# Help my fish! Fuzzy growth on fins (fins ONLY!)



## Siigari

Help! My fish Midnight has recently developed fuzzy fins. I don't know how or why. I will try to explain as much as I can.

Housing 
What size is your tank? 10 gallons
What temperature is your tank? Between 74 and 80 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Huh?
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets and frozen bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, 3 pellets or 2 bloodworms. Once in the morning and once in the evening.

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20-30%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? TopFin Betta Water Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite: Dunno
Nitrate: Dunno
pH: Approx. 7.0
Hardness: Dunno
Alkalinity: Dunno

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Fuzzy growth on fins
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Not at all. Still very alert, very friendly.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Performed a large water change yesterday.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? 6-7 months?



Please help my fish. He is still as happy as can be, but his look worries me. I SHOULD ADD: there is a greenish algae growing in various parts of my tank. I have one Lucky Bamboo plant in the tank with a ceramic pot and rocks in it. The plant has a bit of the algae growing on it. The ceramic pot itself has the slight green algae like substance growing on it, as do both of the seashells in the tank. I have a net over the filter output to minimize current that is also green with the algae-like substance which I have washed in warm water and replaced.

Please help! Thank you.


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## Mo

Could it be any of the below 



*Fin Rot Information*

*Symptoms*
-Ripped tails, bloodshot, black edged, or has a fuzzy white appearance in the edge
-The Betta will become unusually inactive 
-Won't eat
-Looks pale, and looses lots of color

*Causes*
This profilic disease is caused by stressful water conditions primarily but here are a few main examples of the conditions it is most likely found in

-Poor water quality with unacceptable amounts of ammonia, along with nitrites and nitrates
-Nippy tankmates
-Incompatible tankmates
-Tailbiting
-Plastic plants ripping fins constantly
-Over feeding 
-Over crowding
-Sometimes after a disease, while the bettas immune system is low it can strike unexpectedly 

*Treatment*

This disease is most commonly treated with mainly

-daily water changes of around 25-50 so more diseases dont settle in while the Betta is vulnerable
-a high quality fin rot treatment. Use tetracycline or Ampicillin for the best possible results

*Prevention*
-Keep the water clean
-don't over feed
-choose the right tankmates
-make sure that the bettas fins are always in the best shape
-keep the water heated
-change the water weekly




*Fungal Disease Information*

*Symptoms*
White, or fuzzy growths on the outside of fish
Fish has become less active
Won't eat
Diluted colors
Patches of white

*Treatment*
This disease is very common with stressed fish and is cured with Higher levels of added salt, easing the temperature within the tank to 80 will also help. But no higher than 82. If the disease progresses then invest in a high quality fungus treatment to help aid the treatment, if that doesn't work then I highly suggest that you either euthanize the fish or heavily Medicate, sterilize, and heat the temp even higher within the tank

*Cause*
There are many factors to what causes this specific disease but it's similar to many others. 
-poor water quality, like high ammonia, and nitrites along with unecxeptable Amounts of nitrates
-stressful tankmates and constant nipping
-being battered around by flow
-not acclimated properly
-stressful housing
Are all main factors to the disease as they all lead to a lored immune system which leaves all fish helpless towards all diseases

*Prevention*
-keep water clean
-keep the stress to minimal amounts
-keep water heated
-choose acceptable tank mates
-provide enough cover
-give your Betta enough room to swim and spread its fins. Ideally 2.5 gallons


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## Siigari

Okay I'm not sure. His fins are slightly ripped and frayed, it could possibly be fin rot. But there is white fuzzy stuff ON them. So I'm not sure. Could you please re-evaluate based on the photo? You can see the white stuff surrounding parts of his fins. A good example is the selection where his fin intersects the plant leaf. That big patch of white is what is growing on him.


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## Mo

It seems like to be a fungal infection starting in the fin. For treatment I would raise the temperature to 82, clean water daily, an anti fungal treatment, along with a dose of aquarium salt


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## Olympia

Do NOT raise the temperature. Fungus thrives in warm water and that will only worsen it. Your tank seems to have a wide temp. swing. Keep it steady at 76-78F for now. 
You have to QT him. Meds can ruin a cycle, and salt will kill plants you have in the tank.


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## Siigari

How do I QT him? Also I have set the temp to 76.

Edit: Please guide me through the process for my fish. I want to do it right and not kill him. I have never had a pet before of my very own so I want to be sure I do this right!


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## Olympia

Find a container that can hold 1-2 gallons of water, rinse it really well if you've ever held stuff in it. Better yet, go find one new somewhere. Plastic containers should be rated Food Grade if you want it to be fish safe, or you can buy a cheap plastic bowl. 

