[Karebear13]

So I got Rufio January 20th. I have a 2 gallon tank, and was using dechlorinator Aqueon Betta Plus bowl. The gallon has under-gravel filter. He was doing great for the first week. Then Thursday I noticed a white speck on his body, and Friday he had two more specks. I diagnosed it as ICH and was using Kordon RID ICH. He wasn't eating beginning on Friday morning. That night I started the medication and carried on using it. Finally Wed there was no more physical signs of ICH but I continued using the medication because that is the instructions on the label I understand that the ICH may still be there because they float in the water. Then Saturday I did a 100% water change and removed the medication. He was looking good physically but was not eating and was lethargic. I was told to get a heater because the temp. was at about 76 degree.

He finally ate Monday. I got a heater Monday night and increased the temp by 78 then to 80. He was happy Monday swimming around and eating. Then Tuesday he was lethargic again. but was still eating. I increased the temp to 82 in case the ICH was still around. On Tuesday night he was looking pretty bad he had white gunk all over his eye and fins. This morning his eyes looked worse and he lost all his coloring. And his fins are totally clamped. I don't know if he has a chance of survival. I did a one hundred percent water change and added 2 tsp of salt. He is looking pretty bad, and I just wanted some advice for the future. I dont know what I did wrong

Thank you

 

[Karebear13]

Also It looks like bits of his fins are falling off at the bottom of the tank there are like little pieces of fin

 

[callistra]

How often are you doing water changes? a 2g should have multiple water changes every week and when you do the 100% changes you should be rinsing everything and the gravel as well.

What heater are you using?

Please share photos and in the meantime try to find some Kanaplex by Seachem. If you can't find it look for Furan-2 by API as it should be easy to find. Maracyn Plus works well for popeye but don't know what 'white gunk' you may have.. columnaris or fungus possibly..

 

[Karebear13]

When I got him I waited a week to do the first water change 100%. That is when I noticed he had multiple white specks. After that I was doing .5 gallon water changes for that week while I was medicating. Then after the medication process I noticed he was still looking pretty lethargic, so I did about 100% water changes twice in a week. Unfortunately he passed away today, and we never got to a normal routine because I was medicating him when I first got him till his death.

 

[Karebear13]

I have the Top Fin heater that is 25 watts. Comments?

 

[tf1265]

A mistake that a lot of new fish owners make is over-medicating. Just like you hear stories of people taking too many medications that unknowingly react with each other or have overlapping purposes, fish owners something do this to their fish in the rush to "cure" whatever is wrong with them.

Ich is brought on by stress, and moving is very stressful for fish so many new fish will develop ich. A lot of times just keeping the water very clean and waiting it out is the best solution, unless they look like they are really suffering.

It sounds like your guy had a fungus that killed him. Fungus can be trickier to deal with, and usually medication is the best route. It's important to pick 1 medication to use and stick with it for the course of treatment, and make sure that all the medication is completely out of the tank before starting something new.

It sounds like you tried your best, and there might not have been anything that could have been done. But medications are stressful on fish, and your little guy went through the lot.

If you get another fish, don't freak out if you get him home and everything isn't perfect. Give him at least a week to adjust before you start changing things. The heater was a good idea, but make sure you don't change the temperature too much as that is also hard on fish.

 

[Karebear13]

Yes thank you for the advice. I tend to be spastic and freak out a lot but im learning to have more patience, and I will def. be more patient with my new fish. I plan on slowly increasing the water to 80 but starting out with 76 degrees. Any tips on doing this when I first get him and put him into the new tank how should I get him used to the temperature change?

 

[SnowySurface]

If you want your tank to be 80 degrees, then start at 80 degrees before you have the fish. Once you do buy a new fish, float him in his cup in the permamant tank. After 15-30 minutes the tank water and the cup water will be the same temperature.

Then you only have to worry about acclimating the new fish to the new tank's water with small water changes. I have a measuring spoon I got for cheap I use to remove and toss out 1 tablespoon of old cup water and replace it with 1 tablespoon of fresh tank water every 5 minutes. After 5-6 1 tablespoon water changes, the fish should be ready to be added to the tank.

My way is a bit excessive and can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, but it cuts down the stress a new fish has to deal with by a lot.

 

[tf1265]

Yes thank you for the advice. I tend to be spastic and freak out a lot but im learning to have more patience, and I will def. be more patient with my new fish. I plan on slowly increasing the water to 80 but starting out with 76 degrees. Any tips on doing this when I first get him and put him into the new tank how should I get him used to the temperature change?

