Bettamax...just curious:

[Scarab]

Thanks wuvmybetta....I've actually heard of colloidial silver, being somewhat of a wholistic health person for my own personal health. I've yet to use it on myself, but have done some research on it and have thought about it. Of course, naturally, I'm a little hesitant to use is on Samson. But heck... at this point I just might.

If I do, how should I administer it to him? He's in a 1/2 gallon unfiltered....so how much should I put in the water. Does the silver come in liquid form? Or capsules. There's a few health stores I frequent, one on my way home from work, that I know have it. So get back to me on the dosage soon if you can please.

I'm gonna pick up a new 1/2 gallon today and use it, without the gravel/plant, as a hospital tank so I can thoroughly clean out the other one that has the Bettamax in it.

I may also get some Tetracycline tablets to hold onto just in case.

Thanks!

 

[Scarab]

Ok...still at work...but called that health store. They have a 2 ounce bottle of colloidal silver for $13.49!!! Why is everything healthy/natural so $%#@## expensive?? Wuvmybetta, I was all prepared to do the colloidal silver thing...but the tetracyline capsules are only $3.99.


Ok...money's tight...which one should I get Opinions please.

 

[wuvmybetta]

welllll, you know what I'm gonna say
it's well worth it & will last awhile, but I completely understand about money being tight (preparing for those orange babies is breaking me)
I've never tried tetracyline, so it may work wonders, I have no idea, but it seems to me that.....ya get what ya pay for

as for your other post ,if you DO decide to go with silver, I'd say two droppers in a 1/2 gallon, but it depends on what ppm you get,the higher concentrate of ppm the more expensive it gets so I'm assuming that the health food store you called was talking about 50 (or around there) ppm, which is what I used recently, only because my store was sold out of 500 ppm. But they sell teeny tiny bottles (.5 oz) of the high concentrate for around 6.99, call around and see if you can find a better deal

 

[Scarab]

Ok...I just checked with the other two health stores I frequent...the price got progressively worse:
* $15.49 at 2nd store
* $23.59 for 4 ounce; $33.99 for 8 ounce at 3rd store

*sigh*....I'm gonna stop by the first place on my way home to see exactly how big 2 ounces is (I don't have a visual in my head for how much that is). I'll have to decide then whether to buy it...or go get the Tetracycline. And with the Tetracycline...I don't know how much to use cause the dosage instructions w/the capsules are for 5 gallons. I emailed the company and haven't heard back. I may end up going with the colloidal silver. I just don't know.

I'll keep ya posted. ....and thanks for the colloidal dosage (2 drops...got it)

Man Wuz...$6.99?? Where do you live??

 

[wuvmybetta]

I live in Texas, 2 oz is usually 27.99 of the same stuff , they just recently started carrying the .5 oz, and as you can imagine....I was glad!

And you may need more than 2 drops, it comes in a liquid form with a dropper and two DROPPERS full should do it

 

[Scarab]

oooooh....2 droppers full, not 2 drops....lol lol

Glad I saw this now... was just about to leave the office and head to the store. Thanks!

I've got some friends in Houston...been there to visit twice this year.

 

[Scarab]

Ok...I bought the 2 oz. bottle for $13.49 and put 2 droppers full in his hospital tank (no gravel or plastic plant....and fresh 100% water change). I just noticed, though, that the colloidal silver is only 10 ppm! So wuvmybetta, should I put more in? How much? Also when should I redose, if at all....and if so, do I do a water change before the dose?

Thanks.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I'd put more in....to make the potency higher , don't be scared of over dosing ....it can't be done, if so it would have happened to me by now, I've had a betta swimming in brown water before because his silver content was so high .

 

[Scarab]

Gotcha...ok, good. I'll add more.

Also, is it safe/alright to use the Bettafix (tea trea oil) at the same time or should I wait til later?

 

[wuvmybetta]

I like to use both together, it's always been fine

how's he doin'?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Also when should I redose, if at all....and if so, do I do a water change before the dose?

just realized you said that
don't do a change yet (maybe a partial if it makes you more comfortable) and give him some for a couple of days, it should be in his system & on him already and going to work
Also at 10 ppm....5 droppers would be the equivalant of 50 ppm, so you probably should be pretty generous with it approx 1/2 or 3/4 a teaspoon. Don't worry about it being too much,that's a very low amount of silver. I've bought 1000 ppm from a company online and used it on my fish with a heftier dosage (I'm a freak when it comes to de-germing new additions ) )
and if you had gotten the 100 ppm ,that would be like 10 droppers of the stuff your using now in one dose (did that make sense? )

 

[Alien Anna]

Might give it a go - I wasn't even aware it was available in UK because so many products are banned under our medicines laws (gentian violet, for instance, that purple anti-fungal lotion), but it was in our local healthfood store. The only thing I'd say to watch out for is the difference between homeopathic colloidal silver (which is incredibly diluted, like all homeopathic remedies) and traditional remedy colloidal silver, which is the stuff we're describing here.

 

[Scarab]

Thanks wuvmybetta and Alien Anna. I've been adding more drops of the silver every day since that first dose on Friday...I've lost count of how many droppers full. And I just put in 12 drops of Bettafix. (should I put in another dose of the Bettafix tomorrow or just wait until after I do the water change?)

He doesn't appear to have gotten any worse...but he doesn't look any better either. I'll probably do a partial water change (or a full change) on Tuesday. I'm hoping the tea tree oil I just added will help spark some noticeable improvement.

The silver I'm using, as I said is 10 ppm, and I looked: the other ingredient is deionized water. So yes, it's dilluted.

He's still very active...not sluggish or lethargic, etc., at all. Actually....since there's nothing in there with him but the water, he encountering more reflections of himself...so that's freaking him a bit.

 

[wuvmybetta]

so many products are banned under our medicines laws (gentian violet, for instance, that purple anti-fungal lotion)

gentian violet's banned really?
that surprises me

scarab I was reading back at what all you'd given him over the past couple of weeks and maybe after Tuesday's water change you should stop medicating all together and see how he does. Is it really bad??? Maybe give him a small shot of silver/bettafix. I believe that large water changes cause the finnage to shorten up, my oldest betta always looked scraggly after a water change when he lived in the community, now he lives in a 10,alone, and I avoid water changes on him as much as possible, maybe 2 a month because he has such a bad reaction to new water (he's a tidy boy anyway). Time consuming it may be...but try changing his water out 10% at a time over the course of a day so it's not such a drastic change in water chemistry, that may have been the problem all along

 

[Scarab]

I'm at work right now....so I don' t know how he's doing since I gave him some more silver and the bettafix last night. Once I get home later this evening I'll give him a good look over and see how he's doing....that'll give me an idea of what to do next. But I'm thinking what I'll probably do is give him some more silver tonight.

So you're saying tomorrow I should give him a partial water change instead of a full one?? Stopping the medication all together might be a good idea...or I may give him the small shot of silver/bettafix with the change...don't know yet. Boy this is frustrating. Treating/curing Solomon of his ich weeks ago was a breeze compared to this.

Last night it didn't look "really bad", as you say. But compared to what his tail looked like last week it's really bad. But like I said ....it hasn't gotten worse. So maybe that's good.

My plan is, once I get this whole thing defeated, is to move Samson into his own filtered 2.5 gallon like Solomon.