A skin lesion concern

[folklor]

I posted here before about my betta's gray face and belly, and everyone said it was fine as long as it didn't spread. Now I'm about to set up a salt hospital tank for him because his fins are a bit rough, but this morning I woke up to a bright red mark on his gill (pic). My 16-gallon planted tank has 2 assassin snails, and I just tested the water - pH is 7.8 (a bit high), ammonia and nitrite are 0, and nitrate is 5 ppm. The tank's at 78 degrees, and I feed him a varied flake food.

He's still super active - jumping at my fingers, eating well, and active even when I'm not around. He's not having trouble breathing and still flares at the mirror. I've seen a couple white spots on his face before, but they'd always go away in a day. I wasn't sure if it was fungus or just sand, so I didn't want to over-treat him. There's also some gray on his top fin (pic), which I thought was fin rot, but it hasn't spread.

I'm really stuck - I never know what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be a huge help.

[coltin]

I'm going to take a guess here, but it looks like there's a lot of excess mucous covering your betta, which is usually a sign of something in the water irritating him or maybe an external protozoan infection like Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina. I've heard that flour can treat these kinds of infections, but I'm not sure if that's the best option for your guy.

I would recommend treating the tank with salt for a couple of weeks and see how he does. It's probably best to treat him in his original tank since that's where the problem is. To do this, you'll want to make sure there are no chemicals being added to the tank - I'm talking about perfume, hair spray, deodorant, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, air freshener, moisturising cream, and all that stuff. Also, make sure you're using a bucket that's only for the fish tank, not just any old bucket from around the house.

Here's what I would do: wipe down the inside of the glass with a clean fish sponge, and then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This should help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your betta a cleaner environment to recover in. Just make sure any new water you add is free of chlorine and chloramine.

If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last couple of weeks, now's the time to do it. Just be careful if the filter is less than 6 weeks old - you shouldn't clean it in that case. When you do clean the filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water and then re-use them. And don't forget to tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn - that way you're not just dumping it back into the tank.

When you're using salt or medications, it's a good idea to increase the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank. This will help keep the dissolved oxygen levels up in the water.

To add salt to the tank, you can use rock salt or swimming pool salt - just add 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If you don't see any improvement after 48 hours, you can double the dose rate. Just be careful not to keep the salt level too high for too long - you don't want to cause kidney damage. This is especially important for fish like bettas that are sensitive to salt.

The good news is that the salt won't affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp, or snails in the tank. And once you've used the salt and your betta has recovered, you can start doing water changes again. Just do a 10% water change each day for a week using fresh, dechlorinated water, and then you can start doing bigger water changes. This will help dilute the salt out of the tank slowly and minimize stress on your betta.

[folklor]

I'm going to take a guess here, but it looks like there's a lot of excess mucous covering your betta, which is usually a sign of something in the water irritating him or maybe an external protozoan infection like Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina. I've heard that flour can treat these kinds of infections, but I'm not sure if that's the best option for your guy.

I would recommend treating the tank with salt for a couple of weeks and see how he does. It's probably best to treat him in his original tank since that's where the problem is. To do this, you'll want to make sure there are no chemicals being added to the tank - I'm talking about perfume, hair spray, deodorant, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, air freshener, moisturising cream, and all that stuff. Also, make sure you're using a bucket that's only for the fish tank, not just any old bucket from around the house.

Here's what I would do: wipe down the inside of the glass with a clean fish sponge, and then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This should help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your betta a cleaner environment to recover in. Just make sure any new water you add is free of chlorine and chloramine.

If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last couple of weeks, now's the time to do it. Just be careful if the filter is less than 6 weeks old - you shouldn't clean it in that case. When you do clean the filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water and then re-use them. And don't forget to tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn - that way you're not just dumping it back into the tank.

When you're using salt or medications, it's a good idea to increase the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank. This will help keep the dissolved oxygen levels up in the water.

To add salt to the tank, you can use rock salt or swimming pool salt - just add 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If you don't see any improvement after 48 hours, you can double the dose rate. Just be careful not to keep the salt level too high for too long - you don't want to cause kidney damage. This is especially important for fish like bettas that are sensitive to salt.