Why starting at 76 and increasing to 80? I would just start it at whatever temp you want to leave the tank at.

When you first bring him home, float his cup (or whatever you have him in) inside the heated tank for a few hours. This will slowly bring up the other temperature until they're even. Once they are even, add a small amount of tank water to his cup, a little at a time, to acclimate him to the water chemistry of the new tank. This will make the final move where you dump his cup into the new tank as easy as possible on him so he can explore instead of recover.

Make sure you use a water conditioner to dechlorinate, or let the water sit for 24 hours minimum.

 

[Karebear13]

Thank you tf265 for the advice. Yes I use Aqueon Betta Bowl Plus to dechlorinate the water.

And Snowy surface: I love your thorough process Im that kind of person too! I will try it Thank you

 

[Myates]

I thought we covered this in your other couple of posts about the same issue.. wise to just bump your thread instead of making a new one with the same problems.. that way others will know what has been advised, and what treatment he is currently under.

Your other thread: Thread

Are you not wanting to do the proper and current treatment that was recommended already for him?

 

[Karebear13]

Sorry Myates. No that was not my intention. I started the aquarium salt treatment. But he suddenly died on me. I still don't understand why. He was doing perfect on Monday eating and being active. Then Tuesday night he looked awful with that white goo all over him. Wednesday morning his eye was covered in white stuff and he looked terrible and I knew he wasn't going to make it. He looked so pale, and he wasnt moving at all then he started fighting death all day. The aquarium salt had nothing to do with it though because I started it Wed morning when he already looked pretty bad. It was just a shocker because Just monday I was telling you how I would monitor him and he looked perfect. idk.

But I truly appreciate your advice and I will def. take into account you aquarium salt treatment for my next fish.

 

[SnowySurface]

Ah, I didn't know about your other thread.

If I were you I would wash everything with bleach diluted in water and then rinse everything really well. I recently lost both my fish at the same time to illness and spent days disenfecting anything that was ever used in their tanks. It's a pain, but neccessary.

As a note, I give that advice as someone who had her bettas in 5 gallon cycled tanks. So I tore apart 2 fully cycled systems to make sure the bacteria that killed my fishies. Parisites and bacteria don't get mercy. O_O

I would also get a different type of filter or go crazy cleaning the under gravel filter. I spent days soaking my HOB filter because I knew harmful bacteria collected there the same way healthy bacteria forms colonies in filters. Your undergravel filter could have eggs in it still if you didn't disenfect it. I'm also baised towards using HOB filters, so my advice here isn't objective. ^_^;

 

[Karebear13]

Thank you Snowy! What about the silk plant and cave are those safe to use again if i disinfect them in clorox? Do I prepare the clorox dilution separately then use it to clean the tank?

 

[Myates]

I'm sorry you lost your little guy.. it's upsetting when something happens to them and we just don't know the what and how and whys. You have some good advice for cleaning the tank (yes, dilute it first then use it on the tank- a spray bottle or a bucket with a rag).. wish you the best.

 

[ANHEL123]

Is it safe to clean silk plants with diluted bleach? I really scared even to think about it. Because silk it material and i am afraid that it can absorb clorox even if it diluted?

Better safe then sorry

 

[Karebear13]

I'm sorry you lost your little guy.. it's upsetting when something happens to them and we just don't know the what and how and whys. You have some good advice for cleaning the tank (yes, dilute it first then use it on the tank- a spray bottle or a bucket with a rag).. wish you the best.

Thank you Myates. I hope I didn't offend you with all the threads I posted. In the future I will stick with one thread. And I truly appreciate your advice

 

[Karebear13]

Is it safe to clean silk plants with diluted bleach? I really scared even to think about it. Because silk it material and i am afraid that it can absorb clorox even if it diluted?

Better safe then sorry

Yeah I was worried about the same thing. The silk plant i would not mind throwing it away. But I would like to keep my cute little cave If I could. Just waiting on some advice from peeps!

 

[SnowySurface]

Oh sorry. I forgot about about this thread. ^_^;

When both my fish died it seemed like they died due to an illness. I washed everything I used for their set up with diluted bleach and then soaked it all in clean water so any left over bleach could leech back out into the clean water. Then I rinsed everything like crazy before putting all back together.

So far only one tank is running again and all the test look good so far. I won't know for certain until I reach the nitrITE to nitrATE step of the cycle. If you are really worried about bleach you can use Vinegar in water instead.