Problems with Male Bettas

[Kari]

I posted another thread here in the past week or so, but my net connection's been down for days now.

I had thought my male bettas had ich, but now I'm not sure. What's on them isn't just white dots, it's strands/threads that are very thin, clear-whitish color, with white dots mixed in it. I've seen ich, this doesn't look like ich to me, but being a beginner at this, I could be wrong. I'm getting ready to go to a bigger city to pick up my kids, and was wanting to pick up a remedy at one of the pet stores there, because the little town where I live doesn't have much at all. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah, for those who remember my last thread, I have the tank parameters for my tropical tank now They aren't GREAT, but they aren't too bad. Two of the indicators on the test strip said that I need a phDecreaser...any suggestions on this one?

 

[Meredith]

what ever you do, don't mess around with your ph. What is the ph exactly? I have my betta in a ph of 7.8 and he is just fine. The main thing, especially now your betta is sick is STABLE water parameters. Are the strands all over his body?

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, don't start adjusting your pH. If your water is hard, it will resisit the action of the pH-lowering chemical anyway. pH-lowering products are usually acids, and you don't want that in your water or around your fish. What is your pH reading? Let a glass of tap water sit out for 24 hours (called "aging") and then measure. For example, my pH out of the tap is 8.0 or 8.2. After aging, it's 7.8 which is fine for most fish.

For the symptoms that your bettas are showing now, try Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It's a yellow powder and it turns the water slightly yellow. It has an antibiotic and a fungus med in it. One of my bettas was barely moving, and after 6 days with Jungle Fungus Eliminator, he was fine. Hopefully your bettas will perk up too!

 

[Kari]

I haven't taken the parameters for the bettas, since they're still in bowls at the moment. And I didn't get an answer on here before I left, so I ended up getting Maracide for them.

As for the parameters in the tropical tank...
Nitrate is at 40
Nitrite is at 0
Hardness is at 250
Alkalinity is at 300
pH is at 8.4

Since the test had said to get a pH decreaser, I picked up this stuff called Correct pH for Community Tanks by Jungle. It's not a good idea to use this?



I also got some of the anti-parasite medicated fish food for the other problem I was having before. My last female guppy, Daphne, died a couple days ago

By the way, I'm REALLY glad that I finally made it back

 

[Kari]

I haven't used the Correct pH or the Maracide just yet, I'm waiting for feedback from you guys!

 

[Meredith]

I would say return the Correct PH. Don't worry about that at the moment. And go ahead and try the Maracide. Just beware, When I was treating with maracyn two, my water got all gross and all the decorations got this weird slime. The company said this can happen when it is used in hard water. I don't know if that will happen with the Marcide, if it does, its totally harmless. Are you going to treat the bettas in the bowls? Or do you have tanks to put them in? It would help if they have some sort of heat and filtration.

 

[Kari]

Unfortunately, the bettas are still in bowls. I know it isn't the BEST place for them, but I'm on a limited budget here. I've been looking through classified's for new tanks, or used, rather. No luck yet.

On the up side. The two male bettas with black spot disease seem to be healing up very well. I don't see it at all on Levi, and on Scrapper (latest name for my red one) it appears to be fading more each day.

Levi also is showing the signs of the other stuff though, so I need to get him off the black spot remedy and onto the remedy for that. The other two male bettas, Sir Chomps-A-Lot (latest name for the purple one...lol), and Falcore, the white one, are also showing signs of whatever this thing is. I'm getting ready to do a complete water change on all three, and add salt and Maracide. I'm continuing the tetracycline on Scrapper though, because he hasn't shown any signs of anything other than black spot, and the tetracycline seems to be curing that. Sir Chomps-A-Lot is also showing signs of black spot though, and it seems worse since I've stopped the treatment. Falcore is showing some signs of the small hemorraging spots, without any visible open wounds.

One thing's for sure, I never should have gotten so many fish without checking into their care. It's been difficult, but I haven't gotten any more fish, just stuff to help the ones I already have. So I better get off here and go take care of them...later peeps

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, I would return the Correct pH too. I wouldn't recommend something like that for a tank, let alone a bowl. By using that product in a small bowl, you could really swing the pH and hurt the fish.

 

[Kari]

I was only going to use the Correct pH in the tropical tank (not the betta bowls!), because the test indicated I needed a pH decreaser...but I'm not going to use it after getting thumbs down...thanks What SHOULD I do though? It says the pH level is too high, so how do I fix that without adding more chemicals?

 

[Meredith]

How long has your tank been set up? Also what test kit are you using?

 

[Menagerie]

What is "too high?" You need the exact value of the pH. Often people will say you need a pH of 7, but that is incorrect. Fish have pH ranges that they can tolerate.

 

[Kari]

The pH is at 8.4. There are platies, mollies, and female bettas in there at this point. The tanks been set up for a few months at this point, at least. And the test kit that I'm using is the Mardel 5 in 1 test.


By the way...what is 'flashing'? I've heard it used in descriptions of fish acting funny, but I don't know what it means

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Flashing is rubbing against gravel or other objects in the tank in a rapid jerking manner, often causing the reflective scales to 'flash.' It is usually due to skin irritation caused by parasites or water conditions. Excessive flashing can lead to serious damage.

 

[Kari]

Nope...no signs of that going on in any of my tanks! Thank the aqua Gods