The good news is that the salt won't affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp, or snails in the tank. And once you've used the salt and your betta has recovered, you can start doing water changes again. Just do a 10% water change each day for a week using fresh, dechlorinated water, and then you can start doing bigger water changes. This will help dilute the salt out of the tank slowly and minimize stress on your betta.

I'm still a bit unsure about the salt treatment. When I do the daily water changes, do I just add the same amount of salt to the new water as I would for the entire tank? So, for example, if I'm doing a 75% water change, I'd add 2 tablespoons of salt to the new water, right? And on the first day, I'd add the initial 3 tablespoons.

Also, what should I be looking for in terms of recovery? Is it just the red spot on his face going away, or are there other signs I should be watching for? If he's still not looking better after 48 hours, I know I need to double the salt dose, but how will I know for sure?

Lastly, I was wondering if you think I should consider upgrading to a stronger filter than my sponge filter. I know it's not the most powerful filter out there, and I'm worried it might not be doing enough to keep the water clean.

[sSjey]

I'm going to take a guess here, but it looks like there's a lot of excess mucous covering your betta, which is usually a sign of something in the water irritating him or maybe an external protozoan infection like Costia, Chilodonella or Trichodina. I've heard that flour can treat these kinds of infections, but I'm not sure if that's the best option for your guy.

I would recommend treating the tank with salt for a couple of weeks and see how he does. It's probably best to treat him in his original tank since that's where the problem is. To do this, you'll want to make sure there are no chemicals being added to the tank - I'm talking about perfume, hair spray, deodorant, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, air freshener, moisturising cream, and all that stuff. Also, make sure you're using a bucket that's only for the fish tank, not just any old bucket from around the house.

Here's what I would do: wipe down the inside of the glass with a clean fish sponge, and then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This should help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your betta a cleaner environment to recover in. Just make sure any new water you add is free of chlorine and chloramine.

If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last couple of weeks, now's the time to do it. Just be careful if the filter is less than 6 weeks old - you shouldn't clean it in that case. When you do clean the filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water and then re-use them. And don't forget to tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn - that way you're not just dumping it back into the tank.

When you're using salt or medications, it's a good idea to increase the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank. This will help keep the dissolved oxygen levels up in the water.

To add salt to the tank, you can use rock salt or swimming pool salt - just add 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If you don't see any improvement after 48 hours, you can double the dose rate. Just be careful not to keep the salt level too high for too long - you don't want to cause kidney damage. This is especially important for fish like bettas that are sensitive to salt.

The good news is that the salt won't affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp, or snails in the tank. And once you've used the salt and your betta has recovered, you can start doing water changes again. Just do a 10% water change each day for a week using fresh, dechlorinated water, and then you can start doing bigger water changes. This will help dilute the salt out of the tank slowly and minimize stress on your betta.

So, to clarify, if I'm doing a 75% water change, I should add 75% of the original salt amount to the new water, right? Like, if I started with 3 tablespoons of salt, I would add 2.25 tablespoons after the water change. I just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

Also, I was wondering what recovery would look like in this case. Would the red spot on my betta's face be a good indicator of whether the treatment is working or not? Should I be looking for other signs of improvement as well?

Lastly, do you think I should consider upgrading to a stronger filter than my current sponge filter? I want to make sure I'm giving my betta the best chance of recovery.

[folklor]

I'm at my wit's end, I've done the daily 75% water changes for a week and doubled the salt after 48 hours but my poor betta is looking worse. His fins are more tattered now and the red mark on his Sprig has spread to the other side. I've attached a picture, you can see the top fin is losing color.

He still eats and is active, but physically he's in a bad way. I'm really worried and I don't know what else to do. I'm following the advice given but it doesn't seem to be working. I'm desperate for any help I can get.

[coltin]

I'm really concerned about my fish's condition, and I'm not sure what else I can do to help him. I've been following the treatment plan, but the red area on his Sprig has now spread to the other side and his fins are looking even more tattered. I've also noticed that some parts of his body are losing color, like the top fin.

I'm worried that the salt treatment might not be enough, and I'm considering trying a broad spectrum fish medication that treats fungus, bacteria and protozoan infections. I've heard that these medications can be effective in treating a range of infections, and I'm hoping it might help my fish recover.

I'd love to hear any advice or suggestions from you, as I'm really not sure what to do next. I've tried to provide the best care for my fish, but it seems like nothing is working. Please help.