Rescue Betta question for Leopardess and others

melafix sounds good.

what she has sounds like a fungus... and bettas often succumb to that in less than favorable conditions. or something was introduced into her tank that brought the fungus. actually, whenever one of my bettas is about to die, (old age or stress or something), they will get the fungus. it has happend a couple times, and i've never been able to catch it in time to treat it.

i wouldn't put the betta in the tank with a strong current, especially when they are feeling under the weather. try turning the pressure down to the lowest setting, adding a spounge over the filter intake, or putting some filter floss up the intake tube. this should slow the current down.

you can try adding a little salt to her water as well.


HTH
-Diana

Hey there! As long as it hasn't progressed too very far, you should be able to nurse her back to health (and if you can't, at least you tried and its more than most would have done - all for 10$ or so).

Plus, if she's got a spunky personality - it may mean she's not ready to give up just yet!

I would probably forego the filter completely if its rated for a much larger tank. As long as you do water changes on it, it should be fine. Since the betta has been in a small cup for most of her life, she probably doesn't have much muscle strength. The stress of the move in addition to suddenly being jossled around may be too much. The bubbler would create slight water movement (which would, in turn, help circulate any meds through the water).

Melafix is good. It won't cure the fungus but it can help keep any new bacterial infections from occuring in her wounds that are left by the fungus.

I would suggest trying something like Binox or Jungle Fungus Eliminator at first, dosing very carefully since its in a smallish container. That has helped me get past many a bout with fungus-y type things (esp. with Mr. Red, who you have probably seen on my site!).

If that fails after what seems like a reasonable amount of time, you may want to switch to something like Maracyn Plus - a broad spectrum antibiotic.

Or, you can try a method that Luv has hinted towards. Just use a little aquarium salt in the water *(which fungus doesn't like) and keep the temperature a bit lower (75 ish), also something fungus doesnt like.

Feed her good foods in hopes of boosting her immune system.

As for buying her a larger tank, if you've got extra money then sure. If you don't, it won't be necessary (provided you are good about your little water changes and dosing carefully esp. with the Binox which uses just 1 tsp for 25 US gallons, though I've done it successfully.

Then, when )) she gets better, you can think about giving her her own 5-10g tank (with some friends, possibly).

Thanks for looking at my website, btw!!!!

New tanks are always an awesome score - but more so when they're free


WIll they not let you buy her until tuesday? I'm not too sure I trust them to actually be treating her. Some places say they do but don't really do it Maybe you can ask what meds they're using on her or get her sooner so you can start treatment?

I have often wondered if I was the only person that wondered about tanks labled as treated at many shops.

Part of the reason i say that is:

Back when I first really got into fish keeping, I had some harlequin rasboras with mouth fungus that *would not go away.* I tried everything. No avail. I happened to mention it to the manager of a pet store that had always been really friendly. He said something like "Oh, well, I've got some medicine that really works for that. if all else fails, bring them in to me and I'll see what I can do for them." He was always so nice so I believed him. I brought my 3 little rasboras into him...I later found out that he just dumped them into a "hospital" tank (who's medicinal benefits were surely overridden by the funky water and lack of cleaning) with some cichlids!! Needless to say, they didn't get any better and I never got them back because they probably didn't make the day.

I might try just the jungle fungus clear first. I had originally meant Jungle Fungus Eliminator, which comes as powder in a bottle, but if you can cut the tablets accurately they should be fine.

Good luck!