Need Help Asap! Betta Has Ich & Got Worse Now What?

HI all. I have a male betta who has been moved to a hospital tank. So ill provide the stats of the hospital tank!

5 G
Filtered with media from another tank
Heated to 86 F
Treated with a dose of Aquarium Salt and API Super Ick Cure
Also added a dose of prime to the water as I had to quickly set it up when I noticed he had ich.

I made the water level a bit lower on the tank to help get more oxygen into the water as I know warmer water has a harder time carrying oxygen.

This morning, I woke up to find him laying on the bottom of the tank, in a corner, not moving. I tapped the glass to see if he was alive and he didn't move. So then, I moved the tank a little and I saw him flutter his fins, then go back to being limp.

Yesterday he was so much more active... Yesterday was the day I set up the hospital tank and put him in it. I treated yesterday and won't be treating today as per the instructions on the bottle.

Now what do I do? Did I make a mistake?

 

Follow the instructions on the bottle. I would finish the treatment.

 

HI all. I have a male betta who has been moved to a hospital tank. So ill provide the stats of the hospital tank!

5 G
Filtered with media from another tank
Heated to 86 F
Treated with a dose of Aquarium Salt and API Super Ick Cure
Also added a dose of prime to the water as I had to quickly set it up when I noticed he had ich.

I made the water level a bit lower on the tank to help get more oxygen into the water as I know warmer water has a harder time carrying oxygen.

This morning, I woke up to find him laying on the bottom of the tank, in a corner, not moving. I tapped the glass to see if he was alive and he didn't move. So then, I moved the tank a little and I saw him flutter his fins, then go back to being limp.

Yesterday he was so much more active... Yesterday was the day I set up the hospital tank and put him in it. I treated yesterday and won't be treating today as per the instructions on the bottle.

Now what do I do? Did I make a mistake?

It could be too advanced to cure but hopefully not. I'd just continue to do treatment and avoid melafix because it's not good for the betta. I'd look for a more aggressive medicine and remove the filter media because it can filter the medicine out I believe that's why they recommend taking it out. Aquarium salt and a high temp will definitely make things harder for the ich, I'd add some stress coat as well to protect from any more parasites latching on because when fish are stressed, their coat thins , leaving the fish very vunverable to external parasites .

 

It could be too advanced to cure but hopefully not. I'd just continue to do treatment and avoid melafix because it's not good for the betta. I'd look for a more aggressive medicine and remove the filter media because it can filter the medicine out I believe that's why they recommend taking it out. Aquarium salt and a high temp will definitely make things harder for the ich, I'd add some stress coat as well to protect from any more parasites latching on because when fish are stressed, their coat thins , leaving the fish very vunverable to external parasites .

Does the API treatment have Melafix? I don't think it does..

Also, Bettas, I believe, produce their own slime coat, so I don't have to worry too much about that.

Thank you for the message! I'll just continue treatment as needed. And I'll go take out the media right now.

 

You could try cupramine it's really good for ich.

 

Follow the instructions on the bottle. I would finish the treatment.

Will do. Just an extremely worried betta momma... :L Should I take the media out and just let the filter push water out?

You could try cupramine it's really good for ich.

Cupramine? I haven't heard of this. Where would I get it? Unfortunately I'm home for the summer and we only have a Petsmart and Meijer..

Can I use it WITH API Super Ick Cure? Do I need to switch?

 

I don't think you shouldn't use 2 treatments at once, but I got mine off of amazon.com (they may sell it at your local pet store)

 

I don't think you shouldn't use 2 treatments at once, but I got mine off of amazon.com (they may sell it at your local pet store)

Yeah, I don't know if I really have time to order off amazon, even with 2 day shipping.. Tomorrow is the next day to treat the tank.

But thank you for the suggestion regardless, I'll keep it in mind!

 

Okay, best of luck with the treatment.

 

So, so sorry you're going through this.

The trouble I see here is that you are using 2 different treatments at the same time, and that is dangerous. You should immediately stop one or the other. Heat should never be used at the same time as meds.

Cupramine is a copper based med often used in saltwater. You cannot mix this med with any others, nor with heat.

