Betta with a bad case of ich

[elinore]

I've had a horrible struggle with ich in two of my tanks recently. Long sad story short: I lost 2 beautiful plecos because of an infected ram from one tank, and then my girl betta, who lives in a 2.5gal with me at college, got ich from a new Anubias nana from the same lfs that had sold me the ram. I thought that rinsing, soaking, and rinsing again would be enough to make the plant ok, and I had NO idea of the potential for danger, but I've learned a hard lesson. Anyway, in the last week and a half, she got incredibly sick with ich. I have never seen a fish so covered in spots, but she always kept her appetite. The last 4 days or so, she lost control of her movements and I was sure I'd lost her. She just floated at the surface, only moving when she begged for food.

Well, this morning when I went to see if she was alive, she was wiggling away almost like normal. She's swimming around the tank begging for food like she used to, but she still looks awful. She has spots and scars from old ich spots everywhere, including her eyeballs. Most of her fins are tattered. There are definitely new spots on top of the old ones. My question is: WHAT DO I DO NOW? I don't know what my best plan of action is. Throughout all this, the tank's water has stayed perfect, so I haven't done water changes for fear of shocking her. I slowly added a little less than a teaspoon of salt to the water, and turned up the airstone for extra oxygen. I don't have a small enough heater for the tank, so I screwed in an incandescent bulb that puts out a lot of heat so I could keep the temp in the high 80s, but the last 4 days I've left the tank dark except feeding time, thinking her situation was hopeless, and maybe darkness and lack of stimulation would be better for her, or at least more peaceful. So, now what? Should I keep doing what I've been doing? I've been feeding twice a day, alternating betta pellets, bloodworms, and 2 kinds of flakes, and she ate some pea the other day. I've been feeding her a little more than normal, hoping it would give her a little extra energy to fight, but I don't know if this is right. I could really use some advice! I will try hard to get some pictures, but she won't stop moving! Thanks!!!

 

[elinore]

These are the best pics I could get. It's really hard to see the spots, because she's light colored and has an irridescent shimmer so the flash just bounces off. You can see the tattered fins (though she is, of course, a crowntail), which she keeps clamped most of the time. It seems like there are far more spots on her pectoral fins today than in the past, and I'm really worried, because I can already see severe tattering. She really seems to have no interest in hiding in a dark cave or in the java moss jungle, as she did in the first days of this illness. I can't figure out if this new change in attitude is just false hope, or if she's really made some improvement.

(In the first picture, her head is distorted by the little bow front, but I included it because you can kind of see some of the ich damage, and the damage on her right pectoral.)

 

[BettaFishMommy]

hi there,

without a heater the salt treatment may not be effective. the heat speeds up the life cycle of the ich.

to be honest, i've never done a salt/heat treatment for ich. i've only ever had to deal with ich once (believe it or not! lol), and i believe i used 'Ich Guard' or some such med. it worked great on a female betta i had in a 1 gallon bowl at the time. this was way back in 2008.

Betta Revive is supposed to be anti-bacterial/anti-fungus/anti-protozoan but i've never used it for anything but fin rot. it does have malachite green in it, which i have seen listed on ich medications as well. Perhaps you may want to try this med, as it will do wonders for her fin rot at the same time. daily water changes are a must, 100% if you can, and re-dose appropriate amount of Betta Revive for the amount of water you are adding back into the tank.

WARNING! Betta Revive contains both malachite green and methylyne blue, so anything in your tank that is soft (airline tubing, suction cups, silicone, etc) will be stained blue afterward. but a lil blue is worth it if it will cure your lil girl.

unless you can get the heat up and keep it at about 86 F, i don't think the salt is going to be effective (from what i've read). without the heat i'd recommend a med like i used - if i recall it was "Ich Guard" (the bowl my betta was in wasn't heated or filtered), or try the Betta Revive.

 

[elinore]

I will be able to get some medication for her tonight, but she has healed so much in the last few days that I think I should probably be more worried about residual fin rot than active ich. Almost all the spots are gone, and you can just barely see the scars on her fins. Her pectoral fins are clearish, so the scars are a little more visible, and one has a pretty big chunk out of it, but she just looks SO much better! Her anal fin also has some pretty bad damage, but it seems to be healing well. I see very little of the whiteish markings of fin rot, and what is there seems more like healing scar tissue. Basically, it looks like she may have escaped this horrible disease with only cosmetic damage to a few fins, which is just incredible. She went from being covered in spots and upside-down gasping for breath to healing and wiggling and begging for a snack in just a few days! I am absolutely astounded (and ecstatic) that she's alive.

My biggest concern now is, should I get some ich meds to make sure it isn't lurking in my water, waiting to strike again? How do I make sure it's well and truly gone? I NEVER want to have this experience ever again, so I'd like to err on the side of caution. I'd love some advice!

 

[wackorash84]

I will be able to get some medication for her tonight, but she has healed so much in the last few days that I think I should probably be more worried about residual fin rot than active ich. Almost all the spots are gone, and you can just barely see the scars on her fins. Her pectoral fins are clearish, so the scars are a little more visible, and one has a pretty big chunk out of it, but she just looks SO much better! Her anal fin also has some pretty bad damage, but it seems to be healing well. I see very little of the whiteish markings of fin rot, and what is there seems more like healing scar tissue. Basically, it looks like she may have escaped this horrible disease with only cosmetic damage to a few fins, which is just incredible. She went from being covered in spots and upside-down gasping for breath to healing and wiggling and begging for a snack in just a few days! I am absolutely astounded (and ecstatic) that she's alive.

My biggest concern now is, should I get some ich meds to make sure it isn't lurking in my water, waiting to strike again? How do I make sure it's well and truly gone? I NEVER want to have this experience ever again, so I'd like to err on the side of caution. I'd love some advice!

Since, you said that your little one is getting better, I would just follow the advice given by BFM to increase heat to 86F to fasten the ich life cycle and continue with the salt and daily water change.

WARNING :- Salt doesn't get vaporize from your tank. So only add once and then the equivalent dosage based on the % of water taken out of your tank on water change.

In terms of ensuring that your little one don't get any infections in the future, I believe from experience is that the need for prevention. Example, pristine water condition (daily, weekly depending on your water parameters etc) and the need to quarantine any new fishes or plants before adding it to your stock. Finally, to ensure when adding new fishes, make sure you add as little as possible the water from the lfs where you bought your fishes from to your tank.

However, sometimes, you can be so cautious but things like this still happens. It's known as 'life':

Glad to know your little one is getting better though.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

Since, you said that your little one is getting better, I would just follow the advice given by BFM to increase heat to 86F to fasten the ich life cycle and continue with the salt and daily water change.

it is advised to continue the salt/heat treatment for two weeks after you see the last ich cyst come off the fish.

WARNING :- Salt doesn't get vaporize from your tank. So only add once and then the equivalent dosage based on the % of water taken out of your tank on water change.

In terms of ensuring that your little one don't get any infections in the future, I believe from experience is that the need for prevention. Example, pristine water condition (daily, weekly depending on your water parameters etc) and the need to quarantine any new fishes or plants before adding it to your stock. Finally, to ensure when adding new fishes, make sure you add as little as possible the water from the lfs where you bought your fishes from to your tank.

correction, all new fish should be quarantined in a separate tank for a minimum of 4 weeks when you bring them home.

However, sometimes, you can be so cautious but things like this still happens. It's known as 'life':

Glad to know your little one is getting better though.

see my responses in bold purple, and yes, great to hear she's getting back to her lively self!