Help Diagnose Strange Spots on Fin

[Juditko]

Housing
What size is your tank?
2.5 gal hospital tank; going into ten gallon new home when well.
What temperature is your tank?
currently 82
Does your tank have a filter?
yes. Running without carbon now.
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes hydor theo adjustable
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?
none
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
NLS small fish
How often do you feed your betta fish?
Once per day; do not overfeed. Fast on Sundays.
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
twice weekly; currently daily in hospital tank since Sunday
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
currently 100%; was 50% to 100% 2x weekly
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?
was using Jungle Start Right; changed to Prime last week
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.6
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
On Saturday
Developed three white spots on small fin near face; one spot on fin on opposite side.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
Current behavior fine. Swimming and flaring. On Friday was stressed when I cleared out his small tank to prepare new ten gallon he will be moving into. Developed white spots on Saturday.
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Saturday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Total water changes; AQ salt treatment as recommended by Old Fish Lady for ich treatment. Raising water temp. Currently at 82. AQ salt concentration: Sunday 1 tsp per gal. Monday 2 tsp. per gal Tuesday 3 tsp per gal as recommended.
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
Had a case of fin rot a month ago but has been doing well.
How old is your fish (approximately)?
Got him at Christmas time at Walmart.


So I just wanted to run this by you all and see if you think it is indeed ich. I saw three spots on the fin near his face initially and one more spot on the opposite fin the next day. Began salt/heat as described by OFL in sticky for ich. Now down to these two spots on the fin as shown in pics. Fish has never acted sick and was flaring today while I was trying to get his photos. He did go through a stress since I downgraded him to a hospital tank in preparation to move him to his new ten gallon. I don't want to move him to the ten until he is clear of spots, obviously. Just wanted to make sure I was treating him for the right thing. No other spots have developed and we seem to be down to two now. Photos below.

[Juditko]

[Juditko]

Bump.

[aokashi]

to cure ich, simply turn the temp up to 86F. I would go 87-88, just in case. do this slowly...

[Juditko]

Yes, but the question is, is it ich?

[aokashi]

if it's still there, it probably is. if it's not there any more... sometimes fish gets airbubbles stuck to their bodies

[Hallyx]

I'm with Aokashi on this. Make sure you know what it is before treatment, and do the least obtrusive treatment first. I'm not a big fan of salt---any kind, any time---unless it's being used to treat.

In any case, if your 10g is ready for him, I see no reason to keep him in an uncomfortable QT. You may hear other opinions on this.

[Juditko]

Hallyx I agree on the conservative part, which is why I went with the salt first as I know these spots have not been his "normal" up to this point...I figured to jump on it quickly and get started asking here was best. I'm a bit thankful the ten gal tank is not quite ready yet as I'm nervous about moving him there and introducing whatever these spots are with him. The only thing I can come up with from all I read here is ich, but it is my first experience and I don't want to assume I'm doing it right without advice. I have to travel for work next week and he will have to go two and a half days without a water change, so I was trying to finish up with salt and get back to regular water before then. His hospital tank is a 2.5 gal. Currently temp is up to 84. I'm going to get him to 86 over the weekend. Should I leave him at 86 while I'm gone?

[Hallyx]

Sure. Eighty-six degrees is no higher than breeders use when encouraging spawning.

I don't know where to find a good picture of Ich. Should be somewhere on here or on Google. If I remember right, Ich is smaller than what your pic shows, and it shows up on the body. I hope somebody double-checks me on this.

[Aluka]

I would keep him in the 2.5 gal, the 10 gal would be harder to do daily water change if it is ich. Need to constantly change the water to get rid of the free floating ich.