Betta missing scales

[moonflower]

i keep a betta on my desk at school in a half-gallon bowl with some java moss and a marimo ball, along with a little castle-y type ornament. He's been outstandingly healthy since i got him, probably the most active betta i've ever owned. however, when i went to feed him this morning i noticed a few small, irregularly shaped pale spots on the top of his head. they're not raised like a fungus would be, and looking at them closely it looks like the larger patch is missing scales, and the smaller ones are either missing or faded.

any explanation for this? did he scrape his head on the castle maybe? his behavior hasn't changed at all, and he's eating just as well (viciously attacking his nice dead pellet food as always). my only concern is he's about to be shipped off on an eight hour journey home... he's handled this trip well in the past but if he's sick, i dunno.

thanx!

 

[jimscott]

I think he is stressed somewhat now and the shipping could be like the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back". I can't prove it, but he's got two things going against him.

It is possible that he scraped himself. But the "bells and whistles" is why or how? Is it possible that he has a parasite that is irritating him? Have you observed any scraping behavior?

A little aquarium salt, proportional to the amount of water in his bowl, helps to stimulate his protective slimecoat, which helps him ward off bacteriological infections.There are also many products on the market to deal with bacterial infection: Tetracycline, Furan, Methylene Blue, Malachite Green.... The best and messiest is Tetracycline.

Are ya bringing home a 4.0 I hope?

 

[FlytrapGurl]

I remember reading about this ages ago.. but I forgot what it is. But, as with almost anything else, I HIGHLY recommend Melafix.

 

[RamPuppy]

I like melafix as well, but it is more of a long term treatment, and what I mean by that, it simply takes longer to have the desired effect.

I would continue to feed normally, keep an eye on him. I used to have an arrowana that was skittish as all get out, and he would constantly scrape scales off his head and sides by freaking out when the lights came on or someone walked by. if you can give you fish a chance to heal, that is the best bet.

however, that being said, Betas are one of the toughest fish I have ever seen.

 

[moonflower]

RamPuppy- you're not kidding when you say they're tough. being the pet-of-the-moment at college since we're only allowed to have fish (and turtles, for some reason), i've seen some that were being wonderfully taken care of and others that were... well... not.

Santiago (my betta) is home now and seems to be doing fine... unfortunately i can't find my big bottle of Stress Coat which i find is a decent first line of defense against infections and such. hopefully it's not sitting in storage, or it's yet another run to the pet store (had to run yesterday when i found out my poor firebelly toad hadn't eaten in quite a while!). meanwhile the white betta next door keeps flaring up at him, i'm waiting to get my philodendron back to stick in between them.

alrighty, back to doing some damage control on the goldfish tank... my creatures are all going "yes! she's back! clean tanks and regular feedings!!"

and sorry, jimscott, no 4.0 yet. i don't think 4.0's even exist in geneseo.... i *may* have landed a job in the greenhouse next semester though... they now know me as "that girl with the sundews" and they're after a chunk of my Marimo ball ("Ooooo... can you propagate that for us?!"). wait til they see the nepenthes...

 

[jimscott]

Quote[/b] (moonflower @ May 13 2005,9:33)]and sorry, jimscott, no 4.0 yet. i don't think 4.0's even exist in geneseo.... i *may* have landed a job in the greenhouse next semester though... they now know me as "that girl with the sundews" and they're after a chunk of my Marimo ball ("Ooooo... can you propagate that for us?!"). wait til they see the nepenthes...

What is a marimo ball?

Congrats on the potential of the possibility of maybe sorta kinda landing a job in the greenhouse!

 

[Nflytrap]

Marimo ball is a kind of Cladophora algae that is well known for growing in spheres.

I would simply leave the betta and hope for the best. It does not sound too bad from your description.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Quote[/b] ]I like melafix as well, but it is more of a long term treatment, and what I mean by that, it simply takes longer to have the desired effect.

Only with some things. I've used it many times for male bettas who've had almost all of their long fins ripped off (he slept up against the filter!!), and within ONE DAY it was healed and starting to grow back.