|
Fungus -03/28/08
Hello,
I have a Betta named Merlin living in a 16 gallon tank with fake
driftwood and 2 fake plants.
<Sounds lovely!>
My water is 0 across the board for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrates; I believe it
is cycled but check ammonia frequently to be safe.
<Good.>
It's a 50/50 mix of spring/distilled water.
<Probably overkill; Bettas are perfectly happy in dechlorinated tap water. The
only thing they won't like is excessively soft water (less than 3 degrees dH) or
water that has passed through a domestic water softener (too much sodium). But
if what you're doing works for you and is cost effective, by all means stick
with it.>
PH is between 7.0 and 7.2. Water is heated to about 80 degrees and I alternate 1
pellet per day with either brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, or Spirulina brine
shrimp. For a while I was getting scum on the top of the water, but not since I
made the filter flow into "waterfall style."
<Indeed; splashing water helps to get rid of certain types of protein or oil
films that can cover aquaria.>
I'd noticed algae looking stuff on the wood and plants for some time, and then
it ended up on the edge of Merlin's fins.
<If it's green or black, it's algae; if off-white, then Fungus.>
The first time was in February, but it seemed to fall off by morning. He has had
some episodes with fin rot in the past. What I now assume is Fungus has come
back a few times,
seeming to be more of a problem each time (growing larger, taking pieces of fin
each
time), but there has been no shredding (the fin loss is even across).
<Regardless, you need to treat with anti-Fungal medication. Not a fan of Melafix
though. Standard issue medications should be fine. In addition, consider where
this fungus is coming from: if you're seeing it on rocks and wood, then you
likely have A LOT of organic material in that aquarium. Unlike algae, which use
light and minerals for "food", fungus needs to "eat" organic matter, i.e.,
decaying stuff. By rights, you should be removing organic material with its
water change by siphoning it from the substrate. Wiping off ornaments if they
get dirty isn't a bad idea either.>
I really don't want to lose my good water (it has taken much time to get it
cycled),
<Irrelevant, so don't worry about it. Filtration occurs in the FILTER not the
water. You can change 100% of the water if you want, and so long as the filter
is kept wet between water changes, the bacteria will be perfectly happy. I'd
recommend at least 25% water changes per week, and I personally go with 50%
water changes.>
and Merlin doesn't like meds at all, but the fungus isn't going away this time.
It's come back now for about a week (every time a piece sheds off with fin,
another piece of fungus is back by morning). Merlin has had a bad reaction to
Melafix, so I can't use that. What would you recommend as a fungus med?
<Depends where you are. Here in England I recommend eSHa 2000, a very effective
anti-bacterial/anti-fungal medication. But I'm told by my American colleagues
that things like Maroxy are the drug of choice for fungal infections. Neither
Bob F nor myself rate Melafix all that highly, but some do I know.>
I have Maroxy but was wondering if that would be bad to use, since I'm not using
a chlorine remover (bottled water) and it seems to have some sort of chlorine
agent?
<Don't worry about it. Also, I'd recommend using plain tap water plus
dechlorinator rather than fussing with bottled water. I suspect you'll find this
A LOT cheaper in the long run, and because water changes will be cheap and easy,
your Betta will be happier too. Most fish don't care about water chemistry _per
se_, what they want is stability. So I'd recommend doing some 10-20% water
changes every other day for the next couple weeks to convert the Betta to tap
water chemistry, and after than doing 25% weekly changes.>
I would like to do whatever would be the least affecting; Merlin doesn't seem to
be acting strangely, more irritated when his fin shreds, than anything else.
<Sounds like he's doing OK, and if you act fast, he'll be fine!>
I also was wondering if this means I have to part with my water?
<Yes. Don't get attached to the water! Once it's in an aquarium, it "goes bad"
as far as the fish are concerned. The more water you change, the happier the
fish. Or put another way: the fish are living in their lavatory, and you're
pulling the chain!>
I have a quarantine tank, but wonder if I have excess fungus in my original
water that I have to fix? I know all water has some fungus, but it (or algae)
seems to grow on all my decorations very quickly. I've read that the fungus
could be a result of excess protein from the frozen food, but I only feed about
1 shrimp on alternate days. I don't want to kill my good bacteria, but do I need
to get rid of everything to stop this fungus?
<Cleaning the ornaments and changing the water have no impact at all on water
quality. The filter is all you need to worry about. So when you do water
changes, make sure the filter media (the sponge or whatever) don't dry out.
Every month (or sooner, if you prefer) take the filter media and dump in a
bucket of aquarium water. Give it a good squeeze and clean to remove silt, and
then pop back into the filter. Do this, and you'll have great water quality and
a happy filter bacteria population!>
Thank you,
Patricia
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Fungus 3/30/08
Neale,
Thank you very much for the quick response :) I was wondering if it would it be
better to put Merlin in a quarantine tank for his treatment or to leave him in
his original tank? I'm thinking he would need to be in the quarantine tank to
avoid the medication killing the good bacteria in the filter of the original
tank? But at the same time maybe the meds in the original tank would be good to
kill the fungus in there? Lastly, do I likely have fungus in my filter media or
should I not be worried about that?
