# Help, fuzzy slimey stuff! Kasumi looks so sad :'(



## Larsa (May 6, 2011)

Help, idk how to diagnose this! So my girls have been QT'd a week in their own lil cups-DAILY water changes that are 78F-80F in temperature- while I massively cleaned out their ten gal tank, adding in new substrate, new live plants, etc. Anyways all 5 of my girls are active, eating, and seem happy except for Kasumi- my first betta girl :'D I CANT loose her... She usually is a PIGGY and is VERY HYPER, chasing bubbles, jumping outta the water, and biting my finger, she always constantly begs for food. The past few days She has had clamped fins, wont eat, and has stringy tan poopings. I give her *daily* warm conditioned water changes. I use a drop of Prime conditioner in their cups. Today she is pretty lethargic, wont touch her food but come up for breaths, and has stringy fuzzy clear growths on her! Her water is full of these floating thingies that came off her body. Not all of it will come off her body. Her nostrils, fins, and side has these fuzzy stringy things. _I am not sure if this is slime disease, cotton wool disease, some kind of bacterial or fungal disease, or what els_e so I am not sure how to treat her. I am not at all good with diagnosing betta diseases :/ Can anyone tell what this is? I took these pictures in the dark, so they might look pretty dark-plus there are a few water spots on the cups-please ignore those LOL. I hope the pictures help and hopefully this is a minor problem for Kasumi... I hope she gets better so I can play with her again  she looks sooooo sad it is breaking my heart. Thank you to anyone....


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Looks like she is shedding her slime coat. She may be stressing out due to all of the water changes and being in the cup. Since she wasn't sick when she was put in there, she's probably more upset over that- as usually with sick fish going into cups, they are not feeling well enough to care as much. 
When you're doing the water changes each day, how are you acclimating them to the new water and the temp of the new water?

Also, when you change the water in the cups, do you see a lot of bubbles in the cup afterwards? It could be dissolved gasses, which can cause slime coats to lift. 

But in this case, it may just be due to stress- which is also what could be causing her to not eat and clamp up. She's tired of the cup and daily water changes and wants to go home. I would get them back into the tank soon if you can.
It is none of the diseases that you listed. It's just her slime coat, and that in itself isn't dangerous.


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## Larsa (May 6, 2011)

Awwes I dont blame her from being in that stupid cup... 

What I do is I get my new cup of warm water, conditioned, and I take some of her old water out and then add some of her new water into her old water that she is in. Then after 15 mins I take a net and put her in her new water. Thank you, however, she really seems sick  Her eyes look sunken-in like they are going inside her skull a little bit. My other 2 fish before, Natsuko and Sakura showed this sign before they died. If you really think it'll help to put the girls back in their tank, I can but them back home however their tank has new plants, new substrate, new everything and has only been running with the heater and filteron for a little over a day. I can float them in their cups


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Float them in their cups to keep them warm.. could take weeks to cycle  I would ask Oldfishlady how soon it would be safe to return them into the tank with the new plants in. She'll know how fast the tank will cycle and can recommend you more on how and when.
She may also know more about any illnesses that causes eyes to sink in, as all the cases I know of, illnesses and injuries, the eyes don't sink in. So that, I'm at a loss for, I'm sorry.


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## finekettleoffish (Jul 8, 2011)

It's columnaris; read my post New Mom Needs Advice. It kills quickly, and I just lost my beloved Raoul. I wish someone could have diagnosed it for me and saved him 

First, keep the temp around 74 degrees and add aquarium salt to help your fish fight the infection and breathe better. Read this article and decide on medication. But you must use antibiotics immediately. Quit using the net, too; you're giving the bacteria opportunities to spread through abrasions and stressing your fish.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

She has no signs of columnaris- what that is, is excess slime coating, it's not fungus.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

When misty had columnaris, I did notice that her eyes were also sunken in a bit. However she did not have bits floating off her like that. What she did get was bands of white scales that were eventually eaten away by bacteria. Although Myates is probably right, i would keep a eye on her.


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## finekettleoffish (Jul 8, 2011)

Columnaris is bacteria, not fungus. The most commonly observed and treatable form of columnaris often presents itself as stringy white, grey or off-white "wool" on the fish's face, mouth, or gills. The ulcers tikibird mentioned appear at a late stage. The floating bits are excess mucus expelled from the gills.

Mistaking columnaris (easily caught by fish during stressful experiences like shipping and living in one of those small store cups) made me inadvertently kill my fish by raising the water temp (fungus), as opposed to lowering it for a bacterial infection.

From Wikipedia:

Symptoms

An infection will usually first manifest in fish by causing frayed and ragged fins. This is followed by the appearance of ulcerations on the skin, and subsequent epidermal loss, identifiable as white or cloudy fungus-like patches – particularly on the gill filaments. Mucus often also accumulates on the gills, head and dorsal regions. Gills will change colour, either becoming light or dark brown. Fish will breathe rapidly and laboriously as a sign of gill damage. Inappetance and lethargy are common, as are mortalities – especially in young fish.

