Help, columnaris or injury?

[Fae]

What the heck happened to Wendy's back?? Is this columnaris or did she somehow scrape her entire back fin off??


This somehow happened in under 24 hours, please tell me it's not an infection.... What should I do??

More info:



This is her tank, 0/0/0 for the nitrogen cycle and 6/7 for gH kh and 7.5 ph temp was 79 I lowered it to 77, tank has been established for coming up on a year

She's the only fish in there, plus snails and cherry shrimp (10gal)

I'm so worried about her

 

[Prevail]

Could you fill out the emergency template, also have you added anything to the tank recently?

 

[Fae]

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
10gal

How long has the tank been running?
10 months

Does it have a filter?
Homemade sponge filter

Does it have a heater?
Yes

What is the water temperature?
79 then 77

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
Wendy, pet store Betta she's about 2+ years old and has been thru a lot
Ugly cherry shrimp
Random little snails

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
Top up every week or two, 50% water change at least once a month. I used to do it more frequently but parameters never change, now I do it based on if it looks like it's time if that makes sense

How much of the water do you change?
See above

What do you use to treat your water?
Prime, used res-q as well after I noticed she was hurt

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Somewhat, not religiously

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes

What do you use to test the water?
Liquid test API

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Every other day, sometimes every 3 days. Random flies (mosquitos, fruit flies etc) as they appear, once a week usually

How much do you feed your fish?
4-8 mouthfuls

What brand of food do you feed your fish?
insectivore bug bites, also clays carnivore, frozen brine shrimps or bloodworms, freeze-dried daphnia, live daphnia, live flies, repashy

Do you feed frozen?
Yes

Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
Yes

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
1.5-2 years

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
Last night

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
It looks like something jagged caught on her back and raked her flesh off, combing thru the rays of her dorsal fin

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Last night I put her in a bath of methylene blue and res-q (slime coat medication by aquatronics) while I did a water change and made her sponge filter smaller in case that was what did it

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No but she went thru the filter about 6+ months ago and fully recovered, it definitely slower her down tho

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
Lethargic at the bottom of the tank, understandable. Should I put her in a breeder box so she is closer to the surface?

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now) as above. columnaris? Injury?

Is she getting an infection? Here's 20 hours ago followed by just now

 

[Prevail]

I'm going to say it's likely that she scraped herself on something, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't worry at all. I would treat with aquarium salt, probably in a seperate quarantine tank. Also, do you ever get nitrate readings, typically 0 nitrates is a sign a tank isnt cycled. Lastly, do you have any sharp decorations in the tank and when was the last time you added water from another tank into this one?

 

[Fae]

I'm going to say it's likely that she scraped herself on something, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't worry at all. I would treat with aquarium salt, probably in a seperate quarantine tank. Also, do you ever get nitrate readings, typically 0 nitrates is a sign a tank isnt cycled. Lastly, do you have any sharp decorations in the tank and when was the last time you added water from another tank into this one?

I occasionally get 5ppm nitrate, but there's so many plants and just one little fish.

I think she may have gotten stuck against some filter sponge, I had some of the rough stuff as part of a diy sponge filter which was a mistake I've changed it to the soft and rounded sponge now. There's nothing else she could have hurt herself on, it's all tumbled rocks, driftwood, plants, and some rounded shells, the lone decoration is very smooth.

I'm going to add some salt directly to her tank, I don't have the space to make a quarantine tank right now and I don't want to stress her out more. I did drip a drop of merbromin on her back wound, not sure if that helped or not but its equivalent to polysporin

 

[Prevail]

OK, I will warn you that most plants will die if exposed to salt. If you have a plastic tote you can use that as a quarantine tub