Thank you again :),
Patricia
<Happy to help, Patricia! Treat your fish in its home aquarium. Moving it to a
quarantine tank wouldn't serve much purpose either way. The fungi that cause
fish infections are in all aquaria, just as all aquaria contain the Aeromonas
bacteria that cause Finrot. When everything is healthy in the tank, these fungi
and bacteria do good work helping to convert organic material into the stuff the
filter bacteria can use up. It's when fish become stressed or damage that they
cause harm. It's exactly like E. coli and other bacteria we have on our bodies.
In their place, they're harmless and may even serve a useful function; in the
wrong place and when our immune systems are run down, they can cause problems.
So: whenever you get Fungus or Finrot, you AUTOMATICALLY must ask Why? Yes, you
must treat the infection, but you must also prevent another outbreak -- because
you WILL get another outbreak unless you remedy the situation. Just as giving
someone a cure for a stomach infection until they got better and then feeding
them rotten food would make that person sick again. Cheers, Neale.>
Betta fin rot -03/28/08
I have a 5 gal filtered, heated tank
with a Betta, a few Neons and an African dwarf frog. Ammonia & nitrites are both
0. I'm pretty sure the Betta has fin rot - raggedy fins, with whitish edge on
tail.
<Sounds likely. Do remember Neons have been reported as fin nippers towards
Bettas, and they are NOT a recommended combination. In addition, 5 gallons is
way too small for Neons.>
I read a previous posting on this site to treat with Kanacyn.
Is it okay to treat in the tank with the Neons & African dwarf frog, or do I
need to separate him for treatment?
<Neons should be fine. Kanacyn is not safe with amphibians though, so remove the
frog.>
I don't want to harm the others. Thanks! -Karen
<Cheers, Neale.>
|
Betta tumors? tuberculosis? - 3/21/08
Hi WWM crew,
I have a Betta, Pookie, who has been with me since August 2007. He is a
crown-tail. When I bought him, at PetSmart, his eyes did look a bit popped out,
but that's why he looked unique to me - I had no idea that might be a sign of a
diseased fish!
<Mmm, maybe not>
He seemed healthy and happy. He lived on my desk at work. At Christmas, I took
him home with him and he lived in his tank next to my home Betta, Zephyr. It was
about that time, either at home, or later when I took him back to work, that I
noticed that he had some odd-looking lump/s. He still seemed to be normal,
otherwise, but since then, he has gotten four bumps or protrusions that are the
same color as he is - blue and red. When I first noticed this, I thought maybe I
had fed him too much over Christmas or something, so I cut back a bit. That
didn't seem to make a difference - the protrusion grew a bit and he developed
another small one. I went on-line and ran across a listing for fish
tuberculosis, which sounded like it could have been Pookie's plight.
<Mmm, more likely protozoan than bacterial...>
On that website, it pretty much said there wasn't anything you could do. The
protrusions, in the meantime have swollen a bit more and he now clearly has two
larger ones and two smaller ones on each - one big and one small on each side.
He still eats, but seemed less active. I took him home for spring break and he
perked up a bit being next to Zephyr. I did not put him in with Zephyr, though,
in case he does have a contagious disease. The guru fish place's phone was
disconnected and might have gone out of business, so I was perusing fish
diseases again and found your site. Any ideas or suggestions? He is still
eating, which is good, but every day I come out expecting him to have kicked the
bucket...it seems miraculous to me that he seems as good as he is given these
protrusions...he looks like Quasimodo in several places...poor Pookie. What can
I do?
Thanks,
worried Linda :-(
<Mmm, not likely much at this advanced stage... but a better environment...
Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/bettasysart.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Betta tumors? tuberculosis?
Systems, a little more biology
Thanks! I will go out and buy
a larger container today - though he has been already in a one-gallon
Mini-Bow Aquarium all this time. I did notice in January, though, that
the fake plants were looking extremely dirty, which was surprising given
that I completely cleaned his tank on a fairly regular basis. I finally
thought that perhaps the filter stone needed to be changed as everything
was looking quite gunky, so about 3 weeks ago, I bought a couple of new
bubble stones to replace the one that came with the set-up - I wasn't
sure if it needed changing or not. I changed it out, but the bubble
stone did not completely cover the inside of the tube and many bubbles
came up around it rather than through it - didn't seem like it was
working - so I went and got an "airstone" from Wal-Mart to see if that
would work better. As I'm on spring break, I have yet to change it out,
but am thinking that since my bigger 2-gallon Mini-Bow works so much
better with the big filter for my other Betta, Zephyr, that perhaps
that's the way to go. Pookie is bigger than Zephyr, so maybe that would
work better anyway. I guess I am just not sure how the smaller gallon
tank works with that airstone - whether it truly needed to be replaced
or not - I just thought that the tank looked so much dirtier than the
other 2-gallon after just a week of changing it out! Anyway, thanks for
your advice; I will try the bigger tank.
Linda :-)
Pookie's owner
<Please do re-read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/bettasysart.htm
Bob Fenner>
Re: Betta tumors? tuberculosis?
3/23/08
Thanks...was there a reason you wanted
me to read it again?
<Yes. To reinforce the issues of proper environment... their role in health>
I forgot to mention that I do have an aquarium heater and had that as well. I
guess I'm not sure what more I need to do other than buy a bigger aquarium - but
even with my one-gallon one, that seemed to be big enough for my other friends'
Bettas...
I appreciate your feedback, but need more specificity if you are wanting me to
understand something I didn't get the first time.
Linda :-)
<Stability. B>
|
|
|
