oriconailin

How do I use garlic to help my little betta?

Do I get that jar of minced garlic at the grocery store? Or do I get a clove and squish it up?

Several people advised me to use a few drops of garlic to help Aidan out, who is suffering from a case of fin rot.

How do I do this? I don't want to hurt him.

Thanks!
Heather

Lucy

You can use the juice in the minced garlic or buy Garlic Guard at the fish store.
Is he still in the 1g?

oriconailin

He's been moved back into his home (1.5 Water Wonder Tank) with the filter and the heater. I've been able to maintain his water temp at 80*F, and the water is being filtered.

When I get home tonight, I'll change his water again.

I am currently trying to get him a 5 or 10 gal setup. Unfortunately I can't get it until after payday. But...until then, I will be very vigilant about his DAILY water changes. And, I'm doing everything I can to keep him warm and fed properly.

I wish I had known about this forum before I got him. All the pet stores MIS-advise people when it comes to bettas. I had spent all my money to get him a 1.5 gal tank, instead of a little bowl or vase. I feel so bad now that I didn't do better for him.

Even though the water is being filtered and aerated, I'm going to change it every evening. I already prepped a full 1.5 gallons of water to sit 24 hours, and I got some Prime today. Should I use that instead of the regular Betta water conditioner??

I'm sorry for asking so many questions!

Heather

Lucy

Don't be sorry, ask as many questions a you need.
I'm glad you found the forum. I glanced at your other thread and it looks like the members have you covered with all kinds of good advice.
Congrats for doing research to learn to take care of your fin baby.

Prime will detox the ammonia, so I would recommend you use that.
Is there a reason that you're letting the water sit out for 24hrs?
It would best to treat the tap water and try to get it the same temp as the tank water rather than room temp.
Also, is there anyway you can raise the tank to to closer to 80F?

If I haven't said it before, welcome to Fish Lore

oriconailin

Hi Lucy!

I had been told to let the water "rest" or "age" for 24 hours. But if I don't need to...that's MUCH easier! If I just add the Prime and make sure the water is dechlorinated, that's enough?

Thanks for the welcome! There's so much to learn! But, I seem to have plenty of wonderful helpers around here. It feels good to know I've got REAL help now. Thank you!

Lucy

Yep, just adding the Prime is enough.
Letting the water sit out is old school.
What that does is let the chlorine dissipate but many water companies now add chloramines too. It can take a month for that to dissipate and it's harmful to our fish.
Water conditioners (Prime) take care of these.

I hope Aiden feels better soon and you'll share his pic with us.

oriconailin

Yay! I'm glad I don't have to age the water. That's way easier! I'll use Prime tonight.

Here's a pic of Aidan. I also posted it in the Betta Photos thread too.




Heather

Lucy

Awww, h's a cutie! I like how the rocks match his coloring.
His fins don't look like they're in bad shape. With your good care and getting the water conditions corrected, he'll do fine!
Wait until you see him in a bigger tank. He'll really be able to stretch those fins.
One thing, be careful with decorations. A good way to check them is to run some panty hose across them. If they catch, they can also catch Aiden's fins.

Best of luck to you both!

Butterfly

He's very pretty.
Many years ago when I first started fish keeping we could let water sit out 24 hrs to let the chlorine dissipate. chloramine is another story, it's a combination of chlorine and ammonia. It does a great job killing germs in our water but is not good for our fish at all. Just about all water companies use chloramines now so you have to use something to break the chlorine/ammonia bond and get rid of it. Prime is an excellent choice.
Let us know how he gets along. Love his name(that's my great-grandsons name)
Carol

iloveengl

oh Wow! I'm glad you posted a picture of him! He's stunning. I love purple bettas! And I, too, love the matching substrate. (I do the same with my bettas ).

I'm glad Lucy caught that water thing. That'll make this much easier lol!

oriconailin

Thanks y'all!

Aidan seems to be doing a bit better tonight. Did a 50% water change and made sure the temperature matched what he was in. Maintaining 80*F right now.

He's a lot more lively tonight...and his fins don't seem to get getting worse. They are about the same, but his color seems a tad brighter tonight.

He's eating well, swimming well, and responds to me when I look at him through the tank! YAY!

I'll keep ya posted!

Heather

PS--I changed out two of his plants for silky plants. They seem much softer and he really likes this one that's like tall grass. No sharp edges.

uprightandlocked

Welcome to fish lore. I love your fishies name. I just lost my betta Aadyn James.

Great advice is contained in this thread. And your betta will love his silk plants. Anything with broad leaves will provide him a great place to sleep at night. Good luck with his recovery!

aquarist48

Hello Heather Aidan is just "beautiful". Some great advice above. Have fun and enjoy the site.
Best wishes for you and your new betta boy
Ken

Red1313

Aw he's a sweetie!

oriconailin

Thanks y'all.

I don't know what's up with him the past two days. I've done the 50% water changes and all that stuff. His levels are just right...his temp is 80*F, and he's eating just fine.

HOWEVER...for about 2 hours after I do the water change, he acts spaztic! He darts around, bumps into the corners, swims ALL over the place like he's crazy or something. He swims quickly down to the corners, and races back up to the surface. Takes a breath, spits out a little bubble...and races down to the corner again.

He does this for quite some time. Then he gets all still and quiet and stays like that most of the night.

When I wake up in the morning..it's like it never happened. He gets happy to see me, races to the surface when he sees me feed him a pellet or two. And he's calm.

Then...after the water changes...he's all spazzy again!

Is something wrong or is he just totally excited I've changed his water? I mean...it's crazy!

Heather

chickadee

Sounds like there is a problem with your tap water or your dechlorinator is not working and after the water ages in the tank overnight it is worked out. Can you test the tap water straight out of the tap before you dechlorinate it and again after you put the dechlorinator in it and see if the nitrites, ammonia or nitrates are high. This time of year in many areas the ground waters become infused with chemicals or something and I have lost a couple of bettas by not realizing the problem was in the tap water and the dechlorinator was not handling it. If this is the case try either:
1.Adding more dechlorinator,
2.Drawing up the water for the tank and dechlorinating it AND letting it set for a whole 24 hours before putting it in the tank,
or
3. Buying SPRING water for a while to do your water changes and see if his behavior changes.

On the first two I would always check and test the water before adding to the tank just in case.

Rose

oriconailin

Hi Rose!

Thanks for your advice! I tested the tap water this morning...before and after the dechlorinator was used.

It's working. Our water here has chlorine in it when it comes from the tap. In my job, I work with swimming pools, so I'm used to working with chemical test kits and water sampling. I tested both with my normal water test kit and my aquarium test kit. Same results. Zero chlorine after using the API Betta Water Conditioner.

Aidan is doing very well. He's been making large bubble nests, and his color looks great! Back to being bright blues and purple! And he eats normal and his fins are looking really good.

I don't know what else it could be other than he's just a very active and happy fish now that he's healing up nicely. I don't know.

But thank you for the advice! I wouldn't have thought of checking to make sure the dechlorinator was working properly. Thanks!

Heather

chickadee

If it had not happened to me and we had HIGH nitrates also (up to 80 and higher) when I lost my fish, I would not have known either. But my fish went swimming around and overnight they were gone and that was the only thing I found that made a difference. Then one day our city water supply was breached by a crack in the main and before I heard of it I was changing tanks and the river had contaminated our whole towns water. NO ONE in town was allowed to drink the water for a week it had to be shipped in or purchased at the grocery store in prefilled bottles. BUT I lost 2 tanks of fish (my community tank and one betta tank) before I knew it as I did not have the television on when I was changing the water and could not figure out why the fish just died in minutes.

Rose