Emergency!! I left my betta for three days and came back to THIS

My betta had some faint ich spots on him so I changed his water and used Jungle Ick Guard to treat his tank before having to leave for a few days. When I came back his fins wers COMPLETELY destroyed!! He must have been fin biting, but does he have fungus and ich now? I'm changing his water like crazy to keep the ammonia down and I'm treating him daily with the Jungle. Is there anything else I can do? Will Jungle Ich Guard help with fungal infections as well?

 

First off don't panic- things happen and you did what you believed would help. Theres no way you could have known it would progress like this. The water changes are a great first step for both the ammonia and the current medical issues.

Not super familiar with Jungle Ick Guard- if it has malachite green in it it should help a bit with any possible fungal issues. If you have any carbon in your filter make sure to remove it so it doesn't suck up the meds.

If you have an adjustable heater you can also treat ich by slowly increasing the heat over a few days- there's a tutorial thread under the freshwater disease section of the forum.

 

First off don't panic- things happen and you did what you believed would help. Theres no way you could have known it would progress like this. The water changes are a great first step for both the ammonia and the current medical issues.

Not super familiar with Jungle Ick Guard- if it has malachite green in it it should help a bit with any possible fungal issues. If you have any carbon in your filter make sure to remove it so it doesn't suck up the meds.

If you have an adjustable heater you can also treat ich by slowly increasing the heat over a few days- there's a tutorial thread under the freshwater disease section of the forum.

I'm not familiar with the brand either and I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't highly recommended to me by the pet store owners. They treat their tanks with it and they say it works great.
I'm worried that he has more than ich, that now there is another fungal infection. Jungle has "Victorian green". I haven't heard of Victorian green and I'm hoping it's similar to malachite green. It's not a carbon filter so I haven't removed it. I know that Ich X also treats fungus so after a few more water changes I think I'll get him started on that? Does that sound okay to you or is there risk in switching meds? I would have to stop the Jungle treatment for a little while until I get it out so the meds don't mix. Is it too risky to stop medication for a little while so I can get the old one out? Is it worth it?

He is eating but he stays near the filter in the corner and doesn't move much. I am currently cycling a 5 gal tank for him because I only found out that a 2.5 was too small after I bought him. I really need him to survive so I can get him into his new home

 

A 2.5 is on the small side but can be ok so don't feel you need to rush anything.

I think it would be ok to switch medications if you want but the current one should be ok. Victoria green is a slightly less common name for malachite green.

If you do want to switch though I would suggest waiting maybe a day or so between treatments. I would do 2 75% water changes to get the majority of it out- alternatively you could do a full 100% water change. I personally avoid doing full changes just because I find it stresses the fish out a bit more than I'm comfortable with but it can be done.

 

A 2.5 is on the small side but can be ok so don't feel you need to rush anything.

I think it would be ok to switch medications if you want but the current one should be ok. Victoria green is a slightly less common name for malachite green.

If you do want to switch though I would suggest waiting maybe a day or so between treatments. I would do 2 75% water changes to get the majority of it out- alternatively you could do a full 100% water change. I personally avoid doing full changes just because I find it stresses the fish out a bit more than I'm comfortable with but it can be done.

Thank you! Ich X doesn't work well with Sechem Prime apparently so I may not switch. I read it takes about two weeks for ich to go away and that it will likely get worse before it gets better. I hope my baby is strong enough to make it through this. I only got him a few weeks ago so he is still trying to adjust on top of all of this. Ugh I've spent so much time and money into him and if he dies I will be very upset. I just wanted to give him a good home and now he is sick. I feel terrible.

 

You're doing your best, he would likely already be gone by now if he went home with the typical folks that buy bettas. Good luck to you and your little fishy friend!

 

Esha 2000 with esha exit will eliminate all diseases, including white spot fin rot and so on I think it treats like 20 diseases at once. eSHa exit - AntI Whitespot Treatment: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

eSHa 2000 - Fungus, Finrot and Bacteria Treatment: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

And I use it my self for my fish when they get sick. So I know it works. And I haven't lost a single fish yet. In about a year since I've started and I have 5 different tanks with fish

 

I've already bought so many medications. Thank you for the recommendation but I'm going to stick with Jungle for a few weeks and if that doesn't help I'll look more into the Esha 2000.

