Need Help With Abandoned Betta

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Small Fish
#1
Apr 23, 2005
30
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St Louis
#1
Someone brought in a neglected betta that his son had been keeping in his room. The tank is 1/8 gallons and is very very cloudy. There is no filter or air pump. What should I do with this fish? I'm afraid clean water will shock him. Should I clean the rocks or is there established bacteria there?

Bizarre thing is, he shows no sign of disease. It seems that all the people I know who do not take care of their betta, have bettas with long lives. Mine however, get sick and I take care of them.

????
cj
 

phOOey

phOOey

Superstar Fish
#3
Oct 31, 2003
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Nottingham, UK
#3
i'd do like a 60% or 70% water change, i wouldn't clean the rocks just yet as that is probably the only place there is beneficial bacteria in the tank. get a bigger tank if you can. the tank he is in now is a little small for heater, i think you could fit a small filter to it though.
 

phOOey

phOOey

Superstar Fish
#5
Oct 31, 2003
1,741
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Nottingham, UK
#5
well the tank may of been cycled, and benificial bacteria is found everywhere in the tank, substrate, water, decor, not just the filter.

but i guess if i was uncycled it would be best to just start over.
 

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PreciousGems

Large Fish
#6
Mar 11, 2003
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#6
I don't even think its worth it to cycle a 1/8 gallon! It is better to get all that stuff out now, while the fish even has a chance. I would invest the $3 it takes to buy at least a 1 gallon bowl. Of course 2 gallons is better, but I guess compared to 1/8 gallon, anything is (think about it, its EIGHT times the size!).

Alexa
 

revfred

revfred

Superstar Fish
#7
Jun 21, 2003
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St. Paul, MN
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#7
Yep ... get a bigger bowl ... 1/8th of a gallon is about 16oz. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to small. Pick up some dechlorinator too ... don't have to worry about cycling unless you are going to put other fish in there as well. Just make sure that temp is the same. If you want to get fancy, Azoo has a neat little filter at Drs. Foster&Smith. Pretty cheap if I remember correctly ... nice looking little unit.
 

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Small Fish
#8
Apr 23, 2005
30
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0
St Louis
#8
I'm sorry, I typed a "/" instead of a ".". It is a 1.8 gallon.

Anyway, He survived the cleaning, I marinated him for a while, slowly adding new water in a bowl. He is swimming back and forth like crazy though, just swimming, pacing.

However, he does appear to have fin rot. The end of one of his tails is black and the other tail is fraying.

I have Mellafix and Jungle fin rot stuff. Which would be better, or should there be something else? None of my local stores sell the capsule meds recommended by bettatalk.

?

Thanks
~cj
 

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Small Fish
#10
Apr 23, 2005
30
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0
St Louis
#10
Aw, geez, I thought I got Jungle, instead I grabbed Aquarium Products AppPlus Anti-Fungus Fin Rot Treatment. Is this a bad one?

It is hard to find good medications around here!!

Thanks,
cj
 

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Small Fish
#12
Apr 23, 2005
30
0
0
St Louis
#12
Thanks. I travelled some yesterday to finally get the Jungle Fungus Clear. I'm going to add that today. How will I know he's better, will the discoloring go away?

Thanks,
cj
 

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twoluvcats

Large Fish
#13
Apr 12, 2004
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Western Colorado
www.theinsidelineonline.com
#13
ya, watch for the discoloration to go away, and then look for the beginnings of fin regrowth...that will be clear or white on the ends of the fins. Once it looks like the fin is starting to grow back, and not deteriorating, then switch to melafix. Most of the time, I treat for 8 days (so 2 treatments) and then am able to switch to melafix.
 

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Small Fish
#14
Apr 23, 2005
30
0
0
St Louis
#14
Should I do a large water change when the second dose occurs? The box just says to do a 25% but I'm thinking that would be for a filtered tank, not a 1-gallon.

cj
 

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