[misswigglebum]

Hello,

I got a new betta fish a couple of days ago. I noticed a white speck on his dorsal fin a couple of days after I got him. Now, it is swollen and whiter (getting worse and worse). I called the pet shop and they said they would exchange him for a new one.. but I don't want the pet shop to not even "try" to save him and flush him down the toilet because of his disease(?).

He isn't swimming around and is just floating/standing upright.

I read somewhere that the gravel might be contaminated so I boiled the gravel and disinfected the tank with boiling water....

Does anyone know what I should do?
I'm new to the fish world.. any help would be appreciated!

 

[Nordic]

Every fish owner should have methylene blue and Epsom salts on hand, as well as some aquarium salt.
I am not a big fan of long medicine exposure, with the exception of colloidal silver which needs 5 days worth of treatment.

First things first, to sooth the fish I would do a bath 10 minutes in 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts dissolved in 1 gallon of water.
Then 30 minutes in methylene blue at double strength to disinfect the wound. Once the external problems are solved you stand a chance of dealing with the internal ones.
Keep the water clean, by your description it sounds like an un-cycled tank, which is compounding your problems. Do partial water changes every day or two for the next 2 weeks.

Make a gallon jug of each, and every time just decant into a small glass jug/pot you can float in the tank until temperatures are more even.

Repeat morning and night if possible until the visible white stuff is gone. (the Epsom salts can still be used when the fish looks a bit off), but by now you can switch over to aquarium salt
I dose 1.5 teaspoons in a 12 litre QT tank. I add the salt in 3rds so the fish can get used to it. Bettas are very tough, and one of the few fishes one can "almost" always save.

 

[kittenfish]

Looks like lymphocystis. It's a virus so you can't really treat it beyond keeping water conditions ideal and waiting for it to go away on its own.

Is that bowl his permanent home?

 

[AquaAurora]

First of all please NEVER flush a sick/dead fish down the toilet-you can introduce nasties to local waterways. If a fish dies put it in a zip style bag and into sealed trash.


The info below is for general betta care. I'd suggest following Nordic's advice on treatment for your sick fish.

If that small bowl with just some gravel is all it has for a tank you really should do some upgrading.
Bettas are tropical fish and need a heater, their tank temp should be 78-82F.
They also do better in a slightly larger, filtered tanks. I'd suggest going to your lfs and getting a standard 2.5 or 5g tank made by aqueon, tetra, or topfin (typically cost $9-12)-there's argument over minimum tank size but the more water volume the more ammonia dilution... also bettas are active fish when kept warm and like to have some swim room. For filtration either a sponge filter+air pump+airline tubing (personal favorite-no flow to knock fish around), or a small low gph(gallons per hour-flow rate) filter-can be HOB (hang on back) or internal (water fall style), if you get HOB make sure it has adjustable flow.. my personal preference for bettas is azoo palm but its rarely at lfs (usually get online).
Bettas also prefer some cover/hiding places/ares to rest. Having several silk plants (don't get the plastic fake plants-will shred delicate betta fins) would be a big help in make the fish feel more secure.
You need to do frequent water changes, I'm talking daily with the tank that fish is in now. Dose Seachem Prime- 2 drops per a gallon-this dechlorinates your tap and binds ammonia and nitrite in the water so it doesn't harm the fish (but a filter's beneficial bacteria and live plants cans till absorb it).
When doing a water change make sure new water is same trumpeter as tank (get a glass thermometer to use to check), also get an API Master freshwater test kit (liquid). If you are keeping fish this is hugely helpful.
Test your tank's pH, as well as your tap with the api liquid test kit pH and high pH. You want to make sure its the same-fluctuating pH is bad for a fish.

This is just some starter info on betta keeping. There is much, much more to learn.

 

[Nordic]

Something I forgot, drop the water volume or put something in the tank the fish can rest on, so it is easy for him to reach the surface while he is feeling weak.

 

[AWolf]

Every fish owner should have methylene blue and Epsom salts on hand, as well as some aquarium salt.
I am not a big fan of long medicine exposure, with the exception of colloidal silver which needs 5 days worth of treatment.

Hey Nordic, what else would you say this treatment is good for? I'd like to copy and paste it onto my medicine man page, and think this particular treatment may be good for some other fish illnesses as well. Although, I will probably take a bath in it too from time to time :} With credit to you, of course!

