Poorly Betta, is this Ich..?

[NannaLou]

My poor fish have been rather neglected since 19th December when my mum fell and broke her pelvis. Been running around sorting care for her, helping my dad and battling a really bad cold .

Anyway, Blue has been a bit lethargic the last couple of days and this evening I have noticed about 7(?) white spots on his head.

Is this Ich..? And how do I treat it..?

I’ve read to turn the temperature up to about 82 degrees, and to do a total water change and clean the contents of the tank thoroughly.

What does a ‘thorough clean’ mean..? Do I need to add salt, or some other type of medication? I’m going to struggle to get anything tomorrow I think because it will be New Years Day!

 

[Uberhoust]

I am not a fish disease expert but the spots on your Betta do not look like ICH. Under the circumstances ICH would be highly unlikely unless you are adding new fish to your aquarium. The spots look more like a bacterial or fungal infection. Some of the more knowledgeable members might be able to give you more advice.

 

[NannaLou]

Thank you for your reply.

No, he’s all on his own… I’ll see what else get suggested before I do anything that might make things worse…

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Can you try and get some more pictures for us please Lou?

 

[Colin_T]

How is your mum holding up?
Is she in hospital or at home, (home is better, also safer)?

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White spot parasites produce nice round white dots. Some of the marks on the fish's head are not round and not even the same size. So unless you added something new to the tank in the last 2 weeks, it is unlikely to be white spot.

Better pictures might help us identify the issue.

If you want to clean the tank, just wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week, and clean the filter. That will get rid of most of the gunk and harmful things in the tank and water.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[NannaLou]

@CaptainBarnicles and @Colin_T - I’ll try and get better photos tomorrow when the light is better. There hasn’t been anything new in the tank since 5th December.

@Colin_T - mum has quite advanced dementia so isn’t really aware of what’s happened, as long as she has a supply of KitKats she seems happy enough. She still can’t stand or mobilise independently and my dad is 78 and can’t move her at home. So tomorrow she’s moving from hospital to a nursing home for 4-6 weeks respite care.