So yesterday this white thing showed up on top of him, it looked like he just lost some scales in that spot (3rd picture), but in the evening the top of his head started looking like this (the first and the second picture).
Is it columnaris? A scratch?
He's in a 30l, fully cycled tank (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, around 5 nitrates), 20% water changes every week, no fake decor, only real plants and some driftwood.
I'm not sure what medication to get, because I'm not experienced with fish illness and I've never seen anything like that online. He's still eating and swimming fine (he's been kind of slow for a while though, but I thought that it was because of his huge & heavy tail) and his top fin became ragged a few weeks ago, but no sign of finrot and it's not getting worse.
There is no kanaplex in Europe, so I'm not sure what to get to help him.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1p3b4gy
Posted by AdLumpy7032
3 Comments
It looks like maybe an injury, my betta had something similar to the reddish spot on his head but it went away on its own. I probably wouldn’t use any medication yet, you could add tannins if you wanted though, they are very beneficial to the fish and microorganisms in the tank. I would keep an eye on it for a while and keep track of how he’s acting.
Looks like he rubbed some scales off his head. Bettas are unfortunately kinda dumb and accident prone. Even if you baby proof everything they’ll still find a way to do dumb stuff, lol. Just put tannins in the water at the moment. If you have a local fish store they should be able to recommend products that can help, worst case scenario
As far as the ragged fins go, I think it’s somewhat normal for a fancy long finned betta in captivity. I could be wrong but I heard somewhere that hard water can shrivel betta fins a bit, as they come from more acidic environments. Many cities’water is naturally hard and higher ph which is hard to do anything about. Bettas these days have terrible genetics and are really prone to cosmetic issues and illness, so it could just be bad luck. My 2 year old betta recently passed away from dropsy and I suspect he had something internal going on since my tank’s ecosystem is really healthy. Whatever it is, it’s probably not your fault!