Fungus or Disease? Betta changing colors?!

Aquachic
  • #1
HI everyone,

My betta Phineas is a one year old half-moon betta who, until recently, was dark blue. At the end of July, his dorsal fin and analfin began to turn reddish-purple. I initially thought he had septicemia, and began antibiotics, but there was no change, and he also did not worsen. I have no idea what is going on with Phineas, but I want to make sure he is not diseased.

At the same time as the color change, his fins began fraying, and white cottony growths began on the bottom of his tank. He also has some strands of the white coming off his body.

I thought it was fin rot and a fungus, so I used Fungus Guard (which turns the water green) and some aquarium salt. It cleared the cotton only for two days, and then it was back. I tried multiple courses of Fungus Guard along with antibiotics next, such as Triple Sulfa, erythromycin, and tetracycline, as well as using Prime to help his slime coat. There was no change. Phineas's fins are still ragged, and the cotton still continues to develop every two days at the bottom of the tank.

Now it is October, and the cotton still forms every two days, Phineas is still two colors, and the fin rot has not progressed but has not healed. I am unsure of what to do next. He is in a 2.5 gallon tank that gets changed and medicated every other day, and he only uses spring water. I've removed all the decorative elements from the tank except his heater and his air stone. I'm not sure what is even wrong any more.

Despite all this, Phineas seems fine, is behaving normally, and has a good appetite. Can anyone shed light on what is going on?
 

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Nickynack
  • #2
Google columnaris and see if that's what he has. Otherwise I'd say it must be a fungus of some sort but I've no idea how to treat or why your treatments failed, sorry!

Also if you could post a picture of him, it would really help
 

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Aquachic
  • Thread Starter
  • #4
I looked up columnaris is, as well as fungus, and it is really hard to tell the difference between the two on the fish. I know Phineas does not have open wounds or inflamed-looking gills. As soon as I am able, I will try to post a picture of him.

Is Maracyn 2 tetracycline? I've had trouble finding actual Maracyn II at the pet stores (Petsmart, All Pets Club, Petco), but have found normal tetracycline for fish tanks. If it is different, does anyone know where I can buy it?
 
Stowers74
  • #6
Yeah, Mardel is the exact brand I used

 

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