I really dropped the ball with my little guy after having him for 3 years with a slew of mistakes & ignorance ��
I quit my last job which ended my free supply of fresh RO water.
I foolishly thought I read that it only takes an hour or so to dechlorinate tap water by just letting it sit & went with it. Weekly 25% water changes & he's in a 6.5 gallon tank with running filter & media & heater.
I notice he got a couple small white bumps on his side which have continued to grow over time as well as erratic swimming behavior. I foolishly just chalked it up to age & that he was always pretty lively ugh.
I then put BettaFix in the tank & proceeded to miss a water change, which left that stuff in his main tank for 2 weeks which is almost double the recommended time length.
I threw the BioMax filter & all live plants away & did two 50% water changes over 2 days.
THEN I noticed that he was sinking rapidly to the bottom of the tank AND also that there were like a thousand microscopic "mites" if you will living in the gravel bed.
With all that info I decided 3 things. That he had swim bladder disease from overfeeding/not presoaking food, and that he might have parasites.
And also that I'm horrible & let him down big time.
I fasted him for 3 days, hit the gravel bed really good with a vaccum, & then treated the water with Cupramine.
FINALLY after the Cupramine recommended 2 weeks... I pulled it out of the water with carbon & a partial water change.. replenished Beneficial Bacteria & added new BioMax. All sign of microscopic "mite" life gone.
My poor little guy has been through a lot =[
He still makes it a point to swim up & greet me but he's still sick. Still has bumps. Still sinks to the bottom. He actually wasn't eating but then started again, but is now missing his food entirely when he goes to eat it ugh. Laying on bottom of tank mostly.
If you read all this I really appreciate your time!! & would greatly appreciate any insight as I am stumped at this point. Thank you everyone
I quit my last job which ended my free supply of fresh RO water.
I foolishly thought I read that it only takes an hour or so to dechlorinate tap water by just letting it sit & went with it. Weekly 25% water changes & he's in a 6.5 gallon tank with running filter & media & heater.
I notice he got a couple small white bumps on his side which have continued to grow over time as well as erratic swimming behavior. I foolishly just chalked it up to age & that he was always pretty lively ugh.
I then put BettaFix in the tank & proceeded to miss a water change, which left that stuff in his main tank for 2 weeks which is almost double the recommended time length.
I threw the BioMax filter & all live plants away & did two 50% water changes over 2 days.
THEN I noticed that he was sinking rapidly to the bottom of the tank AND also that there were like a thousand microscopic "mites" if you will living in the gravel bed.
With all that info I decided 3 things. That he had swim bladder disease from overfeeding/not presoaking food, and that he might have parasites.
And also that I'm horrible & let him down big time.
I fasted him for 3 days, hit the gravel bed really good with a vaccum, & then treated the water with Cupramine.
FINALLY after the Cupramine recommended 2 weeks... I pulled it out of the water with carbon & a partial water change.. replenished Beneficial Bacteria & added new BioMax. All sign of microscopic "mite" life gone.
My poor little guy has been through a lot =[
He still makes it a point to swim up & greet me but he's still sick. Still has bumps. Still sinks to the bottom. He actually wasn't eating but then started again, but is now missing his food entirely when he goes to eat it ugh. Laying on bottom of tank mostly.
If you read all this I really appreciate your time!! & would greatly appreciate any insight as I am stumped at this point. Thank you everyone