white spots?

Question
I have my betta in a 1 gallon bowl (I know it isn't the best environment but I treat it very well and test the water and change it 100% every 3 days). I always thought he had fin rot but then I noticed these bad scab looking white spots on his gills and under the gill flaps. His tail is getting more frayed and at first it looked inflamed (the barbs were red and his colors were getting dull. I started putting in stresscoat and aquarium salt then wrapped the bowl with a blanket and the inflamation went away and his colors look beautiful now). He doesn't seem like he has any sort of sympton of an illness because he always goes for his food and is always active. His ventral fins were VERY skinny before and now they are growing (I don't know what this is about). He also has these white ulcerations on midway up on his anal fins. He has it on both sides same spot and one ulceration at the ends of one corner on his anal fin.
I started thinking he had columnaris but he doesn't have cottony things stuck on to him, just the ulcerations and the white patches/scabs as well as the frayed fins. However, in his last water change I noticed some weird floating things in the water. It looked like fuzz but they weren't clinging on my fish. I always test the water parameters and everything is fine.
Please help me he is my first fish and even though I have had him for a month, I love him dearly :) I want him to be the happiest he can be and healthiest I want to know what he has and how to treat him thank you for taking the time and reading this SUPER long thing (sorry it was so long...) I await your reply :D

Answer
Hello,

I know how you feel, I love my little Bettas, too! They are so full of personality.

It is difficult to tell without seeing the fish, but it sounds to me like he has a fungus problem if you have ruled out columnaris. It was a good decision for you to add the salt, it can really make things easier on fishies during the healing process.

I can tell you take good care of your fish, but it would help him if you could get a 2.5 or 3 gallon tank and get him an adjustable heater. Heaters keep the temperatures stable. Even if you were to heat 1 gallon of water, it is harder for heaters to stabilize a temperature the smaller the body of water. The reason I am recommending it for this guy is that him having a steady temperature of 78 would help prevent problems, and being able to increase it when he is sick is very important. If you have a sick Betta, it often helps to increase the temperature from 78 to 82. I wanted to let you know this because I want to tell you all of the things you can do to help him, but I understand completely if this is not a viable option.

I would also recommend treating him with a medicine designed to heal bacterial and fungal infections. I use Jungle Fungus Clear tablets and have had good results with it fixing ich and tail rot. I dissolve the correct amount in a small cup of aquarium water before I add it to the tank. If you have a filter, be sure to take out the carbon part of the filter, or it will just take out the medicine.

Please keep me updated on his progress, and let me know if you have any more questions!

Best regards,
Elizabeth