Betta affected with columnaris

Question
Hello,

I have a male betta in a 5 gallon tank. The tank has a carbonated filter, and no other tank mate. Since he's the only fish in the tank, and the tank has a good filter, I was changing his water once a month (100% water change). He's been with me for a year now.

A couple of months back, I noticed a grayish spot on his head with a reddish tinge around. I did some research online and suspected him to have columnaris. But he was eating well and blowing his bubbles and his fins looked great and there was no evidence of body fungus. So I decided to use a mild medication to not stress him out and also since i was not dead sure of the symptoms. I used a combination of melafix and pimafix (removed the tank's filter) and was doing a 100% water change once a week. I have been monitoring the temperature of the tank since then and made sure it was above 70 degrees. I was treating him with this combination for three weeks, but the spot on his head still didn't go.

I left him with my roommate last month, while i was gone on a short trip. When I was back I saw a small part of fins blackened at the tips. I knew it was a symptom of fin rot and changed water(100%) and added methylene blue (as recommended by the pet store) and treated him for 3 days. The black tip fell and his fins were undamaged. So i discontinued use. I decided not to drug him for a while, as he seemed to be stressed. Since start of medication he stopped blowing his bubbles, but has been eating fine (ocassionally wouldnt eat his regular quantity)

It's been 2 weeks since I drugged him and yesterday I noticed his fins were clamped and the tips were fraying. Today his fins had a slight slimy coating of stringy white material hanging. With the red spots, the stringy material on his fins and fraying fins they all point to columnaris.

I went to Petco hoping to get some Maracyn, but they were out of it. So i got the next best thing (i read online), gel-tek's tetracyclene. I poured 4 drops of it but he wouldnt eat--I'm not even sure he knows the gel is supposed to be eaten/swallowed.

I'm very concerned now. If he doesn't eat, there is no point with the medication. What I should do now? And am I on the right track to assume he has columnaris/bacterial infection?

Your answer/guidance would be very helpful to me to save my fish.

Thanks in advance,
Neeraja

Ps: Also I suspect he is lonely. I have been wanting to get him a female but he has been ill for a while. Would a small rubber fish/toy in the tank entertain him?

Answer
Hi Neeraja;

It doesn't matter that he isn't eating. His problems are external so an external medicine is what he needs. Use a product that has erythromycin (That's what Maracyn is), or malachite green or a sulfate drug. Erythromycin seems to be best. Tetracycline often does not work on columnaris and a betta isn't normally going to try to eat a liquid product with something like that in it. Also use aquarium salt. Columnaris weakens in water with a little salt in it. Your tank will need 1/2 teaspoon per gallon.

You can also use Melafix to help heal and regrow his damaged tissues. Change his water more often too. Once a betta develops fin rot he is much more prone to it and needs cleaner water from then on. It is very stressful to him to change a lot of water at once. With a filter in the tank you only need to replace 25% of the water every week. Smaller more frequent changes are healthier than big ones. I would change 25% every 2 or 3 days right now until he is getting better and eating again.

Bettas don't get really get lonely so don't worry about that. Male and female bettas can't live together all the time anyway. The male will often kill a female after they breed and can even beat her up pretty good as part of the courtship process before they even spawn. If they aren't ready to spawn or it's an especially aggressive female, she can beat him up too. Just put a mirror next to him once in awhile when he feels better and he will think it's another male he needs to chase out of his territory. Don't do it right now though. He needs to be calm and peaceful while he heals. If he thinks there is another male nearby, it could really stress him out more because he is ill, can't get away and can't fight. Poor guy.

Here are some links to info about columnaris that may give you more insight;

http://network.bestfriends.org/friends_of_fish/news/5401.html

http://www.fishjunkies.com/Diseases/columnaris.php

http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/disease/freshwater/columnaris.html

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins