My female betta fish is sick?

Question

She had cottony stuff hanging of her and her tank was getting dirty easly. I bought some medicen at the pet store. She seemed to be getting worse though. I just got her a week ago. She's not eating ethier. What should I do.

My betta fish died the following day. I buried her in the yard instead of flushing her.

Answer 1

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 anywhere 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, potassium 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 odds 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 2

If she's not eating try this:

swat a housefly or other type of bug, but make sure it is still alive and moving. Put it in the water. Your betta should be curious and bite it. That should spark her hunger. In a few days or less she should be eating. Also try to let her see other fish eating.

The white cottony stuff could be ich or fungus. Click here for more info on betta diseases.
http://bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
Also on that site you should see what kind of medications to use.

Answer 3

I tried the recomended fungus meds and my infected fishy died anyway. When another betta got sick I used Melafix and after 3 days the fungus was mostly gone and after a week the fish was fine.