I just noticed you have seashells in your tank.. Where did you find these? Take them out, most every shell will make water hard, which slows down their fin growth. 
Is part of your bamboo sticking out of the water? Bamboo has to have it's leaves out of the water, or it'll rot.. If you can't get it to stick out of the water, just take it out and put it in a vase.

You've had him long enough that your tank is mostly likely cycled, whether you know it or not. As long as you never change all the filter media out of the filter, it should be cycled. However, take some tank water to a pet store, they will test it for you for free. Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and keep that in mind for us.

Trust me, crowntail fins can be such a pain to regrow ;( 
Once you have him QT'd, buy some "Aquarium Salt" at a pet store, most have it, it's pretty cheap. (Do not buy marine salt, it is totally different and for ocean fish). 
You will want to stir in 1 teaspoon per every gallon of water (so in your QT container, 1-2 teaspoons). And of course conditioner. Acclimate him into the water for 15-20 minutes before putting him in. You will want to change 100% of this water DAILY. If you can keep the water at 76F without a heater, that's fine.. Otherwise, you may want to buy a small heater, or with a plastic container, you can just float it inside the fish tank (attach it so it doesn't tip over) and the heat will pass through.

For your tank, what kind of plants do you have in it? It's normal to have some algae, how long do you leave the aquarium light on daily?
Since I'm assuming it's cycled, a good treatment option would be to buy Pimafix and treat your empty tank with it, as directed.. This should bring down any large fungus populations floating in the tank. At the end of the treatment, change 50% of your tank water before putting him back in once he's better. 
If you buy your QT tank a separate heater, you should turn off your main tank heater, the lower temperature will kill off the fungus much better.


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## Siigari

Okay here are a couple more pictures. Trying to figure out exactly what this is so anything helps!

There are a couple pictures of Midnight by himself and then one of him next to his water heater. Note the grey stuff on the heater, which is also on the suction cups. He spends a lot of time there at night when he sleeps if he doesn't sleep next to the lucky bamboo.

Thanks!


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## GaspeGirl

I just posted with a very similar problem with my crowntail, Anthony! 

There were two small balls of white fuzz on the tips of his fins and to my dismay it seems as though those tips with the fuzz fell off last night even before I could treat it. When I pulled it out of the tank it kind of melted away and only the detached fin tips were still there! I don't know what it was. But I did get all the meds recommended and I was to start with AQ salt. I think a person has to catch something like this in the early stages. I lowered the temp in my 16g from 80F to 79F and I will be doing his treatment in his hospital tank floating in the big tank. Now I understand I should go even lower to combat the fungus, or is it tail rot??

BTW, your Midnight has equally beautiful finnage! They could almost be bros!


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## Mo

Olympia said:


> Do NOT raise the temperature. Fungus thrives in warm water and that will only worsen it. Your tank seems to have a wide temp. swing. Keep it steady at 76-78F for now.
> You have to QT him. Meds can ruin a cycle, and salt will kill plants you have in the tank.


How will raising the temperature negatively affect the fish and result in the heightened amount of fungal attacks. Raising the temperature to 80 will infact help with the disease without resulting in the fungus getting worse. While warming the tank too high can result in the fungus progressing further. A lower temperature that is out if a Betta fish's prefered range such as 76 will have same or similar effects In My Experience. Also how will medicine ruin the cycle? Can you elaborate on this please. I don't see any potential with ruining the cycle. Perhaps you are confusing the medicine not working in tanks with activate carbon. Another thing, are you aware if the plant in the tank? I doubt. Are you aware if which pant are salt tolerant. There are a few species of given plants that can survived in a marine environment, there are ones that can suricate In an alkaline hard one. They can all tolerate a different range of salt additives. Plant such as hornwort won't do well in salt tanks while others will do fairly fine with added levels of salt. Why should the OP QT him, keeping him in an abnormal tank setting will only stress him further which in then would result in the disease progressing further, do ideally you would want to keep the fish in its normal tank along with treating the whole tank as there is a slight possibility of the other fish having the same disease or other diseases


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## Siigari

Well I got him anti-fungus medicine in his tank and it worked! Even after only one day he looks MUCH better. The fungus seems to have almost disappeared completely. There's a little bit left on one of his fins. I will be continuing the treatment (it goes for I think 3 or 4 days) but I am so thrilled. He looks full and vibrant already.


