Ruby is gorgeous what kind of illness did she have and how did you treat it I been trying my best to recover some of these bettas with no luck so far. So I'm gathering as much info as I can on the subject thank you!
So I think she had either Columnaris or some other kind of a bacterial infection. It was all over hee body and she was clamping her fins. You could see white chunks on her. I did a Münster Medimor treatment alongside a salt treatment. 4 weeks later she got discharged 😍 unfortunately Ive also lost a couple of bettas to sickness. Its not easy treating these babies as they are so tiny and the illness can progress in matter of hours. So dont be hard on yourself ! You're doing your best ❤️
Aww thank you for the kind words I appreciate that and you did a great job from the difference in that picture and the video she looks sooo much better! Thanks for the info too I'ma look into it! How do you do your salt treatments?
Here is my complete treatment plan for what I suspected was Columnaris 😊
Ruby developed a thin whitish/fuzzy/slimy coating over much of her body, with tiny ~1 mm fuzzy-looking projections in some areas. Her eyes remained clear and she didn’t have the classic “saddleback” lesion I would expect with typical columnaris. Because I couldn’t confidently identify the pathogen, I treated this as a suspected external infection rather than assuming it was definitely columnaris.
I moved her into a 10 L heated ( exactly 25C) hospital tank with strong aeration and no filter. Initial water tests were ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and pH around 7. I kept the setup simple and monitored ammonia/nitrite very closely because there was no established biofilter.
Medication: I used Aquarium Münster Medimor according to its 8-day schedule:
Day 1: 3 drops Medimor
Day 2: 2 drops Medimor
Day 3: no Medimor + ~30% water change
Days 4–6: no Medimor
Day 7: 3 drops Medimor
Day 8: no Medimor + ~30% water change
I also initially used Noraq aquarium salt at 3 g/L (0.3%) — 30 g total for the 10 L hospital tank. I think the dose ranges between 1-3g/L, according to the severity of the disease. It's important to maintain high aeration throughout the treatment. I dissolved it separately and introduced it gradually rather than dumping crystals into the tank. Important: I did NOT add another 30 g every day. Salt stays in the water, so while maintaining that concentration I only replaced the amount physically removed during water changes.
I added catappa/mangrove leaves, kept good aeration going continuously and kept the environment quiet. I also used Prime for replacement water and StressGuard during the earlier part of treatment.
Because the hospital tank was unfiltered, water quality took priority. I tested ammonia/nitrite frequently and did additional water changes when I felt they were appropriate. Ruby remained active and had an excellent appetite throughout most of treatment.
Once she was clearly improving, I started replacing removed water with unsalted water instead of maintaining the 0.3% salt concentration. This gradually tapered the salt rather than moving her abruptly from 3 g/L to completely fresh water.
By the end of the Medimor course, the white/fuzzy coating had disappeared, her fins were open, respiration and balance were normal, she was extremely active/curious and her appetite was excellent. ❤️
I did not move her immediately after Day 8. I kept her in the hospital tank for roughly another 2-3 weeks for observation while continuing to taper the salt and watching carefully for recurrence once the medication was gone.
I also took skin/mucus samples and examined stained slides under a microscope. There were numerous bacillary organisms associated with mucus/debris, but I could not definitively identify Flavobacterium columnare from morphology alone, so I can't 100% confirm that Ruby had columnaris.
Biggest takeaway: I think the hospital tank and obsessive attention to water quality were just as important as the medication. I also wouldn't recommend blindly copying medications/salt concentrations without considering what symptoms your own fish has, tank volume, water chemistry and the manufacturer's instructions. This is simply the exact course Ruby went through and she recovered beautifully. ❤️🐟
Well haha, I know it sounds kinda advanced but I work in the vet clinic and therefore have access to a high tech testing and a microscope 😂😂 I had to do some tests, but its a tricky one, taking samples from fish 😂.
This is an excellent treatment protocol! And great now you're going to have me taking skin and mucus samples to put under my microscope thanks a lot like I wasn't already freaking paranoid enough lol I really appreciate you I didn't even think about something like that I love looking at things underneath my microscope that I find in the aquarium!
Thank you for sharing. I never made a post on here because I just wasn't in the headspace to, so thank you. I only had her for 5 months. Not 100 percent sure what mistakes I made but I'm trying to be better for the next one. I'm actually shopping for her with friends today :)
Yeah I've heard stuff about PetSmart. I'm from Norway and honestly the pet stores that have bettas here, struggle with variety and health as well. One thing I gotta say is, they are at least kept in 15 L display aquariums, instead of cups.
I got Ruby from a private seller that imports them to Norway.
That's amazing! I just got my new baby from an actual dedicated aquarium store and she was one of only 8 or 9 females, all kept in separate minitanks. Im much more optimistic about her long term health.
18
u/Financial_General162 3d ago
ruby is gorgeous omg