what's that fuzzy stuff on my betta?

Question

I just bought my female betta and she seems pretty healthy and happy in her new tank with her new friends (3 guppies and an algae eater) but she has some weird white fuzz on her back... could that just be some kind of dirt or should I be worried?

Answer 1

Your fish has fungus. It's not columnaris unless these white patches are on the mouth. You need to quarantine the affected fish so that the other fish don't get the fungus too. You can treat it with any anti-fungal medication, such as Fungus Cure. If your fish store doesn't carry that brand, just read the packages. They will say what diseases they treat. If you choose medication, you need to remove the filtering media from the filter or it will remove all of the medication. You can also use aquarium salt. Don't use table salt. Add according to directions. Don't add directly to the water. Pre-mix then slowly pour in the water mixing it. Do a 50% water change in the main tank and do a 25% water change in the quarantine tank after 2 days of treatment. Be patient. Treatment can take a long time sometimes, so you need to be diligent and patient in your treatment. Fungus is highly treatable but can kill if left untreated. Good luck!

Answer 2

Honestly the fish store guys know about as much as the average answers poster. It doesn't sound like ick.

ich/ick- Looks like small white dots, ot salt grains.

Fungus- White/grey fuz generally any where on the body. Often starts as fin rot.

Columnaris- White/grey fuz generally on the mouth and gills. Generally the fish stops eating. Bacterial not fungal.

So from the above I'd guess a fungus, or columnaris infection rather than ich. Honestly I personally really wouldn't care about which. Fungal infections often lead to bacterial infections, and vise versa. What you want is something that targets both bacteria, and fungus.

Examples:
Jungle Labs Fungus Eliminator (Not Cure)
Primafix + Melafix (a little weak for an advance infection)
Jungle Lifeguard
Maracyn Plus

Answer 3

It is one of two things, Columnaris or fungus.

The best way to tell them apart is that columnaris always grows in a very round circular spot while fungus rarely does. columnaris is also pearly or opalescent white while fungus is a flatter, grayish white.

Columnaris: it can occur anywher on the fishes body and there have been documented lab cases of it being a systemic, or body wide infection. It's not real easy to treat as it only responds well to a very limited number of antibiotics. The best treatment for columnaris is Furanace. It is the only known antibiotic that will treat both the surface and internal parts of the infection and the only one that will treat it if it becomes systemic. Other treatments are usually very harsh and include copper sulfate, ptassium permanganate and Oxolinix acid. Treat with Furanace for 2 weeks to be sure you are rid of the disease.

Fungus - Hopefully this is what you have and adds are good it is. Fungus is easy to treat and responds well to common Malachite green ick medications. There are several fungus medications that also contain Malachite Green and work very well. Treat until you have seen no signs of the disease for 5 days.

Warning: Malachite Green is a known carcinigen so be very careful to keep it off your skin!

Hope this helps

MM

Answer 4

It's either columnaris (bacteria) or fungal. Ich would look like grains of salt. Use a treatment like jungle fungus eliminator which treats both bacteria, and fungal infection. Remember often a fungal infection is the result of a bacteria infection.

Answer 5

if it looks like some one poured salt over her its ich
if it looks like mold we would find on food but white its fungus
with fish keeping i would keep the following on hand as meds
melafix
jungle fungus clear
jungle parisite clear
and
aquarium salt (helps with ich) this to you tank every water change will help alot too
follow directions on box or bottle


you need to take out the sick betta and treat it by itself so the other wont get sick

Answer 6

1-raise your water temperature by 4 degrees
2-add very little sea salt
3-buy ridich+

Answer 7

Sounds like ick. Pet store will have drops to treat the tank. It can spread to the other fish if not taken care of. Usually though, it's not that serious of a problem to handle.

Answer 8

It is fungus growing on the old food, poop and debris. There is nothing to clean it out of the tank and it is just festering. You need a filter.

Answer 9

Sounds to me like she could have a fungus infection. They sell drops for that. Get some at Walmart.

Answer 10

You should be worried. It is probably Ich (Ick) which is usually caused from water termperature change. It is contagious and will spread through the tank and eventually kill your fish. The pet store has medicine you can put in the tank to cure it.