# white fuzz everywhere in my tank??



## cpaananen

Hey y'all
I am new to owning a fish so please don't jump all over me if I'm doing something wrong here, I just need help.. With that being said, my betta is a bright red and shiny blue Veiltale Male named MJ. He was absolutely beautiful when I got him, but I think he had a slight case of finrot when I purchased him from Petco. I got him just over a month ago. When I first got him he was doing AWESOME! Everytime I would change his water, he would build me a new bubble nest. He was super active and swam around alot, and he ate like a pig (the little amount of food I give him that is).. But then I noticed that his fins were clumped together at the end more than usual, and a little torn and they were getting smaller. I read that this is probably fin rot? So I ordered some medicine online for that. Before it got here though, he got way worse.. He lost his color and turned a dark purple/black color mostly around his head, and his chin area by his gills turned a white-ish grey color. He stopped swimming around and started sitting at the bottom of the tank next to a leaf of the plant thats in there all day. When I tried to feed him, he would eat the food, flare his gills, wiggle around and shake like crazy, spit the food out, and then he would swim around like crazy for about 10-15 seconds, and then he would return to his spot by the leaf. It looked like eating the pellets was painful, but even if i crushed them up to make them smaller, he would do the same thing. So when the medicine got here, I started the dosages right away. Within the next day, he was swimming around again, had more color, and was eating the smaller pellets like normal. I was so excited that he was getting better. 

Now it seems like I have a new problem though, I didn't know about a nitrogen cycle that a tank had to have.. I bought all new stuff for my tank (the actual tank and the plant) I got the sand in the bottom from a lake near my house and cleaned it like crazy before I added him to the water. Anyway, I didn't know about this nitrogen cycle and I just read about it. I have this white fuzzy cottony looking stuff EVERYWHERE in my tank.. Some of it is even stuck to his fins. It is growing on the bottom on the sand in long string that stick up like seaweed, its all over the whole plant, its just floating freely in the water. I did a water change before cause there was a bunch of it in the tank, and it is super slimey and smells awful.. Is this becase of the nitorgen cycle? Is MJ going to die? Is there anything I can do to help him? PLEASEE just let me know!

Sorry cause I know that was a long story just to ask about the white fuzz but I figured you should all know the whole story. Does anyone have any idea of what that white fuzz is?? I couldn't get a good picture of it with my phone, but I attached one I found that looks exactly like what I've been seeing.

*MORE INFO:*
Housing 
What size is your tank? 1-galon glass bowl (I know he should be in a bigger bowl but this is all I have for now. I figured it was better than the plastic tub I got him in, and it has to be better than the tiny kits they sell for betta fish)
What temperature is your tank? Usually between 80 and 84
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes and I have a thermometer
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon Betta Fish pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets once a day in the morning, fasting day once a week

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? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? tetra BettaSafe water conditioner

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he was really dark purple and his fins were rotting but that has stopped and his color has started to come back
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He was very lethargic and not moving, but he is active again and heats like a pig
When did you start noticing the symptoms? maybe about 2 weeks ago, they just started getting better this week
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? lately I've been adding BettaFix--1/2 teaspoon per day and API Aquarium Salt--1/2 teaspoon at the water change 
Does your fish have any history of being ill? that was the first time he was ill, i only got him a month ago though. I think he had slight fin rot when I first got him from Petco
How old is your fish (approximately)? I have no idea... I got him a month ago.. I'm guessing he is less than a year old but I really have no clue.


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## lvandert

its cumularious. You can either treat for fungus or strip your tank down and clean it all to remove it from your tank. As for your fish I would get a fungal treatment and start that asap. I wouldn't use the "fixes" because I find they are just unreliable. API and Tetra make fungal cures that work really really well.

Ok for your normal treatment, in a 1 gallon tank you need to change the water once a day, at least 50%. Your feeding is ok but 2 pellets, twice a day might be an option to consider. Temp is good, but the higher you get the more you can have fungal growths like this.

I wouldn't have put the sand in the tank; it could be holstering parasites and bacteria. I would only feel safe if I cleaned it with a bleach solution, and then rinsing that out of sand would be a bear, but if you feel its ok then thats your choice. 

Can you post a picture of your fish?


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## cpaananen

I'll post a few pictures in this order:
1. what MJ looked like a week after I got him
2. what MJ looked like 2 weeks ago (this one is blurry, sorry)
3 and 4. what MJ looks like now
5. a picture of the fuzz in my actual tank


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## cpaananen

and I don't know what "cumularious" is? Could you explain on that please..


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## lvandert

Cumularious is a fungus that grows very rapidly (I highly suggest a google search with it related to fresh water fish). I see your little guy has a bit of fin melt and fuzzies around the edges of his fins. This is a fungal infection on your fish, most likely caused by the conditions of your tank. I would start with a 100% water change asap. I would also get aq salt, stress coat and a fungal medication. I would do 100% water changes for a week with your fungal medication and the aq salt (knowing the exact amount of your bowl here comes in handy). 

Once you have him back to full health I would definatly keep up on those water changes, 50+ percent every day.


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## cpaananen

yes some of the stringy stuff is sticking to him.. I have aquarium salt in there that I just started using. Should I do a 100% water change everyday? and do places like walmart have the fungus medicine? if not, would petco? Those are my only two options unless I order it online, which could take awhile.


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## ao

or it could just be bacteria feeding off accumulated nutrients :/ I dont think columnaris sticks to ornaments...

anyway, you're on the right track for water changes. just do an extra one in the middle of the week too..


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## cpaananen

would having a real plant help? I always used to have a real one but the ends of the leaves were turning brown and curling up so I figured it was drying, and I thought that maybe that's what was causing MJ to be so sick, so I threw it out.. the very next day is when all this white fuzzy cotton like stuff started to appear.. if a real plant would help, do you have any suggestions?


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## ao

hmm Id day try to get some floaters... if you cant, the real hardy ones like anubias or Java fern will do


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## cpaananen

I did a 100% water change last night and cleaned everything really well in hot water that nearly left me with blisters. The only things I added to the water were the tetra water conditioner (7 drops) and 1/2 teaspoon of API aquarium salt. So far there is absolutely no sign of any white fuzz.. I think this is good.


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## Tikibirds

As far as I have seen, columnaris only attacks fish but its not a fungus. It's a gram negative bacteria. However, in appearance it does closely resemble a fungus. In order to fight it, you need a medication that fights gram negative bacteria like Furan 2, maracyn 2 or kanaplex. 
If it is a fungus - that's a lot better news then columnaris! Fungus can be treated fairly easily - just follow the instructions the other members gave. ALso if you can find Quick Cure at walmart, it works wonders on fungus. It's sold as an ICK medication but the malachite green in it will get rid of fungus as well. 

I cant post the link because its aganist the rules to link to other fish forums but if you go to ultimatebettas.com and go to betta diseases and then look under the pinned topics, they have a sticky that is about columnaris and fungus with pics and info on how to tell them apart. The sticky is called "It's not always Columnaris". 

I used to get something like that growing on my decor but I do not know what it was and it wasn't in long strings like in the last pic. It was like the first pic you posted. It was slimy but the fish in the tank seemed healthy. I just washed it off the decor once a week.


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