Crowntail fins ok?

[ErinMcG]

Hi folks,
Are my betta's fins ok? He has always had light purple tips, but some of the tips look a bit kinked, which I never noticed before and on looks like it has a bit of fuzz (looks a bit like lint).

Can't test my water yet. Tank is at the office and test kits are at home, but the tank has been running for months, is 5 gallons, heated and filtered. Temp is a bit low (74).

 

[Luna09]

I would do 50% water changes daily. Make sure you dechlorinate if you are using tap. Bring the temp up to 80-82 F and add aquarium salt based on the package instructions for "fish treatment" chances are he has a bit of fin rot. It could be from to much food/waste buildup. Thoroughly rinse his substrate.

 

[Luna09]

If it isn't fin rot it very well could be ich. In which case, the same instructions I just gave will cure it. Whatever you do, don't buy ich medication unless absolutely necessary. It is harsh enough that it can push an already weakened fish over the edge. I've tried both the salt and medicated treatments. With salt I had 1 casualty. With Meds I had 60% death rate.

 

[ErinMcG]

Ok, just did a 50% water change (with dechlorinator - I always use it) and a gravel vac. Don't have salt in the office, but I do have some aquarium salt at home, so I will bring salt tomorrow. I need to google how much to add for a 5 gallon. Do you have a regular dose you tend to find works well?

I have to take water samples to my LFS because I am either having tap water issues at home or my tests are screwy, as my home tank readings are weird! So, I will bring a sample of Alfred's water too.

If I rinse his substrate completely, won't I run the risk of killing off my bb? It doesn't look bad when I do the gravel vac, but I understand how it could have stuff hiding in it.

Oh, and I need to find a new heater for him. The one I have isn't adjustable, which is why his tank temp has been low. So, heater is on the shopping list.

And thanks for the advice! I do adore this guy. I would hate to have anything bad happen to him.

 

[LyndaB]

Not enough beneficial bacteria is in the substrate to worry about it. It's in your filter media.

I agree, raise the temp, water change, gravel vac, and he should be a happy boy.

 

[ErinMcG]

Ok, so I am trying to do the math here...

I have read that you should do 1-2 tbsp salt for 10 gallons. The tank is 5 gallons, so I could do 1/2-1 tbsp for the tank.

To make it easier, I am going to convert to tsp. 1 tbsp = 3 tsp, so I can do about 2-3 tsp for the whole tank. If I do a 50% water change the day after I add salt, I should include 1-1.5 tsp of salt in the pwc, right? And if I am doing a 50% water change daily, I should add the 1tsp of salt daily. The treatment lasts a week.

Does it sound like I have the right plan here?

Conveniently, I am going to my LFS tonight anyway, so I can pick up a heater while I am there.

 

[Luna09]

Male sure you mix it with a bit of tank water in a cup to dissolve then add evenly over water. Rinsing your gravel will help kill any BAD lurking bacteria. Ich has a life cycle in which part of the time it lives off the fish in the substrate. Raising the temp, adding salt and disrupting were it can propagate will help get rid of it quickly.

 

[LyndaB]

If you've never used salt before with this fish, I would begin with 1 teaspoon on the first day. As mentioned, be sure to dissolve it in tank water first. Otherwise, it can burn your finned friend.

I don't think you have ich. I think it's probably just the detritus in the gravel has fouled the water a bit.

 

[ErinMcG]

Right! Thanks for the advice. I will come to the office on the weekend, when I won't disturb my colleagues, and do a gravel rinse. In the meantime, I will get the heater and bring some salt in. 50 % pwc on a daily basis, with only 1tsp of salt on day one and perhaps 0.5 tsp of salt on subsequent days.

Oh, and just to be sure, I will check my water parameters.

Sounds like we have a treatment plan! Thanks again. I appreciate how fast you were with the suggestions.

