Common Betta Diseases with Symptom, Cause, Treatment and Prevention (updated)

Hello! This is Betta Aquarium King. Previous article I mentioned 4 common betta diseases and now I would like to update part II with 3 more. Hopefully it will be helpful for you.

• Popeye
• Eyecloud
• Fish Fungus

1.  Pop Eye

Symptoms: Pop eye is one of common betta diseases with below symptoms:

• Mycobacterial infection (which is easily treatable)
• Tuberculosis (not so treatable)
• Parasitic infection
• Ichthyophonus or Ick (another bacterial infection and highly treatable)
• Eye flukes
• Internal metabolic disorders
   

Cause: Could be viral, a tumor, parasitic, or tuberculosis infection.

Treatment:  If the cause of Popeye is a mycobacterial infection, you should go ahead and first treat the root of the bacteria itself. This is easily done by cleaning the tank water and ensuring that the pH balance of the water is just slightly acidic. On a side note, nearly all bacterial infections found in bettas and other fish that are pets can be prevented or in the very least you can reduce the risk of them by doing keeping the water clean and monitoring the pH balance.

Additionally, you can treat the water with Tetracycline or Terramycin, two very popular antibacterial medications that you can purchase at your local pet store. The standard is to add this in the water 100 mg of the antibiotic for every 4 oz. of food.

If this doesn't work, you can try these other methods for a quick fix that also work well as a preventative measure for your betta

Warm the water to 86 degrees. You will want to do this gradually at a rate of 1 degree per hour. The water temperature should already be in the high 70 degree range.

Add a little salt to the water- The key is "little". Don't give your betta fish a salt bath. The percentage of salt added to the water should be no higher than .6%

Both of these quick fixes will help to keep bacterial infections at bay. It is important to note that if your fix is exhibiting signs of Popeye, you should avoid contact. Although it is unlikely your betta has tuberculosis, it is transmissible to humans through open sores.

In conclusion, Popeye is treatable and like most bacterial infections, the cause is normally dirty water or a low pH. The best way to prevent Popeye is to make sure your betta fish is in a stress free environment. That means clean water, good food, and nice warm water.

Prevention:

• Change the water regularly
• Clean your fish tank every 1–2 weeks
• Keep the tank water warm
• Keep the tank water slightly acidic.
• Carefully introduce new fish to the fish tank

2. Eyecloud

Symptoms: The fish eye becomes cloudy almost to the point of whiteness and the fish lose vision 

Cause: The most common cause of cloudy eyes in aquarium fish seems to be poor water quality, especially when the pH drops too low.

Treatment:

Treating this condition requires an investigation of water quality by means of doing regular water tests with a good quality test kit. Once the water quality is high enough, the fish will usually recover by them selves within 1-2 weeks.

Prevention:

Always ensure your water quality is how it should be for the fish you are keeping and your levels are where they should be with zero ammonia, zero nitrite and low nitrate (around 20ppm or lower).

3. Fish Fungus

Symptoms: A Betta that is affected by a common fungal infection will have fuzzy patches of white growth, found on the head and flanks of the fish in most common cases. Bettas that are afflicted with a fungal infection may also become lethargic, becoming far less active than the fish might otherwise be.

Other symptoms of a fungus infection include a lowering in the appetite of your Betta fish, and in less common cases can cause your Betta fish to discolor.

Cause: This is a bacterial disease

Treatment:

Once your Betta is afflicted with a fungal infection, it is vital to get the infection cleared up as soon as possible. Unless the fish is very severely affected by the fungus, or is left untreated for an extended period of time, Bettas survive these common fungal infections quite easily. It is vital that the offending culprit - most likely dirty water - is attended to.

Be careful when changing the water and cleaning the tank of a sick Betta fish. The water changing process is already rather stressful on them, and this can be even more so to a sick Betta fish. Carefully change 1/3 of the water each day for three days until you have a tank full of fresh, chlorine free water for your Betta. It is also recommended that you go to your local pet or fish store to buy anti-fungal drops. These will help to quickly clear up the infection on your Betta, as well as kill any fungus that may still be lurking in the tank.

Prevention:

Good tank "hygiene" is the easiest way to reduce your Bettas susceptibility to fungal infections.

The best way to avoid fungal infections in Bettas is to maintain clean, regularly changed water. It is not recommended that you change an entire Betta tank full of water at one time, as this is stressful for the fish. Bi-weekly changes of roughly 1/3 of the tanks water is the perfect regimen to keep the tank as clean and fresh as possible.

The proper feeding of your Betta is also an excellent form of preventative treatment.

Happy Betta Keeping!

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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!

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