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How to treat Ich in betta without heat

8.6K views 20 replies 5 participants last post by  Oindrila  
It would be better for him to be in his normal tank. Going from a 5gal to a small bowl is stressful, and treating for 5 gallons would be much easier to measure out then 1.6, since most medicines go off of per 10gal. Unless you have tankmates in that 5gal, in which case keep him in the bowl. (my below measurements for the medication are for a 5gal though... really the 5 gal is preferable.)

You need a thermometer so you can be sure that the water is 80-82*F and that you're not just exposing your fish to medicine that wont work. if there's a petstore near you, they probably have $2 sticky thermometers for the outside of the tank. It's better then nothing. I'm sorry, but you really need this.
There are ways to heat up a tank with no heater, but you absolutely want a thermometer for this as to make sure you do not boil your fish.

While aquarium salt is good for the immune system, (your fish's immune system has to be weak in the first place to get ich) the amount you a dosing yould be much safer in a 5gal. Do not continue with AQ salt after the fish is better. For a 5gal 2tsp of AQ salt will be okay.

Once you know that your temp is at 80-82*F you can use malachite green in the 5 gal. One one website I read it was 1ml of mg (malachite green from now on because I'm lazy) - 1ML of mg per 10 gallons, and it said to apply on 3 alternate days, in your case, you would use .5ML- keep the tank lights off, as mg is photosensitive, keeping the lights off will help the treatment. Be very careful as mg is toxic to humans, and do a 25% water change before each dose.

For this entire thing, I've been researching and jumping through tabs reading articles, since my fish never have gotten ich. Remove any carbon from your filter in the 5gal as it will clear out medication.

Very soon, I hope you get an heater, as this will help prevent ich from happening again. If there's anything you are unsure of then do not follow my advice, as it is just what I found from the web a few minutes ago.

I'm not quite finished but I'll post the rest in a bit because I have a finnicky mouse that will lose entire pages. Its that sensitive and goes back a bunch of pages.