 

[Luna09]

I agree. I have gotten crowntails before where the tips of their tail were pale and ragged looking due to being shipped in a small amount of water over a long period of time. Salt has always worked for me. I definitely think starting off small with the salt is a good idea. Let us know how he is doing in a few days!

 

[Andy Sager]

Betta water....

Hi folks,
Are my betta's fins ok? He has always had light purple tips, but some of the tips look a bit kinked, which I never noticed before and on looks like it has a bit of fuzz (looks a bit like lint).

Can't test my water yet. Tank is at the office and test kits are at home, but the tank has been running for months, is 5 gallons, heated and filtered. Temp is a bit low (74).

I keep all my Bettas in water that has 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1 gal. of water. I also keep sterilized 1 gal. plastic milk jugs filled with pre-made water available so that it is the same temp as the tank or jars (My breeders go into jars for post spawning medication) so water changes are a 2 minute or less ordeal.
It is not uncommon for crowntails to have some points burned off during shipping or if the water has become too "polluted". (I've also had them bite their own fins when trying to display for a female or other male.) Clean water tends to prevent this from happening (not the self inflicted, of course). If in fact the fin rays are getting twisted, that does happen with age on some crowntails so there's nothing you can do about that. If you are seeing FUZZY growths on the fins, you may want to consider doing medicated baths or dips instead of treating the entire aquarium. (PM me for instructions if you choose this method. ) Otherwise, see if the clean water and adding some vitamins will solve the problem. Bettas are highly resilient and can take a lot of abuse and based on your pictures, you shouldn't need to do anything drastic at this point in time.

Hope this helps

 

[ErinMcG]

I keep all my Bettas in water that has 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1 gal. of water. I also keep sterilized 1 gal. plastic milk jugs filled with pre-made water available so that it is the same temp as the tank or jars (My breeders go into jars for post spawning medication) so water changes are a 2 minute or less ordeal.
.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the suggestions! I am going to try a clean water regimen with some salt to start and see how he gets on.

When you keep water at the ready, do you have a heater in it? Room temp in my office is definitely cooler than the tank temp with the heater. That's why I have been doing buckets as needed and just testing the temp by hand to make sure it is comparable. Not that I actually have anywhere to store buckets of water in my office, but I do the same at home because when I was keeping buckets at the ready, they always felt really cold compared to the tank.

 

[Luna09]

I just run my tap water till my thermometer reads the same as the tank water. I add dechlorinater to the bucket, mix and let it sit for a minute- Then, because I have cichlids I add API pH up and it's good to go! I would only leave water out for my tank if I ran out of water conditioner and had to let the chlorine evaporate naturally.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for the suggestions! I am going to try a clean water regimen with some salt to start and see how he gets on.

When you keep water at the ready, do you have a heater in it? Room temp in my office is definitely cooler than the tank temp with the heater. That's why I have been doing buckets as needed and just testing the temp by hand to make sure it is comparable. Not that I actually have anywhere to store buckets of water in my office, but I do the same at home because when I was keeping buckets at the ready, they always felt really cold compared to the tank.

I keep everyone at room temp but room temp is 78 degrees for me. Instead of buckets, if you use the milk containers or some other 1 gal jug, you can keep them on top of the office fridge (or some other warm spot in the office) and they should be warmer than just room temp. Use a thermometer to see how much different the temps are between the two and as long as they're within 2 degrees of each other, you can use them straight on. If the new water is still too cold, get a cheap submersible heater (from walmart or lfs) and it should only take less than 15 mins to warm up the gallon of water.

Hope this helps...

 

[ErinMcG]

Ok, second pwc, this time with 1 tsp of salt. Took the opportunity to re-scape a bit, though I can see now that one of the plants isn't settled in right. Ah well, just put hand lotion on, so I won't be touching the tank again! New heater is in and acclimating before I turn it on.

We will see how things go. Thankfully, he doesn't actually seem ill. His fins just look a wee bit odd.

