# White string coming from bettas underside???



## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

there is a weird white string coming from my bettas underside, he is lethargic and isn't really eating. Help!
He seems to be moving around a bit more than yesterday though.
I've only had him for a few days, he ate the first two days I had him but hasn't eaten today or yesterday.
Temp is 80
Parameters are all good.


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Hi there Visionist sorry to you hear your Betta is having some problems. I am sure the other members can give you some advise on how to help him, while you wait for other members to come along and help if you could please fill out this form that would be most useful so the members will have more information about your Betta...Thanks and I hope he feels better soon. 

Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
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?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximate


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

Housing 
What size is your tank? 8g
What temperature is your tank? 80f
Does your tank have a filter? fluval mini submersible
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Filter does this
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 3 ghost shrimp

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One flakes
How often do you feed your betta fish? Every day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 30/40% weekly, 50% twice in the past few days
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Nutrafin Water conditioner

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White string
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Lethargic
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No

__________________


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

I bought some aquarium salt. Is there anything else I should get.


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## willyblue (Apr 13, 2013)

You should use maracyn2 or plus,, that should help you out, its symtomatic of a digestive issue.. dont wait to long.. if he is eating your good , one they stop eating your gonna have a problem.. just follow instructions..


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

willyblue said:


> You should use maracyn2 or plus,, that should help you out, its symtomatic of a digestive issue.. dont wait to long.. if he is eating your good , one they stop eating your gonna have a problem.. just follow instructions..


I bought tetra fungus guard. No pet store here has any maracyn products. Fungus guard says to treat bacterial and fungus problems.


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

Definitely some kind of fungus, he now has a few white fuzzy patches on him. I assume the white string is him being slightly constipated as he looks a little bloated.
Did a 40% water change then added the medication, the water turned green from it but otherwise everything seems to be fine.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

The white string is probably internal parasites. What Jungle fungus clear? They sell that at Walmart. That would treat the initial fungus problem. It worked for sick female I had in quarantine. I added triple sulfa thereafter. You normally would treat the parasites with metranidizole. However, if your fish is fuzzy that is the outright immediate challenge that must be treated immediately. You could attack that first with the Jungle fungus clear and Triple sulfa and get the parasites once your fish is recovering from that.


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

jadaBlu said:


> The white string is probably internal parasites. What Jungle fungus clear? They sell that at Walmart. That would treat the initial fungus problem. It worked for sick female I had in quarantine. I added triple sulfa thereafter. You normally would treat the parasites with metranidizole. However, if your fish is fuzzy that is the outright immediate challenge that must be treated immediately. You could attack that first with the Jungle fungus clear and Triple sulfa and get the parasites once your fish is recovering from that.


Like I said, I got Tetra fungus guard and I have put it in the tank already. There is also fungus on my aquarium plants now, I'm hoping that the fungus medication + my shrimp will take care of the plant fungus as well...


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

I managed to remove the white string, I got him into his net and slid my finger along his bottom, dislodging whatever it was, it was sticky, kind of like snot.
Currently he is staying at the top of the tank breathing only atmospheric oxygen it seems, maybe the medication makes it a bit more difficult to breathe. Either way he seems a bit more energetic.
It also seems that the fungus has started to cause minor fin rot, the ends of part of his tail are red, along with one of his pectoral fins.
Now that I look, you can actually see the redness in the first picture I posted.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I have found an airstone does help when they hang at the surface vs none. Antibiotics reduce atmospheric oxygen. I have tried it both ways and have much, much better results with an airstone. Also slowing reducing the temp to 78 will slow down bacterial growth.


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

This is what my betta now looks like, there also appears to be very light fuzzy fungus on the ends of his tail as well.
You can see the red bits as well as the blob of fungus


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## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

I would continue to use medication along with Epsom salt . Epsom salt will help with constipation. If he has white,clear,stringy poo it can be internal parasites and epsom salt will help to purge them out. So i would use Epsom along with medications.
I agree that medications reduce atmospheric oxygen so if you can find an airstone it will help.
Also is he eating? If he is eating it better chance to get out internal parasites, because they pass it with poop.
If you will get Epsom that you can find at any pharmacy department pre mix it first and make sure it dissolved and don;t have salt crystals. Pre mix 2 tsp/gall for the first day and then increase up to 3tsp/gall.
I would do 100% daily water changes though.


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

ANHEL123 said:


> I would continue to use medication along with Epsom salt . Epsom salt will help with constipation. If he has white,clear,stringy poo it can be internal parasites and epsom salt will help to purge them out. So i would use Epsom along with medications.
> I agree that medications reduce atmospheric oxygen so if you can find an airstone it will help.
> Also is he eating? If he is eating it better chance to get out internal parasites, because they pass it with poop.
> If you will get Epsom that you can find at any pharmacy department pre mix it first and make sure it dissolved and don;t have salt crystals. Pre mix 2 tsp/gall for the first day and then increase up to 3tsp/gall.
> I would do 100% daily water changes though.


I can't do 100% daily water changes with the medication though.
Also he doesn't seem to be making much progress on the fungus, there is still a lot of fuzzyness on him and its been 3 days since he started medication.


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## Visionist (Mar 30, 2013)

He seems to be getting worse, it looks like his scales are starting to stick out slightly(dropsy maybe?) the fungus isn't going away, infact I just noticed some more fungus coming from his gill. His fins aren't looking any better either. I'm not sure what could be causing all of this..
Parasites-drop immune system and cause him not to eat
Fungus appeared from lower immune system and fin rot started from fungus?
This all happened over a few days, came out of no where.


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

White fuzz is often Columnaris. And Tetra Fungus Guard contains nitrofurazone, which is an antibiotic that is good at treating Columnaris. 

Since he's been in the Fungus Guard for 3 days, there is something else going on.

If you can get ahold of Kanaplex (kanamycin), that would be a good antibiotic. It treats a wide range of bacterial infections, and acts internally, as well as externally.... However, it's not available at petstores like Petco or Petsmart, so you would either need to find a good petstore or order it online.

I would not use an airstone. A lot of bacteria (including the one that causes Columnaris) are aerobic, and multiply faster when given additional oxygen. 

Since he's starting to pinecone, I would add Epsom salt. This will help draw out the excess fluid that he's retaining.

Epsom salt is available at supermarkets and pharmacies (but not petstores). Look for 100% magnesium sulfate. (No dyes, additives or perfumes.)

I would start him out at a dosage of 0.5 teaspoons Epsom per gallon. (Make sure the salt is completely dissolved!) 

Generally, I advise an increase of 0.5 teaspoons Epsom salt every 12 hours, until a maximum dosage of 3 teaspoons per gallon is achieved. This would be:
Initial: 0.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
12 hours: 1 teaspoon Epsom salt / gal
24 hours (1 day): 1.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
36 hours: 2 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
48 hours (2 days): 2.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
60 hours: 3 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon

However, if his condition is going downhill rapidly, you may want to ramp up the dosage increases. You could do them, say, every 6-8 hours apart. For example: 
Initial: 0.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
6 hours: 1 teaspoon Epsom salt / gal
12 hours: 1.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
18 hours: 2 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
24 hours (1 days): 2.5 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon
30 hours: 3 teaspoons Epsom salt / gallon

Can you get ahold of an antiparasitical medication? Something like API General Cure, which contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel would be good. 

You can combine Kanaplex, Tetra Fungus Guard, Epsom salt and API General Cure all together.


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