Esha 2000 with esha exit will eliminate all diseases, including white spot fin rot and so on I think it treats like 20 diseases at once. eSHa exit - AntI Whitespot Treatment: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

eSHa 2000 - Fungus, Finrot and Bacteria Treatment: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

And I use it my self for my fish when they get sick. So I know it works. And I haven't lost a single fish yet. In about a year since I've started and I have 5 different tanks with fish

 

I've used Jungle to treat ich and it worked well.

You indicate that you're struggling with keeping ammonia down. High ammonia is a completely different issue than ich. The ammonia issue likely cause the fish to become infected with ich. I'd be looking at where the ammonia is coming from. Either your tank isn't cycled, or something is being added to the tanks that produces a large amount of ammonia. That could be overfeeding, rotting plants, etc.

You need to get the ammonia under control or the ich treatment won't do you any good.

Also, you need to continue treatment for at least a week after the white spots disappear. White spots are only one portion of the life cycle. Most of the ich life cycle is invisible.

 

Agree. Get yourself ammonia down.
I’m dealing with a bit of ich now in some newly purchased fish. I did the temp at 86F and salt in the water.
The badis I have didn’t like the malachite green and swam to the top of the tank almost immediately huffing for air. Did a 50% water changes and 3/4 swam back down immediately. Did another 50% change and the last little guy swam back down then.

 

I've used Jungle to treat ich and it worked well.

You indicate that you're struggling with keeping ammonia down. High ammonia is a completely different issue than ich. The ammonia issue likely cause the fish to become infected with ich. I'd be looking at where the ammonia is coming from. Either your tank isn't cycled, or something is being added to the tanks that produces a large amount of ammonia. That could be overfeeding, rotting plants, etc.

You need to get the ammonia under control or the ich treatment won't do you any good.

Also, you need to continue treatment for at least a week after the white spots disappear. White spots are only one portion of the life cycle. Most of the ich life cycle is invisible.

I know the ammonia is a problem because of my uncycled tank (I didn't know about the nitrate cycle until AFTER I bought him) and I am currently trying to do an fish in cycle and I'm cycling a bigger tank for him to move him to when it's ready.
To counter the ammonia I've been testing the water like crazy, and I've been doing partial water changes every day to keep it down. I may take a look at some of his plants to make sure they aren't rotting. One of my plants has a slightly browned leaf but it doesn't look completely dead. Should I remove it?

 

I know the ammonia is a problem because of my uncycled tank (I didn't know about the nitrate cycle until AFTER I bought him) and I am currently trying to do an fish in cycle and I'm cycling a bigger tank for him to move him to when it's ready.
To counter the ammonia I've been testing the water like crazy, and I've been doing partial water changes every day to keep it down. I may take a look at some of his plants to make sure they aren't rotting. One of my plants has a slightly browned leaf but it doesn't look completely dead. Should I remove it?

You're doing the right thing. Keep a close eye on the test readings. If you combine the readings for ammonia and nitrite, and do water changes to keep the total at 1 ppm or below, your fish will be fine and there will still be enough ammonia to feed the cycle.

The Jungle Ich Guard instructions say to dose every 24 hours after a water change.

Since the tank isn't cycled, the ammonia is a normal part of the process. I'd recommend logging your test results. It's interesting to watch the progression of the cycle.

 

You're doing the right thing. Keep a close eye on the test readings. If you combine the readings for ammonia and nitrite, and do water changes to keep the total at 1 ppm or below, your fish will be fine and there will still be enough ammonia to feed the cycle.

The Jungle Ich Guard instructions say to dose every 24 hours after a water change.

Since the tank isn't cycled, the ammonia is a normal part of the process. I'd recommend logging your test results. It's interesting to watch the progression of the cycle.

Thank you! I've been dousing him about 2 drops every 24 hours after changing his water. Everytime I read his water after a change it always reads at zero or somewhere between zero and .25ppm for ammonia.