 

So, so sorry you're going through this.

The trouble I see here is that you are using 2 different treatments at the same time, and that is dangerous. You should immediately stop one or the other. Heat should never be used at the same time as meds.

Cupramine is a copper based med often used in saltwater. You cannot mix this med with any others, nor with heat.

Yup

 

Does the API treatment have Melafix? I don't think it does..

Also, Bettas, I believe, produce their own slime coat, so I don't have to worry too much about that.

Thank you for the message! I'll just continue treatment as needed. And I'll go take out the media right now.

Yes bettas do produce their own slimecoat, but when they are stressed, that coat thins.

 

So, so sorry you're going through this.

The trouble I see here is that you are using 2 different treatments at the same time, and that is dangerous. You should immediately stop one or the other. Heat should never be used at the same time as meds.

Cupramine is a copper based med often used in saltwater. You cannot mix this med with any others, nor with heat.

Oh, I didn't realize the heat was considered a treatment. I thought it just helped speed up the process... I'll put the tank back down to about 80-82 degrees then. I won't be using cupramine because I don't have time to order it!

 

Bettas do tend to handle heat treatment pretty well. I would do a large water change and run carbon in the filter to remove residuals of the API Super Ich Cure.

I would also discontinue the salt, as that is yet another treatment. Aquarium salt aggravates/removes some of the slime coat, which makes the fish produce more... adding more stress to their systems.

 

Yes bettas do produce their own slimecoat, but when they are stressed, that coat thins.

Oh, good to know.. I don't have any money right now. Literally $3 to my name after having to buy this stuff for him... So I'll just have to make do with what I have, I guess :L

Bettas do tend to handle heat treatment pretty well. I would do a large water change and run carbon in the filter to remove residuals of the API Super Ich Cure.

I would also discontinue the salt, as that is yet another treatment. Aquarium salt aggravates/removes some of the slime coat, which makes the fish produce more... adding more stress to their systems.

Should I only be using heat then?... He has it really bad. I mean his entire body is coated with the little buggers.. Also, I don't have money to buy carbon for the filter.. otherwise I would in a heartbeat. Any other suggestions?

 

Oh, I didn't realize the heat was considered a treatment. I thought it just helped speed up the process... I'll put the tank back down to about 80-82 degrees then. I won't be using cupramine because I don't have time to order it!

Be sure to lower the temp gradually so as to avoid shock and decrease stress on your betta.

 

Be sure to lower the temp gradually so as to avoid shock and decrease stress on your betta.

Will do! Thank you

 

Should I only be using heat then?... He has it really bad. I mean his entire body is coated with the little buggers.. Also, I don't have money to buy carbon for the filter.. otherwise I would in a heartbeat. Any other suggestions?

I couldn't say which is better, as I have only treated ich in goldfish, a coldwater species. I did not think heat was a good option there and went with Malachite Green. M. Green is the active ingredient in API Super Ich Cure. Many report great success with the heat treatment, but it will be up to you to decide which you go with. Neither will work immediately as the ich is pretty invincible while it's on him, so either treatment will only be effective after it's fallen off.

Daily water changes are a very good idea with ich as well, so perhaps heat is your best option as it will be easier to manage temperature than it would be to manage med levels.

 

I couldn't say which is better, as I have only treated ich in goldfish, a coldwater species. I did not think heat was a good option there and went with Malachite Green. M. Green is the active ingredient in API Super Ich Cure. Many report great success with the heat treatment, but it will be up to you to decide which you go with. Neither will work immediately as the ich is pretty invincible while it's on him, so either treatment will only be effective after it's fallen off.

Daily water changes are a very good idea with ich as well, so perhaps heat is your best option as it will be easier to manage temperature than it would be to manage med levels.

Alright, well, I already went and started lowering the temp, so I'll just stick with the API stuff for now. Also, when I went upstairs to check on him, he was swimming around and was basically saying "HA! I played a joke on you!". being super active and overall just a bugger. . Maybe he is okay after all. Maybe he just had a moment of lethargy. No idea. Still lowering the tank temp and doing a water change!