Source
r/bettafish•
Pyramat

Help! Is this fungus? Columnaris?

Help

I woke up this morning to see my betta's fins were all shredded looking, and upon closer inspection I noticed a bit of white fuzz around the shredded area. After some googling I came to the conclusion that it's either fungus or columnaris. Water parameters were all good (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all around zero) when I tested yesterday, and the temperature is ~79 degrees. After getting home from work tonight, he was sleeping at the bottom of the tank which he never does (he usually sleeps against the filter intake). He seems to be swimming around fine now though. Here are some pictures I took just now; you can see the fuzz pretty well in the first pic:

https://imgur.com/a/g8rHgiA

Can anyone identify what this is so I can properly treat it before it gets any worse? I don't want to lose my little buddy! :(

Posted Jun 23, 2018, 12:43 PM UTC

19
happuning"I've got Milo's and Mihigh's"•

u/adcas

3
adcas<- needs an intervention•

This is columnaris, yes. You'll need to treat it quickly!

www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquatronics.html#spectrogram

This will clear it up.

3
PyramatOP•

Ahhhh! I can't get AAP Spectrogram locally so I'll have to go to my LFS and get some Kanaplex and Furan-2 today. He's still swimming around like normal and the disease doesn't seem to have progressed visibly since last night so hopefully I should be able to save him!

Thanks for the identification!

1
PyramatOP•

I have another question, if you don't mind. I added a piece of Mopani driftwood about a week ago and it appears to have a similar looking white fuzz on it now. Is this in any way related to my fish's infection or am I just over worrying? Here are some pictures of the driftwood and some more of my betta after starting treatment for Columnaris using Kanaplex and Furan-2 yesterday. The infection has definitely progressed, and he also appears to be breathing heavily now which makes me think its spread to his gills. :(

1
adcas<- needs an intervention•

I'm so sorry, this sucks :( It's definitely gotten worse on your boy.

The mopani white stuff is unrelated. It's just a bit of fungus, and that feeds copepods and other plankton in your tank. It'll go away on its own.

2
PyramatOP•

Thank you for all the help. Good to hear that the fungus on the wood is harmless and unrelated. I'll continue treatment and keep my fingers crossed that he'll get better. I feel so bad for him! :(

1
PyramatOP•

Very sad to report that I came home from work tonight to find my fish laying at the bottom of the tank dead and pale in colour. RIP Magmar, you'll be missed. I know I did everything I could to save him but I feel so bad right now. :(

Any advice on how to completely eradicate the columnaris from my tank before I put a new fish in?

1
adcas<- needs an intervention•

I'm so sorry for your loss :( it's never easy to lose one.

You can leave the tank fish free for two months (six weeks also works but I'm paranoid) and just feed the cycle by dropping in fish food once a day.

2