# Weird milky white/iridescent strands



## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

Sorry if this is nothing, I'm just worried because my last betta died in two days of columnaris 

Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? The thermometer says 75, but the heater's set on 80. Idk which one is broken
Does your tank have a filter? Not using it atm
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Diatom algae floating on the top. Ew.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets and Flakes.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, 3-4 pellets in the morning, 4-5 flakes right before my dinnertime.

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 25% per day because of floating algae, except Mondays and Thursdays, when I do 50% and 100% respectively.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? See above.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I use gallons jugs filled with water for changes, half have Prime and half have Stress Coat, so his tank is half and half.

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

Ammonia: 0.25ppm (Ammonium)
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Earlier, he had some weird milky white iridescent strands flowing off of his caudal fin. They looked a bit like spider webs. But when he swims quickly, they fell off and were just floating suspended in the water column. I've attached pictures of the strands floating. They are no longer on his caudal fin from what I can see. He has new growth on his caudal fin, both the rays and the parts in between them. I thought he had a white spot on the frontmost part of both his dorsal and anal fins, but as I looked closer for longer, I realized the white spot on his dorsal was clear and had a new ray coming out of it. Do crowntails grow new rays? The "white" spot on his anal fin upon further inspection was turquoise and iridescent, so I think it's his coloring becoming brighter. He also has a tiny turquoise spot on his right pectoral that I originally thought was white. Do their pectorals change color too?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? It hasn't. He's very active and likes to be a little piggy at feeding time
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 30 minutes ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I know of.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I just bought him on Sunday.

The floating strands are next to the reflection of my cell phone camera's lens in the first picture and in the middle of the second picture.


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

I wanted to edit, but it wouldn't let me. I was going to add that a few of his rays are bent the wrong way at the ends and it looks like he was a tail-biter at the store, both probably because his cup was super tiny


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

It could be slime coat sloughing off.. Is there anything in the water that could be irritating him? Because of which he's producing excess slime coat.. Like aquarium salt maybe? Can you put up some photos of your betta? Some pics would help..
Rays can grow back.. Like any betta's fins grow back.


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

The only thing I can think of that would be bothering him is the algae, since he has to touch it when he goes up to breathe. There have never been any salts or medicines in my tank, only water and conditioner.

Here are the pics:
In the first, you can see the algae at the top of the water, the white-looking spot on his pectoral (I said right, but really it's his left), new growth (?), bent rays, and tail-bitten tail (?).
In the second, you can see the turquoise spot at the front of the anal that I originally thought was white (all the turquoise that's there now wasn't there yesterday or Sunday), and his tail-bitten tail (?).


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

OH NO! I just went back over to look at him and he has a pale, thin, spiral-shaped thing sticking out of him from in between his ventral and anal fins! Parasite?  I tried getting a picture, but it's too small and my phone camera won't focus on it.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

It could be poo.. What colour is it? :/


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

It was white and corkscrew-shaped.


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

White sounds like parasites. Although could be the colour of the food he ate.. What was he fed? Did it fall off? Go back in?


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

You know what, Smellsfishie had a beta that had similar symptoms.. The white tufts floating an parasites. You could PM her and ask her what she did since she has first hand experience.


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

I don't know what it did, I had to go to dinner, and it was gone when I got back. His food is brown/red. He's still eating normally and some more white stuff just came off of him. Thank you, I'll PM her right away!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

You're welcome.  Keep me posted!


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## smellsfishie (Apr 14, 2011)

hiii...  could be slime coat and/or internal parasites. The white "poo" could be poo or a parasite depending on if it moves or not. I treated my betta with API General Cure and kept him in a bare bottom tank so i could monitor if he was pooping or not. It seemed to do the trick. Good luck!


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

Thank you! I don't have a second tank, I have some 5.2 cup tupperware containers. Could I keep him in one of those and float him in his tank? If so, how long should I keep him in there? And what does a normal betta poop look like?


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## smellsfishie (Apr 14, 2011)

Normal betta poop is brown and sometimes looks like a ball of mini dog poo. You could prob use the tupperware or a glass container as long as it has not been washed with soap. You can buy kritter keepers cheap at walmart or a pet store, too. That's where I house my sick bettas or fish I am QT'ing.


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## walle (Aug 29, 2011)

Ok, I can't go to a store until Sunday when my boyfriend visits, so I'll check out the price then. I'm a poor college student, haha. I think Gustav'll be fine until then. He's still eating normally and starting to respond to me when I talk to him, and I think he might've built a miniature bubble nest in a corner!  Thank you so much for your help!


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