BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Huh?

The white stuff could be fungus, or it could be columnaris, which is bacterial-- see http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm. If you're seeing white stuff mainly/first on the mouth, it is quite likely columnaris. (I am fighting a columnaris outbreak amongst my rasboras now.)

Sulking is either a sign of sickness, or more likely a sign of stress-- remember the sickness/stress relationship goes both ways...

Plants will be good-- be sure to look for low-light plants. Duckweed is fine if you're _not_ lighting, if you are it will certainly live up to its name. Java moss will virtually grow in the dark. Hydrocotyle leucocephala is a rooted stem plant that is quite lovely, easy to grow, will tolerate fairly low light conditions in my experience, and will grow up to break the surface of the water, good for an anchor for bubble nests.

I agree with Mary Ellen that if you are not filtering you need to be careful about caves, gravel, cleanliness. Your betta will appreciate these things however. Best way to handle-- start filtering and make it a cycled tank! Second best way-- when you change the water, put Pig in a holding tank, wash gravel/decorations with UN-dechlorinated water, let sit for a little while, then wash _thoroughly_ with DEchlorinated water before sending Pig home.

You will certainly want to learn a lot more about pH, acid/alkaline buffering before you get your cichlids. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwph,alk.htm for a good introduction. Hopefully you are doing fishless cycling of your cichlid tank in preparation for their arrival?

Well, Pig had a water change a little while ago, and he seems to be doing a lot better. He also seems a lot happier, if not baffled by the missing gravel. He was swimming around the bottom like "what the heck is going on?" It was very cute. Now he is just swimming near the top. But now he is back down rubbing his nose along the bottom edges of the tank. He is being very cute. He has not swam like this in a long time!

I found a lot of white stuff on the heater, especially on the suction cups. I found the culprite! LOL.

I am, however, concerned that not all of the aquarium salt dissolved and some is laying on the bottom of the tank. Is this okay?

I did not start the fungus cure treatment because you need activated carbon and I have none. Has anyone used this before? If I get a small filter and put it in the tank (which I am thinking about doing) would the carbon in that be enough? If not, how do I put more in? Do I set it like gravel at the bottom?

Oh yes, and I am also considering getting him some tetras for friends, but I don't know. Opinions anyone?

Bettas are such inquisitive little pups, aren't they? Such a delight to watch, such personality.

Hm, you say you found "white stuff" not just on the fish but also on non-biological surfaces... can you describe in more detail?... is it stringy or compact, dense like a cottonball or more like a bit of hair... can you grab it with tweezers or would it just break apart if you tried... etc? I'm thinking could you be getting some chemical compounds leaching out of the heater or suction cups, rather than fungus? Or something? Are the heater/cups slimy, i.e. do they have a bio-film on them that the fungus could attach to?

If you added in the correct amount of salt to begin with, it's not a problem, but if you think might you have too much you ought to get it out.

I'm confused about the carbon/fungus cure issue. Usually you need to take out the carbon b/c the carbon will absorb the medication, you add the carbon after the treatment to absorb residual medication. But I've never used the stuff so what would I know anyway... Any filter unit would provide enough carbon if sized properly for your tank. You could conceivably put carbon directly into the tank (in a bag, so you can remove it later) but without water circulation it won't do its job very well.

I've heard that some tetras (neons in particular) are notorious fin-nippers and will hunger after Pig's lovely flowing finnage. Other tetras should be ok. May I also recommend harlequin rasboras, they are small schooling fish, interesting coloration, very easy to take care of, will get along with Pig, lots of fun to watch them goofing around. But any fish other than betta or goldfish absolutely require filtration/circulation and proper tank cycling.

Btw, I misspoke earlier when I said that cichlids prefer alkaline water. _Some_ cichlids, i.e. African Rift Lake cichlids, like alkaline water. Others, i.e. discus, prefer slightly acid water like most f/w fish.

Whew! Welcome to the exciting world of fishkeeping! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Get him in good shape first! If you want to get him friends, I'm sure he'll be delighted as long as there's a large enough tank for everybody and none of these friends are nippy. Tetras and barbs are the usual, though I like corys with bettas, since bettas generally stay near the top and corys the bottom, giving top and bottom fish viewing. The problem with scholars (i.e., schooling fish like many of the tetras is that without a large school, they tend to nip at the gorgeous fins of the betta, a big no-no.) I'm sure we'll hear lots of good advice here about who is a good companion for your betta!
Best fishes,
Mary Ellen Sweeney

The white substance actually was not on the fish at all, only in the water. It was very stringy, and broke apart upon contanct. The suction cups were a little slimy, but not as bad as the cave, that was VERY slimy. When I took out the gravel I noticed it had a very strong odor to it. He seems okay, but still not completely himself. I REALLY want to get him this awesome cave I found, and I am going to add some crushed coral to his tank. I am thinking about adding some painted glass fish as well as some tetras. I want 3 painted glass, and perhaps 3 tetras. I am going to add them gradually to see how they do though. I really wish I could do a tank of bettas, they are just such beautiful fish, too bad they would kill each other in minutes! My 30 gallon would look amazing with like, 7 different colored bettas in there! Oh well, c'est la vie!

The white stuff is probably not fungus, but something leaching out of one of your accessories. I would suggest removing _everything_ from the tank and then adding one thing back at a time (starting w/ the heater) to figure out where it's coming from. Whatever it is is probably poisoning your fish, which is why he seems "sick". My suggestion-- do a 100% water change, rinse out the tank thoroughly (with dechorinated water), quit medicating/salting, identify the source of the white stuff, and get rid of it.

Do not add crushed coral until you have tested your pH! Crushed coral will raise the alkalinity and hence raise the pH, and this may not (probably is not) what you want to do!

I am going to test my Ph the day before I add the crushed coral and every few hours for the next 24 hours after I add it. If I see it getting too high then I will remove it, but the guy at the fish store doesn't see it being a problem. As for the white stuff, it has yet to come back thus far. I think it was from either the gravel or the cave. I found this awesome cave I am going to get him, and I am going to put that in a few days before I add the other fish. I definitly am going with painted glass fish (a pink, a purple, and a green) as well as a few neon tetras (the ones with the neon blue strip in them). I think this will give the tank nice color. I think these fish should be okay in the tank with Pig, they are calm and docile fish. While I know that they are not showing their true nature in tanks at the store, they have a betta in the tanks with each of them, and they are getting along just fine. I am going to add them one or two at a time so I can monitor the situation carefully.

Well, I came home tonight from being away since sunday, and sadly it is not good. When I saw Rusty yesterday afternoon he looked great. He was swimming and devoured his food, per usual (when i am not home either my mom or my little sister feeds him. I also left food out for him for today for my mom to give him. When I came home and checked on him about 20 minutes ago, the water was oily again and there was the white stuff in it again. There is not a whole lot, it is in small pieces on the top of the tank. There is nothing on him, it is just in the water. I think it is coming from the heater. So now I am going to try a new heater and see if that works. I would say I would try it without one, but then he would be way too cold. If I can't get a heater right away, how would you recomend keeping him warm? Thanks!

What are you adding to his water, anything? Is it possible there is something in your water? Maybe something is coming from your pipes?

If it does turn out to be the heater, you can keep his water warm by keeping a little light over it. Do you have a thermometer? You should monitor his temperature anyway, especailly if you have a heater though, so I assume you do. Take the heater out for a few days and heat him with a lamp, and see what happens. When I had to do this with mine, I kept a towel over half of his tank to provide some dark for him to rest in.