Hi All,

so I think one of my bettas has a super mild case of either columnaris or fungus. under a bright light u can see kind of clear strings (looks like stress coat attached to scales) near the anal fin. it does not cover the body. just a little on the body and scales.

after reading up on symptoms and treatments, i can't decide whether to use jungle fungus eliminator or maracyn 2. since columnaris and fungus are similar, i can't decide which to use.

what do u guys recommend?

I'm guessing it's Saprolegnia. As far as what you do for a treatment, I'd base it on what kind of a setup he's in. If he's in anything other than a bare no filter tank I'd do salt dips so you don't kill your bacteria that are processing the fish waste. He's already got a weakened immune system and killing your nitrifying bacteria is going to lead to having to start over cycling your tank. If he's just in a bare tank I'd be inclined to go with the Maracyn 2.

Here's a link that talks about the 2 a bit with pictures.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html

If it is just a super mild case and he's otherwise healthy you may be able to just do more frequent water changes with a bit of salt as a tonic and let him heal himself. I've had saprolegnia show up after I'd been procrastinating on my water changing schedule.

Good luck!

thanks for the advice nutty!

Also, from what I understand, a true fungus usually infects skin that has been injured in some way. It tends not to affect healthy unbroken skin.

Hope your fish is feeling better!

Ani