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I've got a male half moon plakat elephant ear, Shadow, and he's been through a bit of an ordeal. Had dropsy about 2-3 weeks ago, but he's fully recovered now. Last night I noticed his scales are either missing or changing colour, and to be honest, I'm stumped. He's behaving normally, still eating away, but I'm worried about these changes. When he had dropsy, I used Melafix for a week and did 2 Epsom salt baths a day while waiting for the All Gen Flake Cure to arrive - his poo was white, so I suspected parasites. Now I'm not sure what's going on with him. Can anyone help me out? I'll try to add some pictures to help.

I managed to grab a decent pic of Shadow, even though he wouldn't sit still for me.

Hi Ridgeway and welcome to the forum. I've taken a look at the picture you posted and it seems like your fish, Shadow, is experiencing some scale loss, which is often caused by a bacterial or protozoan infection - I didn't notice any signs of a fungal infection though.

First things first, let's make sure your water quality is on point. You'll want to check that your ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0, and your nitrate levels are below 20ppm. Do you have a filter on your tank, by the way?

I'd recommend doing a 75% water change and a thorough gravel clean each day for the next couple of days to see if that helps alleviate the issue. If the scale loss continues after two big water changes, we might need to consider treating Shadow with a broad-spectrum medication that targets protozoans and bacteria - just make sure to avoid using antibiotics.

To calculate the volume of water in your tank, simply multiply the length, width, and height in centimeters, then divide by 1000 to get the volume in liters. When measuring the height, make sure to go from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level. There's a handy calculator in the "How To Tips" section at the top of this page that can help you convert liters to gallons if you need to.

Before we start treating Shadow, don't forget to remove any carbon from your filter, as it can absorb the medication and render it ineffective. Give the inside of the glass a good wipe down, do a 75% water change and a complete gravel clean, and make sure to clean the filter before we begin treatment.

Shadow recently finished the all geneflake cure in quarantine, and I put him straight back into the main tank - could this sudden change cause some stress or agitation? I was under the impression that the API Geneflake Cure would take care of any protozoan infections, so I'm a bit confused as to why he's still losing scales.

Medication could be the culprit behind the scales falling out, but it would have to be an overdose or toxic to the fish. I've heard of Melafix being a bit rough on Bettas, though.

Moving Shadow from the medicated tank to a clean one with similar water chemistry wouldn't cause this issue. The API Geneflake Cure you used earlier won't help with external protozoan infections, it's mainly for intestinal protozoans and tapeworms. Since Shadow's eating normally, I think it's unlikely he has an internal protozoan infection.

I'd suggest giving him a week in the clean tank without any meds and see how he does. If no more scales fall off, and the affected area doesn't get white and fluffy or red and inflamed, just let him be and recover. If the problem persists, you might want to look into a medication that treats whitespot, which should cover all external protozoan infections.

Another option is to bump up the temperature to 30C for a couple of weeks. This will help kill off any external protozoans without needing meds, which would be safer for Shadow given his recent med history. Just make sure to increase aeration and surface turbulence to keep oxygen levels up.

You can take daily photos of Shadow and compare the patches without scales to see if the issue is getting worse. By the way, how long have you had Shadow, and how long has his tank been set up?

I've had Shadow for about 4 weeks now, and his tank has been cycled for around two weeks. I used Fluval Cycle beneficial bacteria to get it going. I was really careful, testing the water before I put him in - I didn't want to risk hurting him. This morning, I took a look and the spots where the scales came off seem to have gotten darker. Could that be a sign that he's healing up?

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings since introducing the fish to the tank. I've had mixed experiences with Fluval Cycle in the past, though it's possible their product has improved over time.

My water tests have always shown ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate between 10 to 20, I've had good results with Fluval Cycle. I'm always careful to test the water before adding fish, I don't want to risk harming them.

What have ammonia and nitrite levels been like since the betta was added, are you monitoring them regularly since he's been in the tank?

I've been testing the water every week, actually today's test day, I'll get back to you on the results later.