White streak on Betas fin

Question
Our 1 year old beta fish devolped a white spot on his top fin and now three days later its a white strip that goes all down his top fin. Hes in a glass vase with a plant in the top. His water just got changed his water 2 weeks ago.

what is it?
thank you.


Answer
Hi Katie;

It sounds like infection, bacterial or fungal. Act quickly, because this disease can be deadly in just a couple of days. The best way to treat it is with a product called BettaMax by Aquatronics. You will have to keep him in another container during treatment. (The medicine could kill the plant and also will dye the plant roots a greenish blue color). Put him in a very warm place to help his immune system fight this illness. 78 to 82 degrees is the preferred temperature. You might have to put a light on him to raise it up. His water really should be changed once a week if he is to stay strong and fight off illness. Dirty water and cool temperatures lead to this particular disease. Bettas can't do well below 72 degrees, and tend to get weaker as they age too. They live to be 2-3 years or so and are usually already a year old when we buy them. Just keep him warm and clean and he should do much better in the future.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!