# Betta with Ich



## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I've never had a fish with Ich before so therefore don't know how to treat it. I've given his tank a dose of Milti-cure that says it's for velvet, white spot and other fungal infections but I've also read that ich is a parasite so i'm not sure what to do. I'm going to do a gravel vac coz it seems he hasn't been eating his food and add some sea salt in the hopes that this will help. I can get some melafix of pimafix tomorrow but I'm not sure which is better for treating ich.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I would not recommend using mela or pima fix because it a an oil, and the oil can cover your bettas labyrinth organ an make it hard for him to breathe. Also your betta will become very unhappy and he will lose alot of colour. If you still want to use mela/pimafix you will notice a drastic change in colour because most bettas don't like it. I think using sea/aquarium salt should be fine how big is your tank? is it that split tank that you posted a picture of? I hope i helped


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

um, I'm not sure which split tank you are talking about..if you mean the barracks that my ex built...no that is at his house and we are actually selling it on that auction website that starts with an e and ends in bay lol. I have a few smaller barracks here..he's in the middle section of a triple barracks I have and thank god the chambers aren't interconnected because it would have spread to the other 2! I've got a heater in with him at the moment, temp is 78 and i'll be upping it by 1-2 degrees every hour until it is around 85. I've also done a 50% water change and added some sea salt. I'm hoping all these measures will kill the rotten things! his back half is pretty well covered in white spots. I did a little more research and found out that ich is also referred to as white spot and the medication I currently have him in is for white spot so it should cure it! I'll try and take a pic of him tomorrow for all to see the spots but he's currently in green water so I don't know if it will come out too well.

My main concern now is whether he has infected the female he spawned with 3 weeks ago and his poor little fry. I suppose only time will tell.


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## Dr_House (Aug 15, 2006)

anasfire23 - There are as many opinions as there are fish-keepers in regard to the proper or most effective treatment for ich. What has worked best for me is a product called Quick Cure. It can be purchased at nearly any fish store. In fact, I used to get mine from Wal Mart. I do a half dose on any fish and the ich is usually gone in 1 treatment. 

As I said, this is what I do, and there are many treatment options available. Of at least the same importance is figuring out why your fish got ich in the first place. How does your water test in terms of toxin levels? 

As far as your female, just keep a close eye. If you start seeing little white spots, treat accordingly. If you don't, you're home free.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I'm pretty sure he had it from when he was at the pet shop and it took hold after he was taken from his spawn coz he was depressed and stressed.


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## kbjunior8 (Sep 3, 2007)

well ikermalli is right just make sure you dont use pima or melafix i used when my betta was sick and he just got worse and couldnt breath but i just gave him time and a way bigger tank and he is extremely happy and never stops flaring


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

aquarium salt should do the trick but if anything DO NOT use mela or pima fix, your betta will hate it


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## Dr_House (Aug 15, 2006)

It's good you've identified the cause, anasfire23. Good luck with the treatment. Keep us posted.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Sadly he died this morning! He was looking so much better too! I did a 50% gentle water change yesterday and added some more salt, but no more multi-cure, and he was actually eating! I think maybe he succumbed to a secondary infection of some sort.  at least we have his fry still, hopefully one of them will look just like him!


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

aww *tear* that must have been hard to absorb was it the betta in your picture?


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

yes it was the Betta in my avatar. I'm kind of used to losing them now. Over the past 3 years I've lost that many fish it doens't really phase me now. I mean I'm a little annoyed that we lost him, he was an awesome breeder but once I noticed he had ich I had kind of realised and prepared myself to lose him. Like I said too, we still have his fry and at 3 1/2 weeks old they are all doing really well. Will be doing another 100% clean out tonight so will post another head count!


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I only have two bettas and I love taking care of them, if I lost one i woul be so sad


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## Dr_House (Aug 15, 2006)

I'm sorry to hear you lost him, anasfire23. Hopefully you can use the information you've gathered from this thread if it happens again.


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## FinnFan (Aug 28, 2007)

When mine had Ich, I used Quick Cure for the first several days, then I switched to swapping out his bowl, daily. I boiled the gravel (or at least washed it off with the hottest water that comes out of the faucet) and it did work. I'm sorry to hear your little guy didn't make it.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

same here, but I haven't lost any of my fish buddies yet but I get attatched to them easily


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I get upset if it's an expensive fish like Gourami or something but not with neon's as they are fairly cheap. Bettas I'm not too concerned about coz my LFS sells them fairly cheap and they usually have nice CT's in there!


