[Mr red]

hi
i got my betta as a gift (small tank 1.5 lit,changing whole water every 3 days,feeding twice a day with small balls of food total of 4 balls).

4 days ago some white spots started to show and after researching Internet i think its ich. I started warming the water to 84 and mr red came up from the bottom of the tank and its movement got back but from last night he doesnt eat , so i got him a drug for ich.

1- i'm still worried, what should i do so he'll start eating? how long can he go without food?

2-what about salting the water?

 

[kjg1029]

Please answer!
then we can help you out!
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

 

[Wallawoo]

First answer the above post's questions they are important.
Yes that is ich, start treatment. Start either the medication or the conservative treatment which is just heat and salt. Pick either meds or salt treatment. What did you get for meds. I wouldn't mix AQ salt with the meds. I am not sure if AQ salt should be used with meds though. Fish can go weeks without eating. Just keep trying to feed him but he probably doesn't feel very good right now.

 

[kjg1029]

no please answer the questions BEFORE doing anything..we need to see where your at, and what's been hapening before you add meds or anything (if you haven't)

 

[Mr red]

thanks, i answered most of the questions in my question. i dont have a heater but tank is placed in a warmer place and water is 83-84 F,
medication is methylene blue and after 3 hours in medicated water my fish feels much better,he even starts to react to my movement but still doesn't eat.
my main concern is that he is not eating from last night and i'm afraid that he will starve to death :/

 

[kjg1029]

He's will not starve

You can treat Ick either conservatively or with medication. Ick is a parasite. Because ick is contagious, it is preferable to treat the whole tank when one fish is found to have it. Ick is temperature sensitive, raise temperature to 85 F. Then you can choose to treat with salt or medication. Conservative: Add 1 tsp/gal Aquarium Salt 3 times, 12 hours apart so that you end up with 3 times the normal concentration. Perform daily 100% water changes to remove fallen parasites before they can reproduce. Replace the water with the right amount of salt. Do not continue this treatment for more than 14 days. If it fails or you do not want to use salt, treat with Jungle’s Parasite Clear, API Super Ick Cure, or Kordon Rid Ich Plus.

 

[Mr red]

thanks again,what about this methylene blue? the pet shop owner told me not to change the medicated water for 3 days but go for a 25% change everyday and a full on the 3rd day.
some of these parasites fall off and flow in water, i read that they can get back to fish and in some articles it says a full change everyday until signs are gone and after that a 3 day treatment with 25% water change.

any suggestions?

 

[Wallawoo]

+1 kjg1029. Follow this advice, ich is a pesky pain, but it is stupid and easy enough to cure if you follow the instructions posted above. Raise the heat to get it multiplying faster it can only be killed in its free swimming stage (it's 2nd of 3rd stage of its life cycle). It is killed by the medications. By raising the temp you will cause it to get into this 2nd life stage faster. Your fish should get better and probably start eating. It would take awhile to die from starvation so don't worry about that. And make sure to acclimate your fish with each 100% change. Good luck.
Just saw your post:
I unfortunately don't know much about methylene blue as I have not used it. But from what I read on it's website it doesn't mention water changes during the treatment so I don't think daily 25% water changes are what you should do as you will be taking out the medicine and not replacing it. I would do 100% daily changes and add the same amount of the meds with each change. After 3-5 days do a full water change with no medicine added. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong. I do know that it will stain your decorations, plants, and silicone.

 

[kjg1029]

nope I'm pretty sure methylene blue is used for other things like ammonia or nitrate poisoning...it has other uses too

someone .ore experienced will come along and give you more tips..., but that's what we suggest

 

[VivianKJean]

first. you need to get a heater. Room temperatures change too much over the course of a day (especially at night) and that is probably what caused the ick.

next, methylene blue will not help ick. It only treats ammonia poisoning and other poisoning. The medicine you need is API Super Ick Cure or another Ick med. Super Ick Cure is my recommendation though. You can buy it a Petsmart usually or local fish store. Petco does not carry good meds so I do not recommend looking there.