betta's water is turning red

[europas_ice]

I got a betta on Feb 4, and have been fighting fin rot and pop eye ever since. I've put him in a separate 1/2 gal bowl (no decoration, no filter) and I'm treating him with fungus eliminator (yellow), tetracycline, and ampicillin. These should make the water turn yellow, and they do, but after about 24 hours the water turned redish. Is this a problem? I just started the meds last week. My plan is to do full water changes every 3 days, with fresh meds. I feed him Top Fin Betta Bits, about 4 bits/day. I don't have any water test kits; I might need to get some. I've heard I shouldn't change the water MORE often than every three days, but I'm worried about its redish hue. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[An t-iasg]

The reddish hue may be from the combination of different meds. Mixing too many different meds can also cause stress in the fish. You're mixing 3 different antibiotics, which isn't really necessary. Pick one - I would go with tetracycline - and do a 50% water change every day, while adding some meds to replace what you took out. Since popeye and finrot can be caused by "dirty" water, keeping the water clean is important. If you are using Mardel's tetracycline - is this called Maracyn I? - you can also add Maracyn II at the same time. It's just that mixing brands and types of meds can sometimes backfire if the label doesn't say it's ok.

You might want to go down to 3 bits of food a day while he's in the small container. Less feeding won't "pollute" the tank as much. What size tank is he in normally?

Test kits are always a good idea. I like the liquid reagent kits by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (Doc Wellfish). Test strips are inaccurate and more expensive than the liquid kits. You'll need an ammonia kit (get the one with 2 reagent bottles), nitrite, and nitrate. If you can afford it now, you can get a pH kit, but that's not needed right now. You need to do ammonia checks now - ammonia needs to be at 0 ppm for a good recovery, and should stay at 0 ppm always.

 

[europas_ice]

Thanks, I'll do that.

I've got a 1 gallon tank that I was going to keep him in normally, but with the undergravel filter and decorations and and everything it seemed easier to just get a simple bowl to keep him in until he gets better.

 

[An t-iasg]

I hope that does the trick - the antibiotic plus water changes. It should.

An example of meds that can be mixed is a fungus med plus an antibiotic to prevent secondary infection. Jungle Fungus Eliminator has both - anit-fungal and an antibiotic - for that reason. I would still read the label of any med you get for more specific instructions. I have used Seachem's brand of parasite meds plus their antibiotic at the same time.

When you put the betta back in the one gallon tank, since this is such a small tank, I would recommend starting out with a water change schedule of 40-50% every other day, You'll need to do your ammonia testing to get a feel for when to change the water to prevent an ammonia reading. Depending on the reading, you could do a change every day. Ammonia should stay at 0 ppm no matter what size tank. I also don't know how much help the undergravel filter will actually be in terms of keeping the tank cycled. If it doesn't you'll have to resort to frequent water changes. Watch out also for the current coming from the filter - in a small tank, it may make more current, and that will make the betta uncomfortable.

Here's an article on tank cycling: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

The red is all from the tetracycline. It would be best to keep his tank in a low light area since tetracycline is light sensitive. Less light will reduce the red (but it will still be yellow) and keep the meds active longer.