How do I know my Betta is recovering from Ich?

[Criptix]

Hi,
I noticed that my betta had white spots around his gills that appeared to be Ich,he kept his fins close to his body and was not very active and he was scratching.So I raised the temp to 85 and used betta fix(signs of fin rot too...) after a few days he appears to be more active and his spots are decreasing and he is eating better and not spitting out food as much.Does that mean the Ich is on its way out or is there still a ways to go?
One more question...My betta will eat food after it has fallen to the substrate(even before Ich).I clean it up as best I can using siphon and fish net but some still remains on bottom.Is it normal for bettas to eat from the bottom of tank?

 

[shellieca]

Hi,
I noticed that my betta had white spots around his gills that appeared to be Ich,he kept his fins close to his body and was not very active and he was scratching.So I raised the temp to 85 and used betta fix(signs of fin rot too...) after a few days he appears to be more active and his spots are decreasing and he is eating better and not spitting out food as much.Does that mean the Ich is on its way out or is there still a ways to go?
One more question...My betta will eat food after it has fallen to the substrate(even before Ich).I clean it up as best I can using siphon and fish net but some still remains on bottom.Is it normal for bettas to eat from the bottom of tank?

Fresh water will cure the fin rot 99.9% of the time, no meds typically needed IME. Be careful with anything with the word fix in it for a Betta, my understanding is that it can cause problems for them if used too much. Ich can take 2-3 wks to go away but you'll want to keep the temp at 86 for at least a week after you see the last spot. My Bettas all eat food wherever it lands so its not unusual for him to eat off the bottom. What size tank is he in? I do 50%+ weekly water changes with a good vacuum on 2 10g tanks & a 46g & the only thing I've ever gotten are the teeny tiny white worms which I believe are planaria, they go away pretty easily with a vacuum & water changes.

 

[Criptix]

I have him in a 2.5 gallon tank..I also plan on a shrimp or two to help with clean up.Its been hard keeping temp at 86...the heater is an auto shut off and it tends to keep the tank temp about 10 degrees higher than room temp which flucuates because of the down stairs neighbor.Yesterday,for example, the temp in the tank was 90 degrees so I had to turn the heater off. When it reached 81 I turned it back on and it has kept that temp all night.I am looking for a new heater, any suggestions?