Plecos and Ich...Is There Hope?

[bgourami320]

So sorry for the loss of your bn's. It does sound like you have a
fighter in your betta girl. I hope everything turns out well. Sounds
like mel is giving you some good advise. Let's hope for the best!

 

[elinore]

Well, Henrietta took a turn for the worse today. I don't think she'll last the night. I am just so sick with anger and frustration and helplessness. She's just a little fish, but she is so incredibly pretty and entertaining, and I'm a high-stressed college student who lives alone, so she has meant a great deal to me. A happy little fish can do a great deal to make a day better when things are stressful. Watching her "feed me" antics has been the perfect study break in between 10 page papers. I hate that I'm going to lose her just before finals. I was sad when I lost the two plecos, but I will be heartbroken to lose Henrietta. This sort of thing just should not happen.

 

[mel_20_20]

Oh, elinore! I am so sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how very sorry I am that this is happening to your beautiful Henrietta. I wish this was not happening to her, and to you. I'm so sorry.

I hope you think about the wonderful life she's had with you; I hope you can think about how much she's enjoyed living there with you, and having you for her companion.

She has been one of the fortunate ones: a little girl Betta that could have spent a short life in a cup, waiting for someone to take her home, or she could have gone home with someone that would condemn her to an unhappy, short life in a brandy snifter, or vase full of roots.

You gave her wonderful, clean and roomy living quarters and you gave her life a richness that she most probably would not have had, if she had not had you for her friend.

I hope with all my heart you can find comfort in thinking about how much you have done for that sweet, beautiful little girl and how happy she was.

I hope against hope that she will pull through this, though from your observations that seems unlikely. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[mel_20_20]

Ella, are you OK? Is Henrietta still with us?

If you can, lower the water level for Henrietta if it looks like she's having problems swimming to the top for a gulp of air. Unless you have a leaf in there near the top that she can rest on.

 

[elinore]

Thank you SO much for the kind support! She is still hanging on this morning, but she really can't control herself at all. Thanks for the tip about the leaf. I'll give her a nice floaty plastic one to rest on. She's a fighter, but this is just too big for her to battle. That lfs will be getting another call from me. We need to have another chat.

 

[mel_20_20]

I don't know if this could help her at this point, but BettaFishMommy and othe Betta keepers have mentioned "Betta Revive" as being something that has real benefits and can help in many issues, though I'm not sure if it can have any impact in your girls illness.

It may serve to increase comfort, if nothing else. It's cheap and readily found at pet stores and I think at Walmart as well. It's worth a try, if she's still hanging on.

 

[dbosman]

Plecos are freshwater not brackish. It's time for copper not salt.

Look for Coppersafe or Aquarisol at your LFS and follow the directions! Do not Overdose.
After the treatment period, a little over two weeks, a couple of large water changes will remove most of the copper. It will decline over time with your usual water changes.

One more caveat. FOLLOW the dosage directions.

 

[mel_20_20]

dbosman, you didn't see the earlier posts, I guess, because her plecos died already. elinore's Betta girl is very sick and things have not been looking good.

elinore, how is she?

 

[elinore]

Alive, but all her color's gone now. She used to be a little rainbow of dark purple, blue, red, lavender, pink, and irridescent green, but the sparkle's all gone. She still got very excited for bloodworms tonight, but she can no longer control her movements very well, so I fed her with a bobby pin. I've been keeping her light off, and a folder around the tank for most of the day. I thought maybe she'd be more peaceful without all the stimuli of me running about my room, and also, it just kills me to see her like this, so I try to keep her covered. Poor little thing is fading fast. The only good news is, my betta boy, who lives on the other side of my desk is ich-free and a truly happy fellow. I am aboslutely paranoid about transferring disease now, which I'm sure will be a good thing for my surviving and future fish. From now on NOTHING goes in ANY tank without thorough quarantine and sterilization. It's a hard lesson, but I've learned it well.

 

[mel_20_20]

I'm glad your boy is safe and healthy. You mght try the Betta Revive if you get a chance to run into a Walmart or petstore. I think it's under $5 and it might help, though at this point it may make no difference at all.