[DarkAngelsGirl]

Zero (my crowntail) keeps getting what I believe is Ich after I change his water. I do a 100% water change every other week. The last time I changed his water, he had a little white spot, but it disappeared within the next day.

I changed his water yesterday and his water has aquarium salt in it now. But he has gotten two tiny little white spots on his body once more that was not there before.

Is this common? I mean, I do have Rid-ich and I will use it if necessary, but I am just starting to be concerned. I've never had a betta that had ich before, hence my concern.

Much appreciated,
Dark Angel's Girl

 

[iElBeau]

Do you by any chance have a picture of these white spots? Are they furry, smooth, look like a powder or dusting? Or are they simply a white blotch? Where on the body are they too? Also, how big is his tank? If it's smaller than 5 gallons you need to do a 100% change at least every week, if not more. I think you're doing well with the salt and having changed it though until you're able to diagnose it. Hope he gets better soon!

 

[DarkAngelsGirl]

Update: Woke up this morning to check on him and the "ich" spots are completely gone. So was it really Ich or something else?

At the moment, he lives in a 1-gallon, filtered aquarium and thermometer. I do change his water every week - 100% water change (not every other week. I typo-ed (was distracted with a few other ongoings and I was thinking about three and a half dozen other things while I was posted up the first post). I would take a picture and I have been trying to, but my adorable little "son" won't stay still long enough for me to do so and the pictures I do have are blurs. I'll put up what I do have however. The spot had looked like two tiny little white grains of salt (I thought it was ick because when I raised guppies, they got ich every other month but it was my first time seeing it on a betta, which was why I got worried).

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Note: the white that he has under the gill that is faint has always been there. It's a part of his coloring, I've checked over several times so I know his gills are safe.

I've circled the two white spots the best I could. As I said, they're gone now, So now I'm starting to wonder if it's ich or not to begin with. Or maybe he was just stressed from the water change, the poor baby.

 

[earthworm88]

What a beautiful CT! Looks almost like my Mocha except mine is darker with blue spots on the fins too. For a 1 gallon tank, I would suggest doing 2 100% water change a week as I think they are more prone to fin issues.

Cheers!

 

[Geomancer]

Keep him under observation.

You said thermometer ... but not heater. Is his bowl heated?

Ich is a parasite that goes through a cycle.

While on the fish, they are called Trophozoites. At first you will not be able to see them, but eventually it becomes the telltale white spot that you can see unaided. When they fall off the fish, they are called a Trophont and they will fall to the bottom and replicate by the hundreds/thousands. After that they become free swimming and are called tomites.

It is the free swimming (tomite) stage that they can be killed, in all the other stages they are near immune to anything you can do.

If the tank is not heated, this cycle can take quite a few days to progress. The usually treatment is to increase the temperature to 84+ degrees F (86+ is ideal) to greatly speed up this cycle. You want to speed it up so that you can get to the tomites faster, and kill the buggers. You do this for at least 1 week. It will take much longer in a non-heated bowl.

The 'natural' method is adding aquarium salt, but the most effective is using a medication. I've personally used coppersafe with great success in a planted aquarium. Went from ~30 spots to zero spots in less than 48 hours, with no recurrence.

Being in such a small bowl however will complicate using any medications as you are required to do frequent 100% water changes that are not required in a larger, cycled aquarium.

 

[DarkAngelsGirl]

Thank you thank you! He's doing much better now. The whites-pots are completely gone. I'll be moving him tomorrow afternoon/evening to a 5-gallon tank. Hopefully, the issues will stop.

@earthworm88 - thank you! I saw him and fell in love with the guy at first sight. I wasn't going to get a fish, actually - I'd gone with my best friend because she wanted me to help her out...and that's how I met Zero ^-^

@geomancer - No, his bowl is not heated. I just have the thermometer until I move him to his new tank because the outside temp messes with the water and I wanted to make sure that the heat in my room would be okay with the water he's in (I know it sounds weird, but...I'm pretty much trying to keep my room temperature high enough so that it'll be comfortable for Zero and he's perfectly fine now. He only seems to ever "breakout" when I do water changes for him and I dont' understand why.

 

[Geomancer]

@geomancer - No, his bowl is not heated. I just have the thermometer until I move him to his new tank because the outside temp messes with the water and I wanted to make sure that the heat in my room would be okay with the water he's in (I know it sounds weird, but...I'm pretty much trying to keep my room temperature high enough so that it'll be comfortable for Zero and he's perfectly fine now. He only seems to ever "breakout" when I do water changes for him and I dont' understand why.

Unless you keep your room at a minimum of 74 degrees year round, it's too cold. Even so, 78-79 is ideal.

 

[DarkAngelsGirl]

Unless you keep your room at a minimum of 74 degrees year round, it's too cold. Even so, 78-79 is ideal.

Of, pft, I can't stand the cold. My room's generally over 74 but below 80. Anywho, I've moved him to a tank with a heater and everything and he seems happy. I just need to add something to buffer the filter...which is my project for tonight (or tomorrow). He seems happier with the large tank.