Need advice/help (56 beware)

[Easystreet]

Hello all,


I turn to you in my time of need.

Background:

Hachi (the betta) lives in a 5 gallon eclipse tank. He shares his home with 2 ADF's. The tank is nearing the end of its cycle. Its been 5 weeks since Hachi has entered his new home. The filter has just been replaced (Not the bio wheel). His tank is 20% water changed weekly. He is fed Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets in the morning and every other evening. On the odd evenings he is given Frozen Blood Worms (thawed of course)

Last week he developed fin rot. His fins were very dark on the edges and the top part of his tail was begining to shred. Its day three of treatments and it looks to be clearning up good.

I placed him in my 1 gallon hospital tank and began treating him with MelaFix. The does is 5ml. for every 10 gallons. If my maths is right thats 1/2ml for the Hospital 1 gallon. I have a Baby medicine doser to get my dose for his tank. The directions say

"Add 5ml (in my case 1/2ml) to 10 gallons of water. (again my case 1 gallon) Repeat dose daily for 7 days followed bya 25% water change. Treatment can be continued if necessary."

I have been following the directions to the letter for the past 3 days.

Hachi Eats fine. He does mope now. Hides from me and runs away when I get close. Seems very skitish wich is not his style. He usually dances back and forth when I come into the room.

Here are the before pictures:

This is when I fist got him.

This is now day 3 in the hospital tank:

Bright picture. Notice the lines and the light colored head.

Darker and same side.

This is from the top. Notice his pigment is almost gone. I dont think this is Ich or Velvet. It looks a lot more like pigment going away. You be the judge.

This is him hiding from me. (Cute but has me worried)

Is he depressed being in the small tank? Is the medicine hurting him? Is he suffering from more then fin rot? What would you do?

Thank you in advance DR. Forum. I eagerly await your replies.

Jason
AKA worried fish owner.

 

[Wisperian]

Well, I'd contiue using the melafix but not as much...some people told me that melafix like suffocates the fish because of the strong scent so some people use like half of the dose it tells you to use on the bottle...I would do like a 10-20 percent water change each day and see if it helps I hope he gets better!

 

[basia]

I think I might stop using the Melafix altogether. Keep him in really clean water and add a little aquarium salt. See how he does.... Hope he improves soon.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

Have you checked your water parameters ? Were you doing 100 % water changes in the 5 gallon, or waiting for it to cycle? If you're using him to cycle the tank, it could be the spike in nitrates/nitrates that are causing him stress and opening him up to disease.

 

[Synirr]

Bettas don't tolerate Melafix very well, it seems, so I always use about 1/4th the recommended dosage. I have actually had 4 females die when I treated their 10 gallon with the exact dosage recommended on the label, and I'm 100% sure that the Melafix was the cause. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Melafix is a great medicine, but it is also very, very powerful stuff. I'd suggest that you stop using it on this particular fish, since the behaviour you describe sounds like a bad reaction to it. Just keep him in clean water and watch him for a few days, maybe add some Stress Coat, and wait to see if he gets any better. If the finrot is still progressing after a few days, Maracyn would probably be a good option. I've had great results with it in the past. Good luck

 

[Kiarra]

Hmmm...I'd definitely quit with the Melafix. But I don't use any medicines by habit unless I have to...costs me less, and it's less stress on the fish. Win, win.

Anything you've mentioned could be stressing him out. Bettas are pretty sensitive sometimes, and some of them more than others.

If you can find some Blackwater Extract or Indian Almond Leaves, they'd help with the tail and calm him down if it is a stress issue, which it may very well be.

 

[Easystreet]

Hmmm...I'd definitely quit with the Melafix.

Anything you've mentioned could be stressing him out. Bettas are pretty sensitive sometimes, and some of them more than others.

If you can find some Blackwater Extract or Indian Almond Leaves, they'd help with the tail and calm him down if it is a stress issue, which it may very well be.

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Ok I changed his water. Rinsed everything really well. put it all back together added some aquarium salt (Jungle brand) and added Hachi.

Well he still eats. But he looks even more pale now. Still skittish. If the light isn’t on he is resting on top of the plant or on top of the thermometer. The tank temp stays at about 74-76 at night. Up near 80 during the day. I would like to get the temp at about 80-82 while he is sick but I can’t figure out a good way to heat 1 gallon. Maybe microwave a wet towel and wrap it around the bottom of the tank?

This is my first sick fish so I am feeling a bit helpless. How long should I continue to keep him in the 1 gallon w/ salt. When can I return him to his home tank? His fin rot looks to be cleaned up. No more black at the end of his fins. Although its a bit soon to see new growth. How often do I do water changes? Daily? Every other day?

Thanks again for the help
Jason

 

[fishykisses]

I was just about to ask about the heat...i know Johnny, my bathroom betta gets very pale at night and sometimes gets lines. In his case it's because the water gets too cold at night. I'm in the same boat, there's nothing i can do to keep the water warmer over night. He has a fantastic dark bodyand bright shiny fins during the day and some nights are ok, but the chilly nights is when he's unhappy. When i think he's looking paler i put a warm towel from the dryer around the bowl and she seems a bit happier, i don't know if it's the warmth or the dark though.

 

[Saucy]

Yeah, I've stopped using Melafix altogether. It's not a medicine anyways. It doesn't TREAT, just promotes regrowth. It's all herbal and very strong and can actually permanently damage your fish. A former member on here has two fish with permanant tail damage from it.

Like it was said, just stick to salt and heat, maybe some Blackwater Extract/IAL or colloidal silver. make sure the water is sparkly clean. He should heal on his own. If not, try some Maracyn or Fungus Tabs and see how that works.

Also, you did take the carbon out of the filter, right?

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, I've stopped using Melafix altogether. It's not a medicine anyways. It doesn't TREAT, just promotes regrowth.

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Actually, that's backwards... it does treat, it doesn't promote regrowth. The active ingredient in both Melafix and Bettafix is melaleuca, which comes from tea tree oil and is an antiseptic and fungicide. Basically, it doesn't do anything but kill the bacteria or fungus.