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I thought My Betta was recovering, now he has bubbles coming out of his gills?

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ammonia level bubbles gills ich disease wound
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2.2K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  AyalaCookiejar  
T
#1 ·
Hi all, my betta fish, Toaster, recently had caught Ich and after googling what to do for him I ended up purchasing the generic Jungle brand for treating ich. I cleaned out his tank, washed his plants and rocks with warm water and soap. I put in the usual tablet to make the water safe for him, and since I have toaster in a 0.5 gallon tank-for space reasons- I had cut the ich medicine tablet in half since it was huge! The next morning Toaster's face seemed to have cleared a bit, but the instructions said if it hadn't cleared in 24 hrs to place another one in, so instead I just placed the other half in. So its day 3 and Toasters face seemed to have cleared, but now he's acting strange. He hasn't eaten much in a week-originally I thought it was the ich, but maybe its something else? He sits still a lot and doesn't appear to be as active. But now he seems to be having medium bubbles coming out of his gills as now he is spending time near the surface. Where the ich was seemed to have left a "wound" of sorts, so I was wondering could he have an infection there? Do I need to go out and buy wound medicine? Or will it heal on its own. Im nervous since I read somewhere how some post-ich fish can be prone to fungus or some type of infection. I read on some other forum different things about Bettas floating and having bubbles come from their gills. They say its either:
The Fish are expressing happiness;
The male fish-Toaster is male) are building a nest- I really doubt its this one;
The fish is experiencing high amount of ammnoia concentration;
Or that the fish's gills are infected/inflamed- but I havent noticed any real discoloration.

If it's ammonia, can't I just clean out his tank? Its .5 gallon so there is no heater or filter, but I clean it once a week so I really hadn't worried about anything up until now. (Ive had Toaster almost 4 Months). Should I buy pH strips? Or products to manage ammonia levels? I'm afraid I became an owner without much research into this and I'm utterly terrified that my poor Toaster might pay the price. Can anyone give me a clue as to what is happening to him? Should I just clean out his tank(which I'm doing tomorrow morning) or should I also buy medicine for wounds/anti-fungus, and ammonia levels as well? Also my betta doesn't seem to be eating his pellets, does anyone think I should change his food? Would blood worms be a better substitute? If anyone could help me I really appreciate it, thank you!!
 
#2 ·
If it's a .5 gallon you need to clean it much more frequently than once a week. I did daily changes when Chouko was in a half gallon, and he was barely .5" long. So yeah, clean the tank nowish.
 
#3 ·
You can't really buy products to manage ammonia levels. There are a few but they aren't permanent. You need to be doing one or two 50% water changes along with the one 100% change each week. Since the tank is so small, it will built up ammonia faster. He needs warm, clean water.

Blood worms are not a substitute for food. They are treats, like potato chips for bettas. You can buy a better brand of pellet, like the Omega One betta buffet pellets or New Life Spectrum brand, and keep aquarium salt and epsom salt on hand to treat any diseases or physical injuries. Ich generally doesn't go away right after the white specks disappear, either.
 
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#5 ·
okay, that all I can manage, and I know Ich won't immediately disappear, but the site told me to make sure to keep up water changes around every 4 days- about how long before we are sure the ich is gone away with?
 
#6 ·
I just wanted to add that when cleaning fish related things with soap you need to be extremely careful. Any little bit of soap can affect a fish. Hot water is usually best. Vinegar can be used too, I believe, but only if you believe there is something bad that needs to be washed off.
 
#7 · (Edited)
That, is a good question. I know it can take a few weeks. The ich starts to fall off but some of it is still in the water. When using medication you should already be doing 100% daily water changes. The only way to be 100% sure that water changes every four days will work, is to have a test kit and test for ammonia regularly. My five gallon can build up .25ppm of ammonia in four days.

Edit: thanks, Kithy. I didn't realize that. Don't use soap to clean any decor or the tank. You can use a water and vinegar or even a water and bleach solution, but not soap. You need to be sure everything is rinsed and rinsed and rinsed again, and if you use bleach, set it out to air dry in the sun or something, and rinse it some more.
 
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