# what is this?



## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

so i came in to work today, after leaving my beta at work all weekend, and he has this thing on his side. 
think if i just treat him with salt it will fix it?
i just did water change, and still its like this
any ideas?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Not sure man-
You want damn good info-

Get ahold of tinkerbell man------She's like a betta genious man...


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

thanks AK, i sent her a PM with the Link.
hope nothing is wrong with the little dude.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Nick G said:


> thanks AK, i sent her a PM with the Link.
> hope nothing is wrong with the little dude.


If anyone can tell ya-She will man.....Your in good hands with Tink....


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

That doesn't look good at all









I would say its probably a raging bacterial infection.

I don't want to rule out parasites - but quick question: can you see anything poking out or moving inside - any dark shadows beneath the flesh?

What to do for the infection: Change the water 50% today, and do it again tomorrow and the next day. You need to keep that fish in PRISTINE conditions to help it beat whatever that nasty crap is.

As far as salt goes- Betta tend to be very sensitive to salt. Use 1/2-2/3 of the 'normal' amount you'd treat with.

The best treatment for the infection is Kanamycin. Tetracyclin would be an ok substitute, but due to the level of inflammation I think you need to kick it up a notch.

If the fish is in an unheated tank thats fine, but you need to get it into a warmer room and get a thermometer on the tank to find out what temp its at (78-80 would be ideal).

Good Luck!


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

tink, thanks so much for the reply.
It almost seems to have gotten worse. 
(i set this tank up and got the fish last weeK)
The tank i got from a co-worker,and since i have noticed this earlier today, i found out that the previous fish died had a ring of white around its head, she isnt a fish person, but she said thats what she remembers. when i got the tank, i rinsed the hell out of it, but i think i must have not done a very good job. the water originally in there was from one of my P tanks at home, so i know thats pristine. 
As far as noticing anything moving around in there, i dont, but i do notice something popping out of the underside of its gills, as can be seen in the pic below. 








ill change half the water before i leave today. 
I cant bring the fish home with me today because i have to do a bunch of errands after work, and since that involves taking a bunch of trains, i think it would be very stressful to bring her with me, but I will pick up some Kanamycin tonight, and hopefully she makes it til i get in tomorrow morning. As far as salt, all i have at my desk is salt packets, and of the 3 different types i have, they all have dextrose in them, so i cant even salt the tank today... but i have good salt i can bring in in the morning. i can leave a strong lamp on her tank to try to keep the temp up tonight. 
again, thanks a lot, 
i will update this in the morning
Nick

oh, and one other thing to add probably predictable... she wont eat.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

well, she made it through the night! which is awesome. 
On a side note though, i couldnt find that stuff... i couldnt make it in time to my normal lfs that has everything in terms of meds. I had prazipro at my house, i grabbed it and used a little bit already. Would this be a bad idea? i can change the water right now if need be.

my plan is tonight to get those meds that i need, because tonight i have a lot less going on.... what can i do today to give her the best shot of making it? Im salting the tank going to change 50% water twice, and keep the lamp on her. anything else i can do? should i use the prazipro again?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

Nick G said:


> well, she made it through the night! which is awesome.
> On a side note though, i couldnt find that stuff... i couldnt make it in time to my normal lfs that has everything in terms of meds. I had prazipro at my house, i grabbed it and used a little bit already. Would this be a bad idea? i can change the water right now if need be.
> 
> my plan is tonight to get those meds that i need, because tonight i have a lot less going on.... what can i do today to give her the best shot of making it? Im salting the tank going to change 50% water twice, and keep the lamp on her. anything else i can do? should i use the prazipro again?


LOL first off its a 'he'. Bettas are easy to sex due to males having awesome finnage.

Prazipro is an anti-parasitic. What I recommended were antibiotics. Since her other fish had a 'white ring'.... that SCREAMS bacterial infection. You must, must, must get that fish on antibiotics asap.

Please make sure that you change the water with FRESH tap water that is treated for chemicals. You want the most oxygenated water possible that has zero chance of having ANYTHING in it. I don't care how pristine your P tanks are... since your P are healthy and have lived in those tanks, there could be something that they're immune to in them that in the betta's weakend state will take him out.

Oh, and the thing sticking out of his gills is his operculum, a flashy bit of skin that the betta can puff out to look bigger when its flaring (showing off/getting ready to fight) at another betta.

edit: If you have any stress coat that would be very good to add to help with the betta's slime coat.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

well. i came in with Kanamycin this am... and the little guy was dead. 








he was an awesome little fish. 
Im thinking that she died of the same thing as the previous inhabitant of this tank, as you said, im wondering what the best way to treat the tank would be so that i can put another fish in there..... should I just soak hot hot water in there?
THanks for your help Tink and AK.... i appreciate it very much.


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## Pit_man (Sep 13, 2008)

Nick G said:


> well. i came in with Kanamycin this am... and the little guy was dead.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear about your beta Nick


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

thanks man
i blame myself, i should have gone out of the way to get the Kanamycin the first night.







live and learn i guess. 
i put 120 degree water in the tank, im thinking that will sterilize it enough so i can get another betta... what do you guys think?


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Bleach and rinse heavily and wipe it down very good.

I know its said that it isnt safe but whos to say 120 degrees is going to kill everything?

Good luck


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## stackbrickz (Feb 22, 2008)

Whenever I set up a used tank, I did a salt scrub down on it......HOT HOT water with massive amounts of salt dissolved into the water. This has always worked for me as far as a really good cleaning on the tank. Good luck


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

the tank i have is like 1/2 gallon, i think i might just toss it and use something new... because to bleach it I would have to bring it home with me, and the tank just seems like it would take forever to get bleach out of. ill post pics to show what i mean.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Sorry to hear this Nick....

Thanks for the Help Tinker.....


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

see, there is just a tiny hole on the top. id imagine anything in the way of chemicals would take forever to get out of there, which is why im not sure about using bleach, the salt and hot water method isnt too mad though.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

Sorry to hear about the betta







Its tough bringing them back from a nasty infection like that.

Scrub the tank down with salt. You need to remove everything inside if possible.... but soaking the ENTIRE tank in a boiling hot saltwater bath and then rinsing REALLY well should kill off the nasties.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

ok, thanks tink, that sounds like a plan.


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## boiler149 (Oct 31, 2007)

thats a nasty infection


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

So ironically after all this, my mom brought home a rescue betta from the library's community tank yesterday... Internal bacterial infection - go figure!

I've got him in a small glass quarantine tank sitting on a 80 degree heat pad. Treating with: low-level salts, stress-coat, melafix, and Maracyn-2 (because its what I had on hand)


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

You know thats a Glass Tile with a hole cut in it to be made as a tank right....
How do you remove water????How do you replace water ( with a funnel)?

Good luck TINK!

I miss my mothers Boston seeing the pics of your pup!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

notaverage said:


> You know thats a Glass Tile with a hole cut in it to be made as a tank right...


Ooooh and since you pointed that out, do NOT put a stopper in the hole - Bettas are anabatoids meaning they have a labyrinth organ in them that allows them to breathe air from the surface... stale/lack of O2 especially in an environment that isn't oxygenating the water (i.e. no filter/no live plants) is not going to help a Betta be a happy fishie.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

oh, there is a stopper, with a tiny hole, guess leaving that off is a good idea then?
good luck with the rescue betta, im curious to know how it goes.

im taking the tank home to clean it this weekend, im hoping that will work with the method involving salt and boiling water.


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