HELP

[adagiolove05]

I work at a petshop and one of our bettas that we got in from an order a while ago had a really bad case of ich. He's been sick for a couple of weeks now, and we've been medicating him at the store. I figured that's not the best environment for him, so I took him home with me today. I'm treating him with RidIch. It was 1 drop per gallon, and he's still in his little cup so I mixed the water and the medication in a different container before I used it for him. It also looks like he's got fin rot, and he's breathing pretty fast. I don't know how to treat for ich and finrot at the same time, so I'm only using the ich medicine since the ich is REALLY bad. He's under a lamp right now because I don't have another form of heat for him. I just need as much information as possible and as soon as possible. I really want to save him. Anything else I can do? I'm looking into getting a bigger container for him ASAP too. HELP

 

[Lotus]

I have heard good things about RidIch, so keep up with that. As long as his fin rot isn't advancing fast, I would suggest you worry about that after the ich has gone. Keeping the water clean and warm will often go a long way in curing fin rot, so looking after him may be the answer anyway. If possible, get him into a larger container (pickle jar, large vase, etc.) to give him more room than the cup. Daily water changes might also help him out.

Good luck

 

[adagiolove05]

..Does anyone think he has a chance? He looks absolutely HORRIBLE.

 

[ashleigh]

I've had some really battered ones pull through- like Lotus said keeping him clean and warm and getting him a bigger space is important- but no matter what, it's very kind of you to give him a chance. Best of luck, I hope he makes it.

 

[adagiolove05]

There's little white ich dots floating all over the water now- is that a good sign? Maybe that they're dying? I know it only says to treat for 2 days, but I'm going to treat for several weeks. I've read a lot and it says that the RidIch doesn't work on ich eggs, and the ich life cycle is 2 weeks long? Correct me if I'm wrong please.

 

[ashleigh]

no, I think that's right- but I also think they have a free floating stage. So a water change soon might be a good idea- but I'm not positive.

 

[adagiolove05]

Yah- I just changed the water a few hours ago. I REALLY need to get him out of that tiny cup. Everywhere's closed tomorrow, and my mom said that all of our glass jars and stuff have been cleaned out with some sort of soap so I can't use any of those.... I'll keep looking around.

 

[adagiolove05]

Oh- and I gave him a pellet but he's not eating it. I'm not really surprised at that though.

 

[adagiolove05]

Hmm... So the medicine is only affective when the white dots ARE floating. So that means I have to wait till every dot falls off, then a few days after that to make sure their next generation doesn't survive... Poor guy...

 

[Julie-Anne]

just use any big jar in the housse make sure its rinsed reeeeeeellllllllly well tho id use a ton of hot water then cold and it should be fine to use

 

[Seleya]

There was an article in one of the fish magazines (I think Aquarium Fish) recently about treating ich by rotating the fish into clean tanks every 12 hours (or something). This specifically addressed treating Rainbow fish with heat and salt, but with one wee betta and free-floating ich, maybe rotating him between two RidIch treated vases (bleached and well rinsed between rotations) would help accelerate his treatment so the stressors will be mitigated and the fin rot doesn't get any more severe? Just a thought. Good luck! It's nice to see you're giving him a shot.

Vicky

 

[adagiolove05]

Hm... Why isn't this website letting me go to the second page of any thread?

 

[adagiolove05]

There we go- now it's working. K so I borrowed a rose vase from my boyfriend's mom from mother's day He's swimming around in circles right now- probably really happy to get out of his cup. I can already see the freefloating ich dying, and the ich under his skin are maturing and falling off. He's really responding well to his new vase. The finrot seems to be getting a LITTLE better. All the black stringy things fell off, and now his fins are barely black tipped. I'm hoping the clean water will reverse his finrot completely. Now the problem is- he's still not eating. What do I do about that?

 

[adagiolove05]

Ugh- the page is only showing up to post 8. And I have to post more for it to show up.

 

[Expresso]

what are you feeding him? Bettas can be picky eaters. If you can get some live daphnia for him he should eat that, even sick and frightened bettas will eat that.

 

[discus4everGrl]

Not sure about betta's, but most fresh water fish can substain a salt water bath. The salt causes the parasites, ich, to absorb water until they burst. You would want to do that in no less than a one gallon container though. Also, because he is in a small cup and you have a lamp on him - make sure you don't cook the little bugger.

 

[adagiolove05]

Just the normal BioGold pellets that we feed them at the store. I didn't want to change his diet when he came home because that might stress him out more. He's doing a WHOLE lot better. I took pictures of him yesterday when he looked really bad, and today I'm going to follow up with more pictures. I just wish I'd thought of taking pictures two days ago- his fins were half black and ripping off, he was so covered in ich you could barely tell his true coloring- I didn't even realize he had a black face till this morning- I always thought it was blue. His eyes were clouding and I was afraid he'd lose his sight. Ah he looks like a different fish now! I'm happy. Only a few spots left, but I'm going to continue for about a week longer. He's alive!

 

[adagiolove05]

Oh- and today he ate one pellet and spat out the other.

 

[ashleigh]

you might try live blackworms, but just a few, no more than three(no betta can resist). Or a few frozen bloodworms.

 

[adagiolove05]

What does a healing fin look like? The rotten parts all fell off, and now there's just a TINY bit of black around the edges. It doesn't look like it's advancing though. How do you know when it starts to heal?