How to Cure Betta Diseases

Before I go into all the different betta diseases, I would like to inform you of a great book by Marcus Song.

Marcus Song wrote The Bettta Lover's Guide, which he put a considerable amount of research into before releasing. In this book, he details everything he has found to make the life of a betta easier, happier, and much, much longer than you'd expect.

If you're on this page, chances are you have a new betta and are struggling to keep him healthy. This is why you need a copy of The Betta Lover's Guide.

I was in the same place a few years ago, and kept killing bettas with my lack of knowledge. I purchased this book, and the betta I purchased after that is still happy and healthy. I can't recommend this book enough.

So please, if you're serious about keeping your betta in a healthy home, consider this book.

The Betta Lover's Guide

What is Fungus?

Chances are, if your betta has fungus, it isn't a true fungal infection, but actually a bacterial infection called Columnaris. It looks like your betta has patches of a cottony substance all over him. Maybe around his gills, or over his back like a saddle, or all around his fins. Your betta will be listless, and will look absolutely miserable. If left untreated, your betta will succumb to this disease in only a few days.

This disease is normally caused by a multitude of factors, including dirty water and high levels of stress.

Treatment

Firstly, treatment of Columnaris should always start with doing a 100% water change on your betta's tank. You want to keep the temperature of your water as close to 74 degrees as possible. Temperatures higher than 76 degrees will cause the bacteria to breed faster than the medications can kill it.

Your tank should have a medicinal dose of Aquarium Salt (remember, not table salt!), which, according to the package, is one heaping teaspoon of Aquarium Salt per 5 gallons of water. This is quite safe for your betta, but the Columnaris doesn't survive too well in a tank with that much salt in it.

You will also want to make sure you have either a bubbler, or a filter circulating the water. Columnaris hates oxygen, and the medications are known to strip the oxygen from the water, so you need to get as much extra oxygen into the water as you can. This will also make it easier for your betta to breathe while he heals.

Of course, the most important step is to use the proper medications. I have personally had the most success with Jungle Laboratories Fungus Eliminator. While Columnaris isn't actually a fungus, Jungle Labs has formulated this medication to cover this bacterial infection. So, add some Fungus Eliminator to your tank as per the instructions on the bottle. The water will turn a lovely amber shade, and your betta should start to heal over the next few days.

If you can't find Jungle Labs Fungus Eliminator, you should be able to find Maracyn, an antibiotic. While I have not used it myself, I'm told it works almost as well as Fungus Eliminator, though other people have mentioned that it can stress out your betta and make it harder to cure.

If you have a filtration system that uses activated carbon filtration cartridges, you will have to remove those cartridges so it doesn't strip the medication out of the water.

Make sure to follow the full course of treatment, and when your betta is healthy again, you absolutely must clean and sterilize the tank to remove all traces of the Columnaris bacteria.

Below, I've provided a link to purchase Jungle Labs Fungus Eliminator from Amazon. If you're just putting together a First Aid Kit for your betta, just in case, by all means buy it from that link. If your betta already has betta fungus, get some from your local pet store or Wal-Mart immediately, as your betta doesn't have very much longer.

What is Ich?

Ich is a parasite that attacks your betta, and looks like your betta has been sprinkled with grains of salt. If left untreated, your betta will die. If treated, it is very likely that your betta will fully recover. In places, it is known as Ich, while in others, it is called Ick.

Treatment

Firstly, I highly recommend the Jungle Laboratories brand of fish medications. I have successfully treated Ich with Jungle Labs Ick Guard II. When using any kind of medication, you must remove any activated carbon filters, as these will remove the medication from the water and make it useless.

There are four steps to curing your betta of Ich.

The first is the application of Ick Guard II as per the instructions on the bottle.

Secondly, adding more aquarium salt (not table salt!!!) to the aquarium will make it more difficult for the parasite to replicate. When adding the salt to the aquarium, remove some water from the tank into a container, mix in the salt and let it dissolve into the water, then pour it back into the tank. Never drop aquarium salt directly into the tank. This can harm your betta, and we're trying to cure him, not kill him. As for amounts, there should be a total of 1/2 a teaspoon of Aquarium Salt for every gallon of water.

Thirdly, if you have an adjustable thermostat on the heater in your betta tank (you do have a heater, don't you?), turn the temperature up to 82-85 degrees. Your betta will do just fine in this temperature, and it will speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Ich can only be killed at a certain stage of it's life cycle, and increasing the heat to speed that life cycle up will ensure your betta getting healthier faster.

If you don't have an adjustable thermostat, that's okay. It will just take longer to treat your betta and cure him of his Ich.

And lastly, daily water changes are a requirement. Change out 50-80% of your tank's water each day, making sure you're adding the proper amounts of Aquarium Salt and Ick Guard II.

I've provided a link below to Ick Guard II if you don't already have a bottle in your betta supplies. If your betta doesn't have Ich right now, you should buy a bottle just in case. You may never need to use it, but it's better to have it in case you do.

Swim Bladder Disease is a somewhat common problem in Bettas. The common symptoms include trouble swimming. You'll either see your betta floating with his nose pointing straight up, or sitting on the bottom of your tank, laying on his side. He'll have serious trouble moving around, and if he's laying on the bottom, he'll slide around the tank on his belly.

This disease is particularly distressing for a betta. If he is stuck on the bottom of the tank, he is likely having serious trouble getting enough oxygen in his system. Bettas are labyrinth fish, meaning they get most of their oxygen by going to the surface and breathing air. If they can't do that, their gills don't give them enough oxygen to work with.

Treatment

Alright. If you have a betta with swim bladder disease, it was caused by over-feeding. You can help him by not feeding him so much. Once you've started feeding him properly, the only thing that will help is time. His body will slowly repair itself, and he'll eventually be able to swim properly again.

I truly hope you never have to deal with a betta with Dropsy. Dropsy is a horrible disease, and there is no known cure. It's also a very common disease in bettas, which makes it all the more devastating.

Dropsy is caused by a bacterial or viral infection that damages the betta's kidneys. When this happens, their body bloats, and their scales "pinecone" out from their body.

Treatment

Unfortunately, as I said, there is no known cure for Dropsy. By the time you see the symptoms, your bettas kidneys have already failed completely. There is no way to fix that, and your betta's days are numbered.

The most important thing is to remove your betta from a tank with other fish in it. Dropsy is very contagious, and will pass to other fish in the tank very quickly. Now, you can isolate him in a separate tank, and hope he gets better, but to be honest, it's unlikely that he will get better.

Now, there are a couple of ways you can deal with this. You can let him suffer, as his body shuts down. I don't recommend this. Or you can choose to end his suffering, and euthanize the poor thing.

To be honest, I cannot give a description of how to euthanize your betta if required. If needed, head to google and search for "betta euthanize" and you'll find information on it.

If your betta has dropsy, the chances are 99% that he will die of this disease.

UPDATE: I recently had a betta tank acquire a case of dropsy. All of the fish in the tank caught it before I was able to see it happening. My betta, loach, and neon tetras all caught it. The tetras passed quickly, but the loach and betta managed to struggle through, and are as healthy as ever now. So, while the chances are that your fish will die if they catch dropsy, there is a rare possibility that they will make it through.