one gallons aren't frowned upon on here. :d you won't get chewed out for admitting he lives in a one gallon here. :D my Lulu is literally scared of anything bigger than her one gallon! :O i tried upgrading her, and she hid the whole week she was in it, only venturing out to eat, then she'd rush back into the cave. x: after putting her back in her gallon tank, she was active and excited. as long as the tank stays warm, and you keep up with water changes, it's fine. :3
The general dosage around here on the forum is usually 1 tsp per gallon but if you feel more comfortable, by all means, 1/2 tsp will work too.
If you give him salt treatment in his tank, you will change his water every day for five days (super clean water is one of the best remedies for fighting off diseases). You change 75-100% each day, then redo the salt treatment after each change for five days (five changes, five salt treatments). Since his tank is only a gallon, I'd actually suggest leaving him in his tank and not putting him in a cup, as there isn't much difference and he'll be more comfortable in his own home.
Bettas are more sedentary fish so they don't necessarily NEED a ton of space. A one gallon is perfectly fine for Harlot as long as you change the water at least every two days, as the ammonia builds up fast. With the exception of my sorority and my divided tank, all my bettas are in tanks 2-3g and they are all happy. So don't feel bad. Consider it this way from Harlot's perspective: you spend your whole life in a little cup you can barely turn around in, the somone puts you into a new container. You have no idea it's "only" a gallon, to you it's a mansion compared to the cup you were in. You have no idea anything bigger exists and you don't care. You just know you finally have room to turn around and stretch out. And you're happy.
I agree, as long as you keep up with the water changes to keep down the ammonia and keep him heated he can live a nice life in a 1 gal tank. There are times I think my boy would like to be downgraded >.>
You've just explained it in a way that finally made sense to me! I'm right on it, captain! Thank you! Hopefully yesterday's fresh cleaned water is good enough for today, since I already treated the tank with salt this morning. Tomorrow I'll do a 75% change and a wipedown, though I may have to go MacGyver getting funk up from the marble gravel.
I saw a lot of flaming about 1 gallon tanks, so thank you both for the reassurance. Harlot seems very happy, so I personally am not worried at all. Thank you!
IMO it all looks like natural coloration to me but a Salt treatment won't hurt. Since you can do as much as 3tsp/gal Aquarium Salt without causing harm, 1tsp/gal is perfectly reasonable. Less than 1tsp/gal will not help much... Under treating can result in salt resistance. It is really best to do the full 1tsp. Just don't do salt treatments for more than 10 days. If his fins are receding then he definitely has fin rot and will need salt treatments and 100% daily water changes regardless.
1 gallons aren't ideal, but as long as you keep it clean it and don't fill it all the way up with gravel it can be a suitable home! :)
I will definitely be using 1tsp/gal from now on then. Fin rot? ): Oh no. This really just enrages me about Petco. See, I don't know if they're actually receding or if they're just ragged from poor treatment/mouth rot. I haven't had him long enough to know if they're shrinking. So you recommend me taking him out of the tank completely for his five-day treatments as opposed to leaving him in with 75%? And if such is the case, would you also recommend sterilizing his plastic plants and gravel in hot water, or does it matter (as related to the treatments)?
Thanks in advance for the assistance, and I will most certainly keep you posted! I can't wait to see what he looks like when he's healthy!
Are Harlot's fins black around the edges and do they seem to crumble or melt off in large pieces? If so, that's fin rot. If they just look ragged, then it is Petco's usual brand of special care at work.
You can treat him in the 1 gal. Since you will need to do daily 100% water changes for awhile it might be easiest to remove the plants and gravel temporarily. I do think you are only dealing with fin rot but if he also has mouth rot then it is important to sterilize everything (sterilization isn't so important with fin rot as long as you rinse things when you do your water changes). You can take him out and sterilize everything with a quick 10% bleach treatment. Rinse it thoroughly then fill it with treated water and put him back in.
As for water changes, if you have two 1 gallon containers that will make your life much easier since you can always have one pretreated and sitting out so the temp is right.
Pretty much every betta gets some level of fin rot at some point in its life since they are so susceptible to it... The poor care at petco/petsmart definitely doesn't help matters.
Last edited by DarkMoon17; 07-13-2011 at 10:32 PM.
Ahh, so much conflicting advice! I guess everyone has their own operation methods, eh?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakura8
Are Harlot's fins black around the edges and do they seem to crumble or melt off in large pieces? If so, that's fin rot. If they just look ragged, then it is Petco's usual brand of special care at work.
No and no. I don't have much experience but I don't think it's fin rot. I think it's a case of 'The Petco'. I will try giving him stress coat for fin regrowth to see if it helps any though.
@Darkmoon: Actually I did buy a smaller tank for him in case of emergencies, so that will work splendidly! Regarding bleach treatment and mouth rot... you mean I should do this every day for the five-day treatment period? Do I also bleach the marbles and plants? ... Honestly I'm not so sure about bleach (clearly I'm not an expert, of course!), I'm just afraid of overdoing it and poisoning him somehow. Can I semi-sterilize his tank by soaking it in hot or steaming water instead, or will that not do?
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