2 questions..maybe more..

[RexyTexel]

Okay my first question.

My male betta seems to have a little decaying on his top fin. I'm assuming this is the beginning of fin rot. Should I go ahead and dose him with the medication I have? It's best to catch it early right? I'm about to do a weekly water change on his tank just to help him out a bit.

My other question.

I've been soaking my pieces of drift wood and it seems like I have all the tannin out. The water has been nice and clear for quite sometime. The only thing I'm having issues about is that the water seems to develop this scum and the driftwood gets slimy. I'll change the water in it and leave it in there again and the same thing happens the next day. It's slimy and smells like a swamp. Any idea why it's doing this? It's frustrating because I'd really like to get this wood into my 20 gallon soon.

 

[Scooper]

For question one:
Yes I would treat the betta now. That happened to my brothers' betta and he used Betta Fix(I think that's the name) and it worked.

Question two:
I had a similar problem. I put the wood into a pot of water and boiled it for several hours(this advice is assuming you haven't done that). It was a great piece for my tank and nothing bad happened to my fish.

Well I hope I've helped.

 

[RexyTexel]

I just dosed his tank. He's my favorite so I hope he survives..

Hmm..boiling you say? I havn't tried that. Wonder if my mom will let me use yet another part of the house for my hobby....

 

[Scooper]

If the fin rot hasn't spread then he should survive. And good luck with convincing your mom. Just do what I did and say it's sanitary.

 

[Greendragon1128]

I just dosed his tank. He's my favorite so I hope he survives..

Hmm..boiling you say? I havn't tried that. Wonder if my mom will let me use yet another part of the house for my hobby....

I boiled rocks in my mom's best pot. I asked her right before she left for work and waited until she was gone to do anything. The tank is in the kitchen, though, so it really wasn't too big a deal. Good luck, though. Let me know if you have any stratagies for getting parental approval so I can get started on my nano tank project they are currently forbidding.

 

[Scooper]

Hey have you had any luck with the wood or your betta?

 

[RexyTexel]

Any signs of fin rot are officially gone. I don't see anything on his tail. I was just afraid because a few months back his tail split right down the middle. I could never figure out why because I use silk plants and smooth rocks. Since then it's healed up nicely but I was always worried he'd be more susceptible to fin rot. He still has his healthy appetite and spunky attitude.

I didn't ask my mom about boiling the wood yet. She's in a terrible mood today and there's an unspoken law in my house that says if she's in a bad mood you don't ask her anything!

I have another question though. Can bettas eat plankton? I work at Petsmart and we have a decent selection of frozen foods. I was looking and thinking about buying some bloodworms or brine shrimp as a treat but I saw the plankton too. Wasn't sure if they could eat those at all.

 

[Scooper]

I have that same rule in my house. As for your quetion I don't really know. My family has had several bettas and they all have enjoyed blood worms so they're probably the best bet.

 

[RexyTexel]

Well I looked it up and apparently they enjoy plankton as much as daphnia and bloodworms.

Thanks for all your help. I thought of another question earlier but I've been having bad memory problems lately.

 

[Scooper]

Ok if you have any more questions I'll see what I can do.