Is this Columnaris please?

[waverley]

Hi all, I brought my 1st Betta 2 months ago and all was fine, he was active feeding well, with good colour. He was in a 10 gall. tank on his own.
Water perimeters:- Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 5 (not sure if my test kit is correct for Nitrates, aquarium shop test was 25) ph 8, GH 214ppm
KH 196mg. I use NT LAB test kit, brought last March. Use tap water and Seachems Prime.
Monday morning I noticed a small greyish patch on top of his body just above his gills. I emailed photo to my aquarium shop, and they thought it was an injury, possibly a burn. It was recommended to use what I had Waterlife Myxazin to treat.
By monday afternoon this patch had increased in size, off his food and lethargic. Tuesday and Wednesday he continued to deteriorate, with the patch enlarging.
I then noticed these patches along his underside too. Photo enclosed. He sadly passed away Wednesday evening. Was it Columnaris?

[Gingerlove05]

Hello and welcome
Sorry for your loss
The marks look more like injury rather than an infection to me, what sort of decor is in the tank? How did you cycle the tank before adding him?
Bettas are also a soft water fish and dont generally do well in hard water, they are also sensitive to medications because of the labyrinth organ (the organ that allows them to breath atmospheric air), so half dosing any meds is normally recommended to prevent damage to the labyrinth organ.
Columnaris normally shows as white patches in the form of colour loss as opposed to damage if I remember correctly

[Stephen]

Sorry for your loss

[WinterRose73]

Really sorry for your loss


On zooming in, the patches look like wounds rather than a growth on the fish? Almost like sections of scales / flesh have been removed. As @Gingerlove05 mentioned is there anything in the tank he could have caught himself on, decor wise, that could have caused injury?

[waverley]

Hi, Many thanks, so awful to suffer a lose. The tank was an already an established tank. I kept 2 baby and very healthy goldfish in there over winter, then put them into my pond in March. I decided to keep the tank going, should I have sanitized the tank??, I did enquire about re stocking but no mention of disinfecting. I just changed the substrate. I then continued with water changes and regular water tests, as I did have a very small Nitrite spick 0.25 and nitrates 10. That continued until nitrites were 0. I then brought my little guy in early June. I was aware of ph 8 being on the high side, but having read other Betta keepers had no problems with 8, I decided to leave well alone, I understand a high stable ph is better than a fluctuating lower one. I didn't think he was stressed, he wasn't swimming along the glass, or swimming erratically.
I do now suspect a large broad leafed silk plant, also some coconut shell which was boiled and all sharp edges rubbed down to a rounded edge. I think the initial injury could have been a burn as he did like to chill out on the top of it, although my temp was 78f.
I did however notice a small thread of white cotton wool type thread surrounding the injury, which is what made me think it was Columnaris.
The injuries along his underside are a complete mystery as I moved him into a bare hospital tank, and I only noticed those, 2 days after moving him.
I wasn't aware at that time to use half dose medication, but I know now which makes me feel even worse.
To my tank I added a couple of the Indian almond leaves and had a bag of peat placed on the outlet of my filter, to try and reduce the ph, but obviously not enough.

[VikingMummy2015]

Did you feed the tank a source of ammonia between moving the goldfish out and the Betta in? If not, the tank lost its cycle, which might have contributed. Sorry you lost him.

[waverley]

Thank you Viking Mummy. When the goldfish went in the pond, I changed the substrate saving my existing tank water to put back into the tank after replacing. I assume any fish waste left would have protected the cycle. I did continue with the water changes, until my readings were A 0 Nitrites o Nitrates 10. It was cycling empty for approx. 9 to 10 weeks.

[waverley]

By the way this is the 1st photo taken shortly after noticing Monday morning, the one above was taken Wednesday afternoon.

[VikingMummy2015]

I’m afraid you’ve been given very poor advice on cycling a tank. Your filter had no bacteria left so I suspect a minor injury rapidly became infected as the fish would have been battling ammonia and nitrite in the tank too.
Bacteria reside primarily in the filter, some in the substrate and hardly any in the water itself. You need to feed them ammonia to keep them active. There is a guide to cycling your tank on the forum which will help for future fish.

[waverley]

Must say I'm getting very confused. I imagine what you mean is the bacteria in the filter which I kept running ran out of Ammonia? I thought carrying out regular water tests with zero ammonia and nitrates, right up until my Bettas passing, would mean there was no Ammonia or Nitrites? Yes I will read up on the article you suggested, as I will have to start from scratch if I decide to try again. Many thanks for your help.