My betta has ICH, needing advice on treatment

So I discovered my betta was acting strange the day before yesterday, I started googling everything I possibly could to help me figure out what was wrong with him. Hours later, I noticed white spots all over him googled that and here we are. I went to my local fish/aquarium store to ask for help as far as treatment for my betta “Uni,” and he suggested that I buy ICH-X and follow the directions on the bottle. I have him in a 3 gallon tank that has an air filter, along with 3 snails. I have removed the snails and placed them in a separate tank until the treatment process is over. My questions/concerns regarding the treatment are:
- How long do I treat the water?
- How do I know if it is working or not?
- Do I do a partial water change with the treatment (bottle says to, things I read here says not to.)
- Do I treat the water every 24 hours like the bottle says or no?
Uni is really worrying me with some of his behavior, I know he’s miserable and I’m trying my best to help him, but any advice is desperately welcome! I’ve noticed he lays on the water heater outside the water, and since this has started his tail has taking a beating. I’m not sure how but it is tearing or has torn somehow. I’m unable to take of pictures of it at the moment but will try to later.
please let me know if there’s any information I left out that would help you guys help me. Thank you so much!

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

Yes, dose meds and change water ALWAYS as the bottle says. Do everything the directions say, Your fish may suffer if you don't. It doesnt matter what anyone else says.

Your decorations could be shredding his tail. Do you have a pic of the whole tank?

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

Yes, dose meds and change water ALWAYS as the bottle says. Do everything the directions say, Your fish may suffer if you don't. It doesnt matter what anyone else says.

Your decorations could be shredding his tail. Do you have a pic of the whole tank?

Thank you so much for responding!!! I am still new at this, I’ve only had Uni since September and he is the first fish I’ve had since I was a child, so needless to say I may be a little overbearing when it comes to him and his well-being. I just don’t want to mess up and cost him his life. Should I buy a different heater for my tank? I’ve read that increasing the temperature of the water also helps fit the parasites, but my heater doesn’t have a temp control it just stays on one setting as of now the temperature is 76. I attached a pic of the take, and I do have several decorations in there, do you think I should remove them?

 

Your heater is fine. You dont want to do heat treatment and meds at the same time. One or the other.

Nah those decorations look fine. Bettas tails can shred just from flaring too much. Looks ok to me.

 

Your heater is fine. You dont want to do heat treatment and meds at the same time. One or the other.

Nah those decorations look fine. Bettas tails can shred just from flaring too much. Looks ok to me.

I just got home from work and checked on him, and I truly feel like ICH-X isn’t work. It’s been 36 hours since the first dose, and maybe I’m wanting instant results.. but I feel like it’s getting worse instead of better. Any advice?

 

Adult ich is invisible. Ich medications can only kill the invisible baby ich "tomites" that are swimming around in the tank looking for a host. With the medicine in the water No more ich should attach. And the visible ichs lifespan may be sped up depending on how the medicine works. Ich sucks, It is a waiting game, but you can do more than wait.
1. Do the water changes as directed.
2. remove active carbon from the filter cartridge. If the filter is more than a month old, the carbon will not be active, and you can leave it.
3. I would get an adjustable heater, bettas like it closer to 80 degrees anyway.
Treat with rid X for 3 days after you see the last white spot.

 

Adult ich is invisible. Ich medications can only kill the invisible baby ich "tomites" that are swimming around in the tank looking for a host. With the medicine in the water No more ich should attach. And the visible ichs lifespan may be sped up depending on how the medicine works. Ich sucks, It is a waiting game, but you can do more than wait.
1. Do the water changes as directed.
2. remove active carbon from the filter cartridge. If the filter is more than a month old, the carbon will not be active, and you can leave it.
3. I would get an adjustable heater, bettas like it closer to 80 degrees anyway.
Treat with rid X for 3 days after you see the last white spot.

Adult ich is invisible. Ich medications can only kill the invisible baby ich "tomites" that are swimming around in the tank looking for a host. With the medicine in the water No more ich should attach. And the visible ichs lifespan may be sped up depending on how the medicine works. Ich sucks, It is a waiting game, but you can do more than wait.
1. Do the water changes as directed.
2. remove active carbon from the filter cartridge. If the filter is more than a month old, the carbon will not be active, and you can leave it.
3. I would get an adjustable heater, bettas like it closer to 80 degrees anyway.
Treat with rid X for 3 days after you see the last white spot.

I did a 100% water change last night, as I felt 3 total treatments with zero result, maybe changing the water would help. He’s hasn’t improved much if at all, and still lays on the heater outside of the water. I know he’s miserable, I had lice as a child and remember how miserable that was.. and can only imagine how he feels since he can’t help himself. Besides replacing the heater, is there anything else I can do? I’m sorry extremely worried at this point.

 

The life cycle of ich is about 14 days. The white spots will not go away untill they die of old age. The medicine can speed up there life cycles, hotter water will too, but its a waiting game.
. Beyond that, You can try to keep him comfortable,
Water changes are good, but no more then 50% water changes, and be careful to add similar temperature water, and never remove him from the tank. offer him some high quality food. Look for live daphnia, or fruit flies, Bug Bites, and New life spectrum betta food are great foods to try. You could add stress coat with Aloe, it may help with the wounds left by the ich. You can keep the lights in the tank off and keep noise around the tank to a minimum.

 

The life cycle of ich is about 14 days. The white spots will not go away untill they die of old age. The medicine can speed up there life cycles, hotter water will too, but its a waiting game.
. Beyond that, You can try to keep him comfortable,
Water changes are good, but no more then 50% water changes, and be careful to add similar temperature water, and never remove him from the tank. offer him some high quality food. Look for live daphnia, or fruit flies, Bug Bites, and New life spectrum betta food are great foods to try. You could add stress coat with Aloe, it may help with the wounds left by the ich. You can keep the lights in the tank off and keep noise around the tank to a minimum.

Thank you so much for the help! He seems to be a lot better right now, he’s no longer hiding under one of the decorations or outside the water on top of the heater. He’s swimming around somewhat like normal, but his poor little body and fins took a massive toll. I know he likes blood works, but I will check into the others you mentioned. Besides the aloe, what else can I get for him to help with the healing?
Lastly, when can I add my snails back into the tank? I literally have them in a Tupperware bowl because I don’t have a second tank, and we are also staying in a hotel due to the home we’re moving into fell through, so I have limited space for everything. I truly appreciate everyone’s help throughout this process, I’m a lot more at ease than I was because he was so pitiful. Thanks again!

 

Yuck! sorry to hear about your housing situation.
I really dont know about Ich x and snails. It says it is safe for snails, I nevery used it with snails, I used it with scaleless fish though and it was fine. If you are not sure you can wait until you add fresh carbon to the filter to remove the meds.
There is not much else you can do for the fish, avoid melifix and beta fix. keep the temp stable.