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## Olympia

Mo said:


> How will raising the temperature negatively affect the fish and result in the heightened amount of fungal attacks. Raising the temperature to 80 will infact help with the disease without resulting in the fungus getting worse. While warming the tank too high can result in the fungus progressing further. A lower temperature that is out if a Betta fish's prefered range such as 76 will have same or similar effects In My Experience. Also how will medicine ruin the cycle? Can you elaborate on this please. I don't see any potential with ruining the cycle. Perhaps you are confusing the medicine not working in tanks with activate carbon. Another thing, are you aware if the plant in the tank? I doubt. Are you aware if which pant are salt tolerant. There are a few species of given plants that can survived in a marine environment, there are ones that can suricate In an alkaline hard one. They can all tolerate a different range of salt additives. Plant such as hornwort won't do well in salt tanks while others will do fairly fine with added levels of salt. Why should the OP QT him, keeping him in an abnormal tank setting will only stress him further which in then would result in the disease progressing further, do ideally you would want to keep the fish in its normal tank along with treating the whole tank as there is a slight possibility of the other fish having the same disease or other diseases


-sigh- yes many medicines do eliminate bacteria, including BB, which can ruin a cycle or cause a mini cycle 
The person said they have bamboo in their tank. Bamboo is not salt tolerant.
And water changes are much easier to do, keeping water pristine in a smaller tank.


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## Mo

Can you please specify? I can't think of any that would have an adverse effect. Maybe an over dosed certain types of medicines with harmful substances might. But at any type of over dose, there is a risk such as killing the fish, etc. depending on what type of medication. So if you stay at the recommended dose, there should be know adverse effects. Possibly you are referring to most packages saying, and recommending to remove activated carbon which is sometimes found in filter cartridges. They recommend this due to the fact of activated carbon eliminating most medications

Also changing the habitat drastically would further result in the disease progressing further if it is stress or lowered immune system related. As changing the tank would cause both resulting in the disease getting worse. While water changes would be easier in a small tank, there also could be a negative ending result of both cupping the fish too often during water changes and drastically changing its habitat

Also, actually lucky bamboo. Which is type of Dracaena are slightly salt tolerant so the amount of salt that is added will differently affect the plant depending on how much is added. So while they are only tolerant to a certain level, they still can grow healthy with a low added salt amount contained within the area. So the information regarding them being non salt tolerant is very innacurate


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## Olympia

"Many medications affect the ability of the bacteria to function in the biological filtration. For instance, anti-bacterial medications act in the way the name describes, by killing many types of bacteria. Unfortunately, the biological filtration is bacteria-based, and will be affected by these medications. Other medications such as copper, antibiotics, and ich treatments will also affect the filtration in different degrees. It is important, when treating an aquarium, to closely monitor both the ammonia and nitrite levels and to perform water changes or chemical filtration when necessary."
Makes sense to me. Our bio filters run with small icky things, meds kill small icky things.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2154&aid=2657

"Oh boy! That doesn't look good. I'm sorry but you're probably going to have to start cycling all over again as most antifungals and antibacterial meds also kill the good bacteria. Is there any way you could get pure ammonia?" - quote thekoimaiden, who's opinion I trust greatly, when I was having problems with my cycle. 

And IMO pristine water that is changed daily prevents illnesses from progressing, but maybe that's just me.

And why risk adding salt in that case?


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## Mo

Pristine water will not block any diseases from forming, a most are always and always will be in your water such as ich, it wil most likely be contained in your water. Yet wil only attack when the immune system of the fish is low enough, changing the tank will lower the immune system further. And while some diseases can be prevented by clean water, it can also result in an adverse effect In this situation

Also. These copper, antibacterial, etc medications have had no adverse effect on my cycle, partly due to the ability of the Benificial bacterial ability to withstand a range of given environments, while they can't survive without water, or a source of food. They can cursive in virtually any habitat. A low PH a high PH, a low hardness, a high hardness, a freshwater tank, a saltwater tank. So I'm assuming that they will do fine with the recommended doses of most medications. This is also mostly from experience, so I would stand by my personal experience in this case. I had no ammonia, or nitrites spikes, and the same amount of steady nitrates within my aquarium. Also, copper will not have any substantial negative effect towards the filters benificial bacteria, while once to a certain level it will. The recommended dose given by most medications is a safe dose. I speak from experience, having a fertilizer that contains high levels of copper dosing x2 weekly with no adverse effects on my invertibrates, tetras, and bacteria. Another thing. when Reading your post I notice the fact it sais _antibacterial_ medications can have this adverse effect, I had previously said I can't think of any that would cause this adverse effect pressumably speaking of anifungal treatments which is what we a aiming to use in this situation, which usually don't have any abnormal effects towards the benificial bacteria.


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