Betta died what to do with other fish in tank?

Question
I noticed that my Betta fish (that was purchased only two weeks ago) was not swimming as much in the past couple days. I took a good look at him and noticed a tiny spot of white fuzz on his tail and near a gill. I removed him from the tank. I googled and with the information I received I purchased BettaFIx. I put some in his bowl....but he died shortly after.

So...my question is: in the tank I have a small snail, bottom feeders and some small fish (size of neons...but not neons). What should I do with them? Will they get sick too? Should I put Betta Fix in the big tank? Will they all die?

Answer
Hi Jennifer,

The white fuzz was most likely either a fungus or Columnaris bacteria. It is contaigous, but not highly contaigous. If it was a fungus, it is not contaigous at all. Only stressed fish with slime coat damage can get fungus. If you are not noticing symptoms on the other fish, chances are, they are not infected nor will they get sick.

On a side note, BettaFix is not a good remedy whatsoever. It's exactly the same as MelaFix (another API product), but it's diluted to about one-tenth of the strength of the active ingredient in MelaFix, which is the same active ingredient in BettaFix. BettaFix really is only useful for VERY minor infections of bacteria. MelaFix is a much better medication.

So, in summary, don't worry - chances are, your other fish will not die. If your other fish get infected, get MelaFix from your local fish store, and treat your main tank.

In the future, don't put sick fish in a bowl. It's even worse than leaving them in the main tank. A bowl is instant death, no matter what. There's no filtration, heating, or anything whatsoever, and the fish dies from ammonia poisoning in a day, if not in hours.

Good Luck, and Happy Fishkeeping!