Question re: Bettas & the fungus "wool" disease...?

Question

I just lost 5 beautiful Bettas. I brought them home & they all died w/in 3 days from a fungus "wool" disease. I had one left who just came down w/it this a.m., went to the pet store & got aquarium salt & Methtlene Blue. I cleaned out the two tanks, the one w/the already infected fish & the other bowl w/the Betta which is fine. I have sterilized the bowls & am going to go to pick up one to replace one that died this a.m. & the other, even tho treated, I know is NOT going to make it the nite. I am down to one Betta, but it's in a treated bowl w/NO signs of the disease. Does anyone have any helpful hints to give me as I am determined to start over again. I just love these beautiful fish & they are a joy to watch. I have 3 separate "fancy" bowls & am going to fill each one!! HELP!!!

Answer 1

Sue,

Sorry to hear of your loses, that is always difficult and trying. Fungus is usually very treatable and is rarely fatal if caught in the first few days. There is however another disease that looks very much like fungus that kills much faster and will not respond to fungus treatments. It's possible that you are dealing with columnaris.

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 but often starts near the fishes mouth, hence it's common and incorrect name "mouth fungus". 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. Methylene Blue is also used to treat fungus, but is far less potent and will not treat an advanced case very well.

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

Hope this helps and feel free to email me if you have any questions.

MM

Answer 2

Magicman has given you some good advice on treating future problems should you happen to encounter another infection in your fish.

I happened to note that you've mentioned keeping the bettas in bowls. I would add to his advice by encouraging you to make sure they each have a proper set-up. Bettas are tropical fish and should be kept at warmer temperatures (76-82 is a good range) - this can be hard to keep constant in a small bowl. It's also harder to keep the water quality at a good level without frequent changes and cleaning. Depending on the size of your bowls, you might want to consider using something larger and providing a mini heater for each. The bettas I keep I have in 2.5 or 5 gallon tanks with individual heaters and a filter. If your house is too cool to maintain a water temperature in the range mentioned, it's possible that the fish will be more vulnerable to diseases like the fungus.

I'm also sorry to hear about your loss.