New Fish

[davidnso]

What do you guys usually medicate your water/fish with when you first get them?

I know there's alot more to basic setup of filter+heater+food...what meds should I purchase to make sure my bettas stay nice and healthy?

 

[girl4God81]

Good question!

What kind of fish are you getting?

 

[Jaded12]

Meds good to have on hand for bettas:

Aquarium Salt
Maracyn 1
Maracyn 2
Tetracycline
Jungle Anti-Bacterical medicated fish food
Some sort of internal/external parasite med (I use Jungle Anti-Paracitical medicated fish food coupled with Quick Cure or Aquari-sol)
Betta-fix
Fungus Ease (some sort of fungus treatment)
Epsom Salt (for dropsy salt baths)


Everytime I do water changes my boys get aquarium salt (1 tsp./gallon) and a couple drops of betta-fix just as a preventative

 

[RandomWiktor]

1 tsp per gallon? I believe even the medicinal dose is only 1/2 tsp per gallon. That might be a little high for long-term keeping.

David, you should only need to medicate the water if the fish are sick. If you are keeping bettas, you'll want to treat the water with dechlorinator, and if possible get ahold of blackwater extract or indian almond leaf extract to mimic the natural water conditions. If you really can't find either, boil some brown, naturally fallen oak or banana leaves and place them in the tank. I would perhaps suggest feeding an anti-parasitic food when they come in since essentially all fish have parasites and it will save you trouble later down the road, but that aside, pre-emptive medication is a bad idea as it breeds resistant strains of bacteria and stresses the fish's organ systems.

 

[laurasbetta]

Meds good to have on hand for bettas:

Aquarium Salt
Maracyn 1
Maracyn 2
Tetracycline
Jungle Anti-Bacterical medicated fish food
Some sort of internal/external parasite med (I use Jungle Anti-Paracitical medicated fish food coupled with Quick Cure or Aquari-sol)
Betta-fix
Fungus Ease (some sort of fungus treatment)
Epsom Salt (for dropsy salt baths)


Everytime I do water changes my boys get aquarium salt (1 tsp./gallon) and a couple drops of betta-fix just as a preventative

I read another betta forum that you should use salt at 1tsp/5 Gal water. Is that correct? Also, doesn't the anti-bacterial part of the betta-fix mess up the beneficial bacteria in the tank?

There are so many "experts" it's hard to know exactly what is best!

 

[RandomWiktor]

The dose on the box o' salt is 1 tbsp (maybe you thought tsp?) per 5g, or 1/2 tsp per 1g.
BettaFix is essentially just a very watered down form of melafix, which is made up of tea tree oil. It has mild anti-septic properties, but not to such a degree that would interfere with cycling. And really, if you do 100% wc's, there's no real point in worrying about waste nitrifying bacteria as they never really get the chance to colonize anyways.

 

[Jaded12]

I've always heard 1 tsp/gallon... hmmm guess what I heard was wrong... but its ok, everyone makes mistakes

 

[laurasbetta]

Meds good to have on hand for bettas:

Aquarium Salt
Maracyn 1
Maracyn 2
Tetracycline
Jungle Anti-Bacterical medicated fish food
Some sort of internal/external parasite med (I use Jungle Anti-Paracitical medicated fish food coupled with Quick Cure or Aquari-sol)
Betta-fix
Fungus Ease (some sort of fungus treatment)
Epsom Salt (for dropsy salt baths)


Everytime I do water changes my boys get aquarium salt (1 tsp./gallon) and a couple drops of betta-fix just as a preventative

Any idea about the use of Indian Almond Leaves or extract like in Betta-SPA? There are so many medications & water treatments out there it's hard to know what to use and what can be mixed with what???

 

[Jaded12]

Indian almond leaves are really good to have handy!! I know a great way to make your own betta spa, and a great seller on aquabid who sells high quality leaves for very low affordable prices. PM me for her name and the betta spa recipie