And my problems continue...

[Kwenbee]

Thank you so much for all your advice in my other thread with getting my 10 gallon tank up and running. I am still doing daily water changes, but today my nitrites dropped (even though ammonia is STILL holding at 2.0) so I think I might be getting somewhere.

Now I have a problem with Bill the Beta who is in his own one gallon tank. Bill has been doing fairly well. He's not much of an eater, but I read that this is normal for them.

He took a swan dive (or as my husband calls it, a "beta dive") onto the carpet after a tank cleaning on evening. We aren't sure how long he was out of the tank, but he was alive and has seemed to do well since returning him home. That was about a month ago.

Last night, I noticed that he seemed a little listless. He was staying on the bottom of the tank. I've been changing his water every week since the tank is far to small to do water changes with the vacuum. The water was a little yucky, so we changed his water. He still seemed a little sluggish.

This morning, I noticed some little white spots on his face and on the top of his body. I had read that if it looks like someone salted your fish, it's probably ich. Before I get ich treatment, I just wanted to be sure I'm diagnosing him right.

Any recommendations on how to treat this new problem? He is the only fish in the tank. It is a one gallon with a little airstone type filter in the center of the tank.

All our other guys are doing very well! I've actually gone three weeks without losing a fish! Hopefully, Bill won't break my record!

 

[tkos]

Since he is alone I would head right out and buy a product like quick cure. It normally isn't a great idea for bigger tanks as it can contain copper which will kill bacterial filters and inverts like snails and shrimp. But for just the betta it is probably a good idea.

Also, if I were you I would do at least a twice a week tank cleaning of upwards of 50%. It isn't a lot of water, doesn't take a lot fo time and will make the Bettas environment so much better. You mentioned that the water was yucky last time you changed it. Well it shouldn't ever get to that point. It is easy to sneak up on us though, so jumping in premptively is always a good idea.

Follow the directions exactly on the meds and everything should clear up hopefully. Also don't forget to keep up the medication for up to 4 weeks after the last signs of the ich. The salty bits you see are only the final sign. It has a life cycle and you must wait until the last bits have hatched and are killed by the meds.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Just another tip on water changes in a small tank...if you have a piece of air line tubing, you can use it to siphon out any gunk that might be accumulating in the gravel.

good luck with the ich treatment...seems like it's everwhere (at least on this forum!).

 

[Kwenbee]

Yeah, I realize that the tank needs to never look "yucky", but I've spent so much time dealing with the 10 gallon I literally overlooked Bill's tank...it looked okay, so I didn't fool with it.

He seemed better at lunchtime (spots are still there), but he actually puffed up at the mirror when I put it to the side of the tank. He wouldn't even do that last night...he actually swam away from it. Guess he just didn't feel good enough to be bothered.

We'll head to the store today to get the medication for him. My daughter is very stressed that something might happen to Bill. She informs me he is her favorite...hmmm...so WHY am I spending so much time fighting the other tank????