I am not sure how to do the Epsom salt bath. do I put the salt into her tank or remove her and do the bath in the sink or something?
I don't know if I have anything that is 10 gallons to put her in
also shes def not constipated there is poop in her tank. also I read online on another forum that it could be bad to stop feeding her bc if she is fighting off an infection and I stop feeding her she will get weak and die. what do you think?
Answers to your questions:
- she is in a 2 gallon tank
-her temp is at 82 F right now
-She has a very good filter in her tank that works extremely well. I think its call a Tom filter
-she eats Aqueon betta food pellets: I give her four pellets in the morning and four pellets at night, sometimes she gets Tetra freeze dried blood worms as a treat
-I do a full water change about once a month bc her filter works so well the tank rarely gets dirty
-I did her last full water change Thursday night 6/27/13, so about 3 days go. and I treated the tank with aquarium salt and a bacteria supplement.
**also can I use aquarium salt or does it have to be Epsom salt for the baths??
Thank You
also not sure what you mean when you say to isolate her?? she is currently my only fish so she is already isolated
also if you click on the images above they will come up big on the screen, at least on my computer they do
A bath is floating the fish in a container for about 10-15 minutes. I would not put her in the sink as you have had soap etc in there. Use a food grade container ideally. Do not net her but using a cup or jug gently scoop her up out of the water, then slowly add her to the Epsom salt bath. This should be water taken from her aquarium with the amount of Epsom salts required, each time making it up afresh, ensuring the Epsom salts are well mixed prior to adding the fish.
You do not need 10 gallons, but calculate how much you need based on that amount. You really only need to put her in a container of about half a litre/1 pint/2 cups - I have jugs especially for giving such baths. NB: make sure you cover the container, using a cloth or similar, just in case the fish jumps. If she does show signs of jumping then remove her from the bath and return her to the fresh water, slowly i.e. gently lower her and allow her to swim out of the scoop (see below) you capture her in.
Once she has been in the bath for the time recommended then gently scoop her up again in something that can contain water i.e. not a net, and place her back in her aquarium.
You need Epsom Salts rather than Aquarium Salt as it has different properties to remove the fluid build up. It is available from chemists and is not expensive. I would thus have her aquarium with only water in it i.e. no salt.
You should not being doing full water changes but smaller ones more often i.e. 20-30% once a week in her larger tank.
How do you clean your filter? Do you rinse the sponge in water removed from the aquarium? Does it have anything else in there other than sponges? If it has Carbon remove this as it will affect your medication i.e. remove the carbon. Is this
your filter? In this video the author explains how to remove the carbon.
Make sure any food she has is pre-soaked, and be wary of the freeze dried foods, I do not feed my fish anything freeze dried. In respect to not feeding her for now, there is less for her body to deal with, plus if she is in anyway not digesting properly at present this will assist her. If you want to give her a small bit of de-shelled pea to clear out her digestive tract.
Isolate her, means ensure she is on her own so as not to infect any other fish. As she is your only fish, then she is already isolated.
The images do get a little larger but not big enough to really see what is going on.
Here is one of my girls, that sadly I lost from a similar situation. I have linked to it so you can read what people thought/recommended. I do hope we can save Koral with you, but if she is starting to pine cone you are aware it is not looking good for her. Just do your best as this is all we can all do in these situations, and hope.
I have PM'd WildBetta for you, yet she has not been on-line since.
MissAshley23 said:
she is in a 2 gallon tank right now bc she is sick, someone on another forum told me to move her to a smaller tank or "hospital tank"
normally she is in her regular aquarium which I believe is 8 gallons or 8.5 gallons??
should I put her back in her regular tank??? I wasn't sure if the smaller tank would stress her out but multiple people recommended a "hospital tank"
The reason people often mention a "hospital tank" is:
a) to isolate the fish from other fish - if you only have Koral this is not necessary
b) to reduce the amount of water to enable treatment at less cost i.e. you use less treatment
c) any infection does not get into the substrate (gravel), decorations and filtration of the main aquarium
d) it is often easier to capture the fish
e) it is easier to clean as the tank is kept bare
f) the hospital tank can be modified easily e.g. dropping the water level if the fish is weak and needs to surface.
Always ask why they recommend something to you, and this way you will gain in understanding. I am only guessing it could be any of the above.
If she is your only fish you may wish to return her to her regular tank, as this way the water will remain more stable. You can then use the smaller tank to treat her in if you wish.
Good Luck we are all supporting you and Koral.
also shes def not constipated there is poop in her tank. also I read online on another forum that it could be bad to stop feeding her bc if she is fighting off an infection and I stop feeding her she will get weak and die. what do you think?
