neacco has ick'ick

[iceyrose]

So I started him on ick guard this morning and pulled the filter out.have a 2.5 gallon tank just did his 75% water change last night. I noticed a few spots and he was lathargic early this morning. What I read is I have to do 100% water changes everyday for the next two weeks. Any other advice to be less stresfull for him?

[iceyrose]

Started ick meds for neacco today and picked up a new heater & aquarium salt...the med bottle say to change out 20% of the water each day?

[iceyrose]

Also the ick bottle says to remove carbon filter...then the lady from the pet store say the filter should be ok in the tank.he seems to have a lot of debris in his tank not shur why the filter help remove thedebris a bit? Any sugestion?

[mathkid]

If you have carbon in your filter, it will take out the medication. If your filter just has regular sponges, it will be fine.

Don't rush to medicate. You can treat ick with heat/clean water/salt - meds are not always needed. Please post pictures or count the number of spots. If less than a handful, medication may be more stressful than needed.

The water change schedule on bottles is typically computed for a 10g quarantine tank. Since yours is much smaller, you will do 100% changes frequently.

ANHEL reposted advice OFL gave a while ago here:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=94090&page=12

The sticky also has a section on Ick:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73332

Don't try to raise the heat to 85-86* unless you have a very good heater - in a small tank without a filter, a heater that does fine when set at 79* may overheat at 86*. It's happened to me =( If you do raise the heat, watch closely and only raise it a degree at a time.

[mathkid]

Also, go ahead and fill out the sticky form - anyone who wants to help you will ask you all those questions anyway:

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[iceyrose]

*Neacco adopted 2\11\2012 between 9-12months?

*Housing 2.5 gallon tank* brand new heater as of this afternoon* temps@ 81'f *Filter system=tetra whisper i3* no air stones or bubbler aside from the filter bubbler*no tank mates

Food*betta bio gold pellets + blood worms for treats

Maintenance*water changes every 3-4 days 50-75% * water conditioner= Aqua safe 4~6 drops+ 1gallon of spring water + 1\2 gallon of fauset water to add minerals( our water has lots of chlorine in it makes me nervose for my little neacco)* not currently testing water+ its in future plans though

*(Appearance change + noticed a small white dot near gill. When he came home+ more white dandruff looking spots near tail .+it's been 2weeks and a few days. belly more white\silver outter gill and face silverish+ his gills since he's come home have been bowd not shur what that means or what that's from * another issue I noticed recently is his front dangling fins have a bright red on them...I have read that this may be just regrowth.

Symptoms* lazy the first few days~ found a lot of lint like debris in the tank*2nd day home dorsil fin was raised very slugish. *Picked up the filter system and installed it* Neacco seemed to have a change in his energy more active happyier& busy surfing* brand new heater. The temps was around 76~79'f .

..*(newer symptom)*orignaly changing the water every three days with spring water untill I read a post saying the ph & mineral contents are differnt that faucet water.so this last week I started with one gallon spring & 1\2 faucet water and add4_6 drops of aqua safe conditioner* positive change in energy* after changing filter out last night and 75% water neacco became lazy and hiding at bottem of the tank.*also rubbing aginst tank equiptment hanges out near the filter system and bottem filter area. *also he opens his moulth like he yawning more oftin..aswell as moves his moulth like he's chewing some thing when he's not.

*Game plane I put 6-7 drops in @ 8:00am removed filter then put filter back in....after reading what happens when puting meds in with the filters in 'i was miss directed as to puting them back in..as they absorb the meds:( tommaro I'm going to change out 50% of his water or more need suggestion. I put 1\2 teaspoon of aquarum salt in to help out. 1\2teaspoon=one gallon didn't put the full 1tsp in wanted to know he'd react ok...nervious about adding product to the tank.

[iceyrose]

Brand new filter in last night...going to remove it tommaro kinda nervious though...any suggestions betta friends?

[iceyrose]

All put up pic soon*

[mathkid]

If you don't get a response soon, you can ping one of the more senior members on the forum like Oldfishlady or Sakura8.

In the meantime:
The most important thing you can do is keep your water quality up. This means frequent water changes, maybe convert your tank to a hospital tank: no gravel, just a cave/few decorations/heater/filter. This also makes it easier to get the ick out (otherwise it falls out into the gravel).

A little bit of lint-like debris is normal, but you shouldn't have a lot of it. Are you vacuuming the gravel when you do water changes? What all do you have in your tank? What plants/decorations?

It's hard to overdose water conditioner, so err on the side of too much. You should dose for the full amount of water in your tank, not just the amount you're replacing.

Is your temperature swinging between 76 and 79 frequently and quickly?

A silver belly can indicate internal infection, but it may just be stress.

[iceyrose]

First off thank for responding.....secondly I did a 100% water change about an hour ago...I scooped neacco up and put him in his store container after rinsing of corse...then I scooped so of his water from the tank up in a bowl to help keepem warm. I got picked up a new 35.00$ heater today that has a controlled dial on it to make shur his temp is app for him. Its now at 80'f. I did remove all items from the tank after letting the heater sit for 15-20min. Rinsed with super hot water and put stones and silk plant in a bucket super hot water. I plan on leaving the stones in a bucket for atleast a week. I noticed when I started the first treatment that when I put the aquarum salt in little white dandruff looking stuff was floating to the top like upside down snow.....that's what gave me the idea to put the stones in hot hot water and do 100% water change. I put aquarium salt in at 1\2 teaspoon per gallon + 7 drops of jungle ick guard per gallon. Filled up two spring water gallon jugs one had a gallon of spring water the other fauset water mixed with tetra betta safe water conditioner. I removed the filter so it doesn't suck up the meds...as I was unimformd befor. The system is still running for water movement. He seemed more energetic awhile after I slowly entered em back to his tank ...let the temps mach up...in the mid 70's. Hes been swimming around then resting...then swimming around so with the new heater and meds daily he should be in good shape? I was wonderser also how long should I treat him 1_2 weeks? To answer your qwestin about what I put back into the tanki a silk plant after rinsingwith super hot water the heater and the filer system with out the filter for now.