Betta with white puff, fuzz, looks like a calcium deposit...?

Question

Ok. My fish has been fighting for a long time, I recently helped her get through Dropsy (I know, amazing! Blown up like a balloon for weeks and then just...deflated one day!) and now she has what I assume looks like the white, stringy type fungus on two places of her body. One is on her stomach where most of her strching was, so it is somewhat transparent. It looks like a little white blob almost. It's on the inside of her skin, but it looks like it is coming out.

The other one looks like a puff trying to come out from under a few gills of hers on her back.

I think it's just that fungus that fish can get, and I have been giving her paraguard, and a few other things intermittently. I also have some maracyn2, should I try that?!

I don't know what to do, I just want my fish to get rid of what's ailing her once and for all.

Answer 1

A white "fuzz" could be one of two things, either a fungal infection as you're thinking, or Columnaris, which is a bacterial infection.

You can tell these apart by looking closely at the infection. "Fungus" is usually more defined strands where you can identify each separate filament (and the filaments tend to be longer), and this tends to infect in an irregular patterns, so the edge doesn't make any particular shape (http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20001218142418/www.peteducation.com/images/articles/tfh_fish_cotton_wool.jpg ). This usually doesn't attack healthy fish, but since yours has been through other health problems recently, I'd consider it a more likely possibility that I would otherwise. This can be treated with malachite green, fungal medication, or aquarium salt.

In Columnaris, the "fuzz" tends to be matted, so the individual strands (which are shorter) are more difficult to pick out (http://www.fishjunkies.com/images/Columnaris1.jpg ). The infection here tends to be in the form of a circle. You can treat this with Nifurpirinol (Furanace, Binox).

Before medicating, be sure to do a good water change to remove any previous medication and get the water quality as good as possible, and remove the carbon from your filter if the treatment requires this.

Answer 2

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is a ciliated protozoan which causes "Ich" or "white spot disease." This disease is a major problem to aquarists and commercial fish producers world wide. Ichthyophthirius is an important disease of tropical fish, goldfish, and food fish. The disease is highly contagious and spreads rapidly from one fish to another. It can be particularly severe when fish are crowded. While many protozoans reproduce by simple division, a single "Ich" organism can multiply into hundreds of new parasites. This organism is an obligate parasite which means that it cannot survive unless live fish are present. It is capable of causing massive mortality within a short time. An outbreak of "Ich" is an emergency situation which requires immediate treatment: if left untreated, this disease may result in 100% mortality.

Answer 3

You can treat this rather gently, actually, rather than dosing your fish will all kinds of medications. Do a partial (twenty to thirty percent) water change. Add one tablespoon of non-iodized (plain or Kosher) salt for every five gallons of water, being careful not to pour any directly onto your fish. Let the salt sit at full strength for at least twenty-four hours before doing another partial water change. Salt helps kill diseases, reduces stress, improves gill function, and in the case of external parasites, it causes the fish to slough off its slime coating, taking all of the bad stuff with it!

Answer 4

Go to www.about.com and look up beta fish then scroll down to you see a profile of Siamese fighting fish including habitat care feeding and breeding I hope this helps

Answer 5

its sick its going to die