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

most people get upset because their aquatic buddies died but you don't get upset if they are cheap? They are living beings and once you get to know them they should be kind to them, as i know you are but i feel that you only care about how much money a fish costs so you feel upset that you lost that money  that is just sad


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Of course that's not all I care about, I love my fish...they calm me when I sit and watch them but sometimes it can't be helped that you lose them eg ammonia spike kills off the weaker ones or a fight breaks out and u lose the smaller ones it happens and if you get attached to them all then you are constantly going to be sad! All i'm saying is that I try to maintain a healthy attachment to them so when I lose them I'm not grieving for days and can move on. If you think that makes me sad so be it, I can't live my life worrying what others think of me...I have to live with myself every day not other people.  Have a great day Ikermalli


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I am sorry for making assumptions anasfire23, i thought that was what you meant, i truly regret what I said.


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## Rza1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Also we have his spawn in memory of him he is gone but not forgotten  

180ish babies after 4 weeks


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## Rza1 (Sep 25, 2007)

see what happens its kids i tell ya!!! I'm grey already with one kid!! His got over 100 :shock:

also take into account we breed them there our job too so we sell them we can't get to attached


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

oh, I thought you just bred them for yourself. Does anybody do that? In your avatar is that one of the bettas you bred?


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

she's a breeder, isn't that like her life cuz its hard to take care of fry?


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## kbjunior8 (Sep 3, 2007)

just wondering is taking care of a fry the same as taking care of an old fish? or do you have to change things


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

fry can only eat certain types of food and you also have to separate them at the right time for bettas right?


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Yep, fry can only eat uber small food like nematode worms (microscopic worms) eg Vinegar eels, Microworms and walter worms until they are big enough to take baby brine shrimp, blood worms, pellets and other live foods. But they are as sensitive as an old fish so you have to be careful. I'm freaking out a little at the moment coz I just realised they all have white spot, probably got it from their dad so I've had to up their temp to around 89F and add some multi-cure at 1/4 the regular dosage...I've also added some salt! Lets hope they get over it! Ikermailli, yes you do have to separate them but the time to do that differs with each spawn. My first spawn were all fine with each other up until 6 weeks old, the second lot started fighting at 3 weeks. This lot are almost 4 weeks old and there are still no signs of fighting, even from the largest ones so I'm hoping they will all be fine for a few more weeks.

As Baby_Baby said, I do have a life outside of my fish even though they are my job at the moment and do take up a lot of my time I also have a 6 year old son to care for, a house to keep clean and other fish tanks to maintain. If you did a count of all the fish I have here now we'd be over the 300 mark easily, I can't get all weepy over each individual fish when they die, I feel sad when I find them dead and there's a moment when my brain says 'aww that's a shame, poor little guy' then I dispose of the body and move on... I can't wallow or I'd be in a constant state of depression. Especially when it comes to losing fry... We've lost 163 fry since they hatched, many of which bodies I saw, are you expecting me to cry over every single one of them? Ikermalli, you need to realise that I have a very healthy attitude towards it all, I have to distance myself emotionally from it all or I'd be a wreck 24/7. It is a little sad that people who breed fish have to get this way but it's necessary in order for you to keep your sanity and anything that resembles a life!


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

As I said I am truly sorry, I am not a breeder and take as much care of my two bettas as possible. So I am attached to them. Good lock with all your fry. Also can you help in my new topic? I think my fish has pop eye, Ichthius says he does


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Baby_Baby said:


> .
> Dont want yall to think I'm a few fruit loops short of a cheerio....
> wait that made no sense..
> dangit not again.
> ...


OMFG that was the funniest thing I've seen in a while....few fruit loops short of a cheerio! I think it's fine for people to weep a little when they lose a fish, it's natural to process grief in different ways, some cry, some just get upset and others get annoyed...like me....that a) it died b) I now have to replace it and c) I can't afford to replace fish all the time lmao! Doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the fish when it was alive, I kept it's water clean, fed it and watched it for hours on end when life got a little too stressful! Every person is different lol and I try not to expect others to be exactly like me because everyone is individual and you will NEVER find anyone who thinks or reacts exactly as you do so we must have respect for the differences amongst Man.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Lol!!!!!


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## khachdatinh (Sep 17, 2007)

I feed my bettas frozen redworms (the cube things) . Many of my bettas get Ich(k) . Here is what i do within 3 days the Ich thing should go away. In my 10 gallon tank, i put the sicked betta in, a Marine Stealth 250w heater and turn it to maximum (89 degrees) . Major amount of white dots will show up by next day or so and on the third day they should be gone and the fish should be eating normally. I then turn the temperature back to 80F. I haven't seen any of my sicked fish get Ick the second time. None died by that method and it didn't cost anything in term of medications. 

Ikermalli, you sound like peta.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

peta? what's that?


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