listless betta since purchase and after medication

Question
QUESTION: Hi there, thanks so much for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it!

I've had a betta for around a month and since his purchase he's seemed unwell. The moment I brought him home he's been markedly inactive and kept his fins clamped which I initially chalked up to acclimation stress but ever since he's spent most of his time hanging off a plant near the surface of the tank with clamped fins. He becomes active when I get near his tank but other than that he rarely explores his tank. Then, when I first got him he also had a patch of what looked like grey fuzz on his anal fin and possible mild fin rot since he has a black colouration on his caudal fin and a slightly ragged appearance. The growth wasn't fibrous (like columnaris)or particularly fungus-like, so I thought it would go away with clean water. Of course it began to slowly spread, mostly to his head, around his gills and anal fin. I knew it wasn't fungus since he doesn't have any open wounds, so I treated it like columnaris and began by salting his water (to which he reacted very badly, even at half dose), lowered the temperature to 75 degrees, lowered the water level to increase oxygenation and dosed maracyn I and II which did nothing and the cottony patches thickened and continued to spread. He became mostly inert, hanging out at the top of the tank, only reacting when I fed him and when I was close to the tank. I finished the maracyn treatment of one week and followed that by completely cleaning out his tank and two 4-day treatments of furanase which helped a lot, there's no more cotton growths that I can see besides what may be a small patch still on his anal fin. His fins are also a bit ragged which is because I wasn't sure how to change his tank water and redose medication safely so his water did get polluted which I realize can't have helped but I wasn't able to get any instructions on whether to redose the whole treatment or simply add a regular daily dose. In any case, he appeared much better after the treatments although his colour did fade a bit and he has a stress stripe. I thought the cotton growths were the issue but despite this, he still spends most of his time hanging off a plant at the surface of the tank. He acts perfectly fine when I feed him and approach the tank, his fins are unclamped and his colour is returning.
Here are his tank specifics:
he's in a 5.5g tank that was cycled when I got him but since the furanase, I'm fairly certain the bacteria were killed so I bought a bottle of stability by seachem which I've read is one of the very best bottle bacteria besides bio-spira.
-it has a tetra whisper power filter with a baffle on the outtake and a sponge insert on the intake, ceramic media and there's also a bag of carbon which I'm leaving in for a week to get all the remaining medication out of the tank
-the temperature is 80 degrees F
-it's a planted tank
-no airstone
-no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates, ph is a very stable 7.6, water is mildly hard with an excellent buffering capacity
-water changes are daily small changes to remove uneaten food followed by a 50-60% water change/gravel vacuuming on fridays

-I feed him 2x a day rotating between frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, hikari betta food, nutrafin max tropical pellets, hikari micro pellets, hikari micro wafers and on sundays I feed him poryphyra yezoensis seaweed.

so I think that's everything, since the cycle was distubed I'm planning on doing a 50% water change every 4 days as opposed to a weekly 50% change until the cycles back up, is that a good plan or do you reccomend something else?
Does it sound like he's still sick? I realize bettas differ from individual to individual and maybe it's just that he's an inactive fish (and also very sensitive to anything I add to the water, including the bottle bacteria and as said above, he couldn't handle half-strength aquarium salt), but my last betta was extremely active and I feel like he should at least be swimming around his tank more often.
Does it sound like I'm doing something wrong? Do you recommend any medication that could help me get rid of that last patch of cottony growth?

I hope you can help me and any information you can give me would be highly appreciated! Thanks so much!

emilie





ANSWER: Hello,
You must get rid of the patch.  I would use coppersafe by mardel, and Maracyn 2 together.  Treat for 10 days.  Continue treatment even if he looks better.  This medication should not change your water chemisty.  Make sure you have no ammonia, or nitrites in your water.
When a betta is eating, this is a good sign.  
He was probably sick, poor little guy, when you bought him.  Bettas are not well kept in most Pet Stores.  They just don't care.  It's so sad.  The fact that he has fungus means he was kept in poor water conditions.
Be careful not to overfeed him.  2 pellets for one meal is an example on what he should have.  You can feed him 2-3 times a day.  Let him fast one day a week.  On that day feed him a cooked frozen pea.  Remove the outer layer, and cut the pea into tiny pieces.  Feed this to your Betta one piece at a time.  This helps him clean out his system.
Congratulations on varying his diet!  How good this is to hear!  They need a varied diet.  Feed him the same food one day, change it the next, and so on.
I hope the little fellow pulls through, and that you will get rid of that patch which will eat away at him if left untreated.
Keep me posted, and let me know how he is doing three days after you have used this treatment.
Good Luck!
Lynda


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks so much for such a prompt response! I know I have to get rid of the patch, except the medication didn't seem to work on the second treatment and I was scared of doing more harm. It's not fungus though, I'm positive, since he has no open wounds. The growth is spreading again so I'll get the coppersafe and maracyn 2 as you suggested. I'm just curious, isn't coppersafe for parasites? How will it help with what I suspect to be columnaris? Do you think it's costia instead? also, if I do the treatment for ten days, can I still do water changes?

thanks so much, I'll keep you posted!
emilie

Answer
Hi!
I think he may have parasites too, I'm not completely sure as I do not see your fish.  That patch should have disappeared like the others did.  Try the treatment, and if you see no change in his behaviour in three days, or if you see that his behaviour gets worse, write me again.  
You must check your water to make sure there is no ammonia, and keep treating.   If you do have ammonia, do a water change, and continue the treatment.  Remove his waste every day.
I hope the little fellow pulls through.
Let me know how he is doing.
Lynda