Bettas with Ich

[tralynn_3]

Hi, i currently have 2 betta fish in about an 8 gallon aquarium (store said size 10, i meaured myself and it was 8) One of them has recently been breathing really heavily, has white dots all over, and i think he has ich. I have been trying the salt and darkness method (just started yesteday) but i ahve plants in the tank and they started to brown, either from the salt or the light, but i left the light on today when i left for school because it will get too cold in there over the day without it. I have a 50w heater comign in the mail any day now and plan on using that to make it salt and heat, i am doing these because i have no access to any medications against Ich until this weekend, if anyone could please give me advice as to how much salt to put in, if im doing anything wrong, what i should be doing, and if i should buy the meds for it this weekend and if i can add it to the already salty water, please help me! i dont want my babies to die!
PS: there are also 2 snails in with them, will any of this hurt them, and can they get it too?? Thanks!

 

[Lotus]

This should give you all the info you need: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

 

[tralynn_3]

Thanks alot Lotus! I feel alot better now after reading that, previous articles i read said that the salt wasn't extremely effective, but now i feel hopeful that my fish can make it through this! I also got some aquarium salt today from my science teacher, can i add that in when i change some of the water tonight? will it be ok mixed in with the table salt or should I just stick with the table salt? And the snails will be alright? Thanks again! I will post on here if my fishies get better... hee hee =D

 

[Limi310]

Please don't use table salt.........you need aquarium salt.

 

[matt201985]

i used table salt once, the half and half kind, cured my ich in less than a week when i had it in my 10gal.

 

[ninamarie]

maxx has ich now

 

[matt201985]

prob becuz his home is too small. i went with a 5gal to give Bubba plenty of space, he always seems happy

 

[ninamarie]

Hes not in the 2.5 right now I have to set it up cycle and then go from there.

 

[matt201985]

So what is he in??

 

[tralynn_3]

Well...stinkis died today. I guess is dieing, his fins got all torn up by his tankmate (Lafonda) by the time i got home from school he was nose down in the water and she was attacking him. I quickly put him into a small bowl and added a little aquarium salt and put him under a light but i dont think he is going to make it, he floats sideways on the top of his tank and sometimes nosedown on the bottom with fins facing up. He moves to breathe evry once in awhile but that is about it...I just hope Lafonda will be ok, she dosent show any signs of ich so far, but i kept up the salt and will keep cleaning and heat her tank when the heater comes in the mail... R.I.P. my baby Stinkis....

 

[sweetvegan74]

UB is in a 6 gallon. I put him in with Bio-spira his tank cycled within a week. It's great but hard to buy. You can order it online but it costs alot to ship it since it has to stay cold. But you really only need one package to cycle your your new set-up.