# white stuff on mouth



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

About a week or more ago, I saw a white puffy thing on my betta's lip that would sometimes go inside his mouth when he ate. The next day it was gone, but I have started to notice that it looks like his lips aren't like they should be. I wouldn't exactly say that it looks like they're being eaten away, but they don't look normal. I guess maybe they don't stick out like they should. He acts fine though.


----------



## orphansparrow (Apr 30, 2011)

hi lablover - will you fill out the sticky at the top, and post that here? we could help you better that way.


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Housing 
What size is your tank? *10 gal*
What temperature is your tank? *not sure*
Does your tank have a filter? *yes*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? *not sure, but water is circulated so does that count?*
Is your tank heated? *no, other than 2 15w bulbs* 
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? *neons, glow lites, and a corie*

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? *simple tropical fish flakes*
How often do you feed your betta fish? *once a day*

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? *25%*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? *nothing other than stuff to take chlorine out*

Water Parameters: *not been tested*
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *white stuff on lips at first, and now it looks like they've been eaten away a bit and are lighter in color*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? *hasn't changed much at all*
When did you start noticing the symptoms? *over a week ago*
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? *added aquarium salt*
Does your fish have any history of being ill? *no*
How old is your fish (approximately)? *only had him about a month*


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

bumping this up in case anyone can help.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

okay, what you have sounds to me like a small bout of columnaris/cotton mouth... It is treatable, though it can be nasty if it comes back and doesn't get treated.

(I'll touch up on the treatment in a second, but first you need a few basic tips) Simply to maintain the health of your fish, you are going to need to add an adjustable subermsible heater to keep the tank a steady 78-80 degrees F. Instable temperatures cause immune systems to drop and illnesses to be contracted. On top of that, your tank sounds overstocked and under cleaned. In a normal 10 gallon, you'd need to do a t least a 50% weekly water change if your tank is cycled . If not cycled, you'd need the occasional 100% water change as well...

Will you please tell me how many of each type of fish there are in there? 

Okay, on to columnaris treatment. While it might not be visible, you might want to treat him with a home remedy just in case it is still there...You're first going to need to stablize the temperatures (get a heater!). I would also highly advise removing your boy from the tank and floating him in it inside a relatively large tubberware in clean water with 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon. Be sure to do a 100% water change each day. Do this for about a week. While doing so, monitor your other fish for any symptoms similar to that.


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Oh dear, I was afraid of cottonmouth. 
I have 3 neons and 3 glowlites with 1 corie.

I put this subject on the betta fish care forum and there's pictures there. i also have a video, but it's not that great. Now it looks like his lips have a very small sore on them, there's more white to them, and he doesn't want to eat. He still swims around like he's fine though.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Okay... stocking wise, I would have to say that you need to do a bit of re adjusting when possible. Cories need to be in groups of 4, and neons in groups of 6. I'm not too familiar with glowlites, could you maybe show me a pic of them? However, either way you'd end up being overstocked if you were to stock correctly, so you're in a bit of a pickle.

However, we really need to adress the columnaris. Go ahead and do what I had previously posted. I know heaters can be pretty expensive (around 25$), but you really need to buy one ASAP. Make sure the tubberware that you put him in is filled with clean dechlorinated water when you float it in the tank. (if the tubberware ends up moving too much, you can tape it to the side of the tank with scotch tape)

1 tsp of aquarium salt (not the same thing as table salt) should be dissolved into 1 gallon of dechlorinated water. Use this water to fill up the tubberware.

*the tubberware should have a little number on the bottom surrounded by the recycle symbol. Make sure whatever tubberware you use has a 5, and is (preferably) more shallow and wide than tall and deep.


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Ok, I do have a heater, but it's not adjustable. How large does the tupperware need to be? So all I need to do is treat it with aquarium salt?

Here's a link to info about glowlights. They're basically red neons, and mine all hang together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemigrammus_erythrozonus

I have a video I will post in a few minutes.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Do you know how many watts the heater is? And is there any way you could get something (Be it a meat thermometer, etc) that you can check the water temp with?

Salt is a gentler form of treatment , and ought work, but you'll need to slowly raise the salinity to about 2 tsps of salt per gallon over the next day. Meds will work, but I'm hesitant to use them. The tubberware needs to be large enough to hold him and give him room to swim. Honestly, the larger the better, but it doesn't have to be insanely large. 

If you have a clean sterlite tubberware and a spare heater, you set it up like a hospital tank and could move him to that.


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

I'll have to find the heater, and get another thermometer. (Mine broke) Thank you so much for helping me.


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Okay, the heater is 7.5 watts.

How do i increase the salt level? Here's a video of him. http://s1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc512/tugger10/?action=view&current=bettas.mp4


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

I put him in a floating container last night and put the heater in the tank. Now I need to know when and how to change the salt level of his water.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm sorry this is late (I'm in school).

Your heater needs to be changed out for something larger. heaters are typically 5 watts per gallon in order to do any good at all (so a 50 watt heater for your 10 gallon). You could buy an aqueon 50 watt heater from petsmart for about 25$. It's honestly worth the investment, because with heaters, you get what you pay for.

One way would be to, mix up a batch of 1 and a half tsp of aq salt per gallon, and then do a water change and replace with the new saltier water. In a few hours, mix up a new batch of water (2 tsps of aq salt per gallon) and do another 100% water change.

Another way to fix it would be if you know exactly how much water is in the tubberware. Figure out how much of a gallon it would be (as an example, let's just say it is 1/4th a gallon), and then dose the tank with 1/4th a tsp of aq salt -that would equate to 1 tsp of salt per gallon. Later, remove a tiny bit of the water from the tubberware into a small cup. Mix an additional 1/8th a tsp into the water (be sure to dissolve properly), and then add it back in. That would bring the salinity up to 1 and 1/2 tsp of salt per gallon. Later, remove some water into the same cup and mix an additional 1/8th a tsp of salt into it and then pour back in. Now your fish would be in 2 tsps of salt per gallon. (*I really hope this makes sense. If not, just ask and I'll try to rephrase*)


----------



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Don't worry about, I'm out of school today. 

Okay, I'll get a bigger heater. The first way is much easier, but the second way totally made sense.

Thanks again.. I'm so worried about him.


----------