If this doesn't sound like your fish, then good luck. But if your fish dies in a few days and that white stuff is all over it, most likely it was columnaris.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

The girl has been living in the cup for a while now close to 2+ weeks- was deemed healthy a few times during that time for different reasons, by others, including OFL. Why I think it's more due to stress rather than an illness, especially since she's been in just the cup, with daily water changes for almost 2 weeks, if not more.

Not saying there couldn't be a slight chance- but a lot of times excess stress will cause them to shed extra slime coating. Being in a super clean envirotment really isn't idea for diseases to grow in.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

finekettleoffish said:


> Columnaris is bacteria, not fungus. The most commonly observed and treatable form of columnaris often presents itself as stringy white, grey or off-white "wool" on the fish's face, mouth, or gills. The ulcers tikibird mentioned appear at a late stage. The floating bits are excess mucus expelled from the gills.
> 
> Mistaking columnaris (easily caught by fish during stressful experiences like shipping and living in one of those small store cups) made me inadvertently kill my fish by raising the water temp (fungus), as opposed to lowering it for a bacterial infection.
> 
> ...


If I had any belief that it was columnaris, I would be the first one jumping in to give the proper treatment. But with the history of this girl, the enviroment, etc.. not even the good bacteria has time to grow. Sadly, this girl will pass more from stress and not having proper water conditions (even with daily water changes in small cup) before she will die of columnaris.

Also, when a fish passes, the coating and such comes off so there will always be a white-milky fungus type covering.


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## Brian10962001 (Nov 1, 2011)

If you treat for Columnaris now it won't hurt a thing. That bacteria is the devil I just lost a male crown tail and a female to it before I realized what it was! I thought the male had swim bladder  He ended up with an ulcer below his gills and a white "string" coming out all within 24 hours! Go ahead and treat with tetracyclin or erythromycin. I used this and a combination of Jungle Fungus to treat a female I picked up at Wal Mart with bad fin rot and the same white cloudy patches and she's doing great now (looks like a different fish). I also just treated a female who actually did have swim bladder with epsom salt, she's doing fine in the sorority, the symptoms were quite different she had full energy just couldn't keep herself under water.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

White string most likely parasites..

I'm sorry, but my almost two decades of experience with fish is saying that this girl needs anything but harsh medicinal treatments such as that. She has had no prior illnesses, has been in a cup for a long time, longer then most at the stores, has been given clean water every day. Doing the medication on her will do more harm then any good.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Larsa, how many days has it been since you noticed the fluffy stuff on Kasumi? Have you noticed the fluffy stuff spreading rapidly? In columnaris, the cottony patches will grow and spread quite quickly. Also, the patches don't tend to fall off. There are other symptoms that definitely identify columnaris and fortunately, Kasumi isn't displaying any of them. I think Myates is right, Kasumi is simply rather stressed right now. 

I don't believe you need to medicate her. Just as in humans, too much medication can be detrimental. It will cause the fish to become resistant to the medication so any further treatment will be ineffective. Truly, I think Kasumi and the other girls are okay, just stressed. Go ahead and return them to their big sorority tank. They'll be just fine and I think you will find their behavior will improve once they have some space to swim in.


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## Brian10962001 (Nov 1, 2011)

Any updates on her condition?


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## Larsa (May 6, 2011)

lol yeah XD That day I got the first few posts, I added her back home with her sisters. She and her sissies like freaked out at their home's makeover with all the new plants and rocks. Surprise for them! :3 At first she hid and stayed at the bottom for a while, but the next day she was totally normal and hyper again! I think maybe she was just shedding her slime coat and wanted to go home  After I put her in her clean water the slimy fuzzy stuff went away and I have not seen anything in over a week. I didnt even use AQ salt on her ^-^ Shes playing _right_ now, inspecting a rock- trying to hunt for food 0.0 pecking around the tank. LOLz She like to jump up and bit my finger again too so I know shes happy and healthy! Im gonna keep a good eye on her, b shes ok now!  thank you guys so much for your concern, I really appreciate it!


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## mjoy79 (Jul 13, 2011)

Glad she's doing well and your sorority is back in business


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Glad to hear she's doing better and they are back in their homes 
Sometimes, not doing anything can help more then doing too much of something. 
Best of wishes and hope they stay happy and healthy for years to come for you.


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## Brian10962001 (Nov 1, 2011)

What causes them to shed their slime coat like this? Is it just from changes in water conditions, I could see salinity causing this, possibly their coat needing to adjust to these changes.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Stress, gas build up in water, some form of toxins in the water that the betta is trying to protect itself from by creating extra coating.. those are the usual suspects in excess slime coating.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm glad to hear Kasumi and the girls are doing great, Larsa.


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