 

[Nordic]

Coloidal silver treats a host of external problems, although there seems to be little scientific consensus.
It is also used for disinfecting water (even on the Russian space station MIR).

Taken from Wikipedia

Silver and most silver compounds have an oligodynamic effect and are toxic for bacteria, algae, and fungi in vitro. Among the elements that have this effect, silver is the least toxic for humans.[citation needed] The antibacterial action of silver is dependent on the silver ion.[6] The effectiveness of silver compounds as an antiseptic is based on the ability of the biologically active silver ion (Ag+
) to irreversibly damage key enzyme systems in the cell membranes of pathogens.[6] The antibacterial action of silver has long been known to be enhanced by the presence of an electric field. Applying an electric current across silver electrodes enhances antibiotic action at the anode, likely due to the release of silver into the bacterial culture.[51] The antibacterial action of electrodes coated with silver nanostructures is greatly improved in the presence of an electric field.[52]

Silver, used as a topical antiseptic, is incorporated by bacteria it kills. Thus dead bacteria may be the source of silver which may kill additional bacteria

People used to use silver in the days before antibiotics became popular and it has since mostly fallen out of use.
I have nothing but good things to say about it. If you really want to be amazed at what it can do, get the plasters with the silver patch on.
I couldn't even find the hole they made to put a stent in my heart. Yep I'm one of those skinny guys who has so much cholesterol I ended up having a heart attack in my mid 30's

 

[AWolf]

Coloidal silver treats a host of external problems, although there seems to be little scientific consensus.
It is also used for disinfecting water (even on the Russian space station MIR).
People used to use silver in the days before antibiotics became popular and it has since mostly fallen out of use.

I know that real 'silver' ware, silver goblets, etc, were considered good to eat from since they won't harbor virus', etc. Funny how silver used to be practical, and now it's looked at as decorative. I saw a thread once about keeping silver in an aquarium. Also heard of people keeping silver coins in water containers, etc., to keep it free of bacteria, but I don't know if it's true.

 

[Nordic]

I think it has been shown to kill over 650 common bacteria and viruses.

Bump: Edit window not working....

It has even been shown to stop the spread of the HIV virus in 2005,

Abstract

“The interaction of nanoparticles with biomolecules and microorganisms is an expanding field of research. Within this field, an area that has been largely unexplored is the interaction of metal nanoparticles with viruses.

In this work, we demonstrate that silver nanoparticles undergo a size-dependent interaction with HIV-1, with nanoparticles exclusively in the range of 1-10 nm attached to the virus.

The regular spatial arrangement of the attached nanoparticles, the center-to-center distance between nanoparticles, and the fact that the exposed sulfur-bearing residues of the glycoprotein knobs would be attractive sites for nanoparticle interaction suggest that silver nanoparticles interact with the HIV-1 virus via preferential binding to the gp120 glycoprotein knobs.

Due to this interaction, silver nanoparticles inhibit the virus from binding to host cells, as demonstrated in vitro.”

 

[misswigglebum]

Wow, thanks for all of your messages! I really appreciate it!

I went to Petco earlier today and asked for methylene blue and the sales person wouldn't let me purchase it. She said it coats the betta's lungs or something and will eventually suffocate him to death. Instead, she suggested Bettafix. Petco and the pet shops around my area were sold out of it and won't be restocking them until early next week.

Does anyone know if any of this is true?

I've only had my betta for a little over 1 week now. The tank he is in is a 1 gallon tank, no filter (have been cleaning water/tank every 3 days). I've ordered a 5.5 gallon, with filter & temperature control and will be arriving sometime next week.

 

[Nordic]

It is fine to do baths with, just don't leave the fish in there.
Dose double strength for 30 minutes. She might be confusing it with malachite green even.

Just tell the cow, you have a whole tank full of fish with velvet.
I'd also report her to management, it is one thing to give advice, it is another thing to refuse to serve a customer.

 

[misswigglebum]

Cow.. lol

Yeah, I'll go ahead and purchase the methylene blue and see how it goes from there. I hope I can save him.

Thanks for your help!

Attached a few more clearer pictures of him!

 

[Nordic]

remember the Epsom salt too, it really soothes their skin, reduces swelling, helps with the swim bladder so they can dive properly, and expels backed up faeces.

Do the methylene bath first, always.

I am still trying to make sense of your photo, looks like a bubble in the dorsal fin?

 

[AWolf]

Just tell the cow, ....

Or Heffer

 

[Nordic]

She heffers can be more scary.