions yesterday Can you get a close up picture of this Betta? If this is a true fungus, the AAP Spectrogram treatment may not be the best You may want to switch to AAP Super Ich Plus and Triple Sulfa as per this article: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html#fungusHappy New Year to you and yours too!
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Post by Finney on Jan 3, 2020 17:50:02 GMT -5
I don't know if these will be clear enough for you to see it very well. I use magnifying glasses to look at her and I can't see the hair structure of Saprolegnia but I might just not be able to see well enough with my eyesight not as good as it once was She definitely looks worse and had a tough time w/the PP drops yesterday so I don't think I can use PP with her right now, her face is looking a bit pinkish in spots too. The tetra that had this first had her upper lip and face eaten away so she could no longer eat. The betta hasn't lost her lip yet and still seems to be eating. 1. If you still think I should switch to AAP Super Ich Plus and Triple Sulfa, should I do a round of that, in tank? (after a water change an using charcoal or a POLYBIO Filter PAD to clear the Spectogram out.) Should I use merbromin drops and continue baths? What meds should I use in bath then? Thanks for your extra attention to her, I'm worried I'm going to lose her to this
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Post by Finney on Jan 5, 2020 16:44:53 GMT -5
Carl See photos in previous post Because her mouth and entire face is being eaten away, and nothing I've tried so far has improved her or even slowed the spread of this, I decided after scouring your articles to try this approach In tank; "Medicated Wonder Shell, & Metronidazole for an excellent parasitic, fungal, & moderate bacterial infection treatment."
Question; when should I do water changes with this method? Weekly or more frequent I don't want to lessen the Med. WS affects. I will also continue baths now with MB/salt/MG and metro. She is slowing down in energy a bit but she still swims around the tank and shows interest in eating & tries to eat but her mouth is making it difficult. Interestingly today she employed a method of quickly swimming with her mouth across the top of the water trying for small flake food particles. I thought this was a rather intelligent approach but I couldn't tell if she was successful with this method. I feel so bad for her, I really wanted to turn things around for her. I have also lost 2 more bloodfin tetras although both of them had their bottom fins & stomachs bitten/chewed I think by the male, who is now the only bloodfin left of the original 4. They didn't show signs of what ever this "fungus" is so I am thinking he terrorized them both. I have only seen him chasing them, the 4 female bettas ignore everyone else and I've seen no aggression from them. Sometimes this hobby gets frustrating; I just pulled my 45g through a long round of ich, with a few loses and I have a 5g shrimp only tank that I am loosing shrimplets in ...I am ready for everything to settle down for a while! Thanks for your continued support and knowledge
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Post by Carl on Jan 6, 2020 10:30:50 GMT -5
Sorry for these frustrating difficulties in treating your Betta (I am also sorry I has some issues come up over the last few days and never made it on to the forum) The pictures are still not clear as to fungus, and the fact you are getting nowhere with direct applications and baths which generally knock down such infections, I have my doubts here, Age might also be playing a role as well as a systemic infection that is just showing through externally. At this point, I would scrap the swabs & baths to give the fish a breather, change water, add Res-Q (if available) followed by StressGuard (if available). Then switch to a totally different medication in Doxycyline (Fin & Body Cure) Triple Sulfa with Super Ich or a Medicated Wonder Shell is another option, but I would go with my first choice after a few days break from treatment just probiding extra clean water Resource: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumPharmaceuticalsAPI.html#fin-body
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