Common Betta Diseases with Symptom, Cause, Treatment and Prevention

This is part 1, I will update part 2 soonest. Hopefully this will be helpful for you. Comment your successful treatment to share with all of betta keepers.

• Fin and Tail Rot
• Columnaris
• Dropsy
• Ich

1. Fin and Tail Rot

Symptoms:

• Frayed fins.
• Fin edges turn white.
• Inflamed bases of fins.

Cause: This is bacterial infection (caused by different types of gram-negative bacteria, including Aeromonas, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Vibrio). The disease occurs when the fish become stressed by something in the environment.The most common causes of Fin Rot are poor water quality and improperly low water temperature. 

Treatment: Fin Rot can be cured if it is caught early.

• Improve the water quality. This will include a water change and an examination of the tank. 
• Clean the tank accessories and vacuum any debris out of the gravel
• Check the pH level of the new water.
• After all of the fish are put back into the tank, add antibiotics to the water.
• Add aquarium salt to the water to help soothe the fish, treat the infection, and prevent infections in the future.

Prevention:

• Maintain good aquarium.
• Keep good water quality.
• Check the pH level regularly.
• Don’t overfeed your fish.

2. Columnaris

Symptoms:

• White spots on mouth, edges of scales, and fins.
• Cottony growth that eats away at the mouth.
• Fins disintegrate beginning at the edges.
• “Saddleback” lesion near the dorsal fin.
• Fungus often invades the affected skin.
• Rapid gilling in cases where gills are infected.

Cause: The most common causes of columnaris infections in fish are due to Injury and Poor water quality.

Treatment:

• Change water.
• Vacuum gravel.
• Add aquarium salt.
• Treat with copper sulfate or antibiotic.
• Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment.

Prevention: 

• Quarantine new fish for two weeks
• Maintain high water quality
• Provide fish with a nutritionally balanced diet
• Medicate fish prophylactically before moving them
• Disinfect nets and other equipment before using

3. Dropsy

Symptoms:

• Sunken eyes.
• Body swelling/bloat in stomach.
• Pineconing of scales.

Cause: It is related to kidney failure, poor diet, bad osmoregulation, or other internal infections. 

Treatment:

• Isolate the sick fish in a hospital tank. To make water changes easier, this tank should be kept bare except for a filter and heater, if necessary. The temperature of the hospital tank should be as close to that of the original tank as possible.
• Create a salt bath by adding no more than 2.5 teaspoons of Epsom salt for every ten gallons of water in the hospital tank. The magnesium sulfate in the Epsom salts may help to draw the excess water out of the fish's body that caused it to swell.
• Feed your fish antibacterial fish food. You can either purchase prepared antibacterial fish food or make your own by creating a 1% mixture of fish food and an antibiotic like chloromycetin or tetracycline.
• Continue to feed your fish antibiotic fish food and monitor their progress for 7 to 10 days.
• If no improvement is seen after several days of treatment, treat the aquarium water with Maracyn Two. This medication is effective against bacterial infections and is absorbed through the skin of fish.
• If, after ten days of treatment, your fish shows no signs of improvement or if it becomes worse it may be that the cause of dropsy is not bacterial. If the antibiotics do not work and the salt bath is ineffective, there may be nothing else you can do for your fish.

Prevention:

• Maintain good water quality in your tank by staying on top of routine maintenance tasks.
• Perform routine weekly water changes in your fish tank; changing out between 10% and 20% of your aquarium's water volume.
• Perform a larger water change of 25% the tank volume once a month.
• Avoid feeding your fish too much.

4. Ich

Symptoms: The easiest way identify whether your betta fish has Ich or not is visually.

• White spots on the body and gills.
• The fish will become more irritated and may try to rub or scratch against the sides and bottom of the tank.
• The disease may then cause respiratory distress, severe agitation, loss of appetite, and eventually death.

Cause: There are many causes of stress in a fish's life, many of which can be made worse or better by the owner. Water temperature, water quality, tank inhabitants, improper diet, and a variety of other factors all contribute to stress, but one of the most severe causes of stress occurs during shipping and handling of a new fish. 

Treatment: Treatment is usually very easy and effective.

• If your Betta fish has tank mates, move him/her to a hospital tank.
• Increase the water temperature up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The Ich parasite prefer cooler water.
• Administer medicine to the aquarium.
• Cycle the water for a number of days. Remove the previous water and replace it with fresh, clean water.
• Continue medication as directed.

Prevention:

• Only purchase healthy fish that are free of all signs of disease.
• Never buy fish from a tank that contains a dead or a diseased fish.
• Always place new fish in a proper quarantine tank for a minimum of two weeks before introducing them into your tank.
• Never buy plants from a source that keeps them in a fish tank with fish. If you do, make sure to quarantine your plants for at least 4 days.
• Purchase fish from as direct a source as possible to reduce shipping and handling stress.

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To be continued

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Happy Fish Keeping!