Oh, and I had his water tested at my LFS yesterday. The fish expert said that the tank looks good (trace ammonia, maybe, but not enough to clearly register, 0 nitrites, pH of 7. I forget the nitrate reading, but it was nothing to raise any eyebrows. She was very dismissive of the daily water changes, saying that will cause him more stress, but I think I will continue my planned regimen. I have found that I get better advice here than in the shop (go figure).

 

[ErinMcG]

Ok, so I thought I had this all under control. I kept salt in the tank for several weeks, but scaled it back recently because I added some java ferns and some wee snails, so there's very little salt now (didn't want to cause the plants and snails problems).

I went away for a few days and came back to find a white fuzzy growth on one of the tail spikes. I am guessing that it is fungal from what I have read.

My plan is to pull out his old fish bowl - it's one of the bigger ones, but not that big. Maybe 2.5 gallons? Put him in that with the bowl heater and a fake plant and keep him there for a few days while I treat with salt and maybe betta revive. In the meantime, I will tear down the 5 gallon tank, rinse all the gravel in tank water, etc. hopefully the snails survive the experience. I do want to protect the bb though. So, now we finally get to the question... He has a sponge filter. Can I move that to my big tank to keep it running and keep the bb happy, or would I risk bringing the fungal infection with it? Do I need a new sponge?

I have been doing pwc (about 50%) daily, but the gravel seems really grungy, which is why I want to rinse it all. My tests show trace amounts of ammonia (around 0.1), but this has been a problem with local tap water for months. Temp on the tank is constant. Only filter is the sponge one - he doesn't like flowing water.

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok, so I thought I had this all under control. I kept salt in the tank for several weeks, but scaled it back recently because I added some java ferns and some wee snails, so there's very little salt now (didn't want to cause the plants and snails problems).

I went away for a few days and came back to find a white fuzzy growth on one of the tail spikes. I am guessing that it is fungal from what I have read.

My plan is to pull out his old fish bowl - it's one of the bigger ones, but not that big. Maybe 2.5 gallons? Put him in that with the bowl heater and a fake plant and keep him there for a few days while I treat with salt and maybe betta revive. In the meantime, I will tear down the 5 gallon tank, rinse all the gravel in tank water, etc. hopefully the snails survive the experience. I do want to protect the bb though. So, now we finally get to the question... He has a sponge filter. Can I move that to my big tank to keep it running and keep the bb happy, or would I risk bringing the fungal infection with it? Do I need a new sponge?

I have been doing pwc (about 50%) daily, but the gravel seems really grungy, which is why I want to rinse it all. My tests show trace amounts of ammonia (around 0.1), but this has been a problem with local tap water for months. Temp on the tank is constant. Only filter is the sponge one - he doesn't like flowing water.

For starters, it's never a good idea to put items from a sick tank into a healthy tank. As for your sponge filter, You can sterilize it by soaking it in hot water or water with a small bit of clorine bleach. Be careful tho with the bleach because too much will break down the sponge and make it useless. (I prefer the hot water or running the filter in a high brine solution in a sterile bucket.)

The fact that your gravel looks grungy may be why the fish got sickly in the first place. (Your tank is too dirty ) For what it's worth, you LFS was not wrong about the daily water changes. Bettas do do better when the water is stabile and if the water in the tank is that unstabile that you need to change half of it daily, you should (as you said) just break the tank down and reset it up and acclimate your fish back to the new water. (IMO ) From there you can keep a closer eye on it's cleanliness.
As for the ammonia issue, you could change your water to bottled spring water so that there is no ammonia present as all. That or use items like AmmoLock or AmmoCarb in your filter to render the ammonia harmless or absorb it all together. Water conditioners like Amquel should also absorb the ammonia when you use it in your new water.

As for the fungal infection, should the clean water and salt treatment not work, you can use methylene blue in the bowl as this is a great fungus medication (it's frequently used to prevent fish eggs from fungusing.)

I think that has you covered

Hope this helps....