Yikes! I just realised I have been reporting the complete WRONG number of the ammonia reading. it was not 2.5 ppm, it was 0.25! So... is that still enough to cause ammonia poisoning if the fish is in those conditions over the course of a few months? I've only had Miikun for 5-6 months now... He's still alive, still not eating, hanging around the bottom of the tank, only going up for air. The poor little guy is not doing well ;.; Still looking for some advice! I'll provide more info if anyone out there needs it!
Miikun my Betta boy
- Thread starter Otaku1811
- Start date
If you can get your hands on some live, but safe food, he may respond instinctively to hunting his food. Also, keep his water in pristine condition - 50% water changes every single day, with conditioned water. If you can get your hands on some Prime - it's the best water conditioner there is. Keep his temperature warm - 80-82 degrees, and put about a teaspoon of freshwater aquarium salt per gallon into his tank, dissolved. This will help with his stress level. Good luck - I'm pulling for you and your baby boy.
Wow, you have done so well in looking after Miikun, especially with the varied diet - what a lucky fish!
I read yesterday that we shouldn't feed fish 4 to 6 hours before AND after changing the water - as they will still be stressed out and possibly cause them to vomit their food out.
Betta's like darkness, perhaps you could put a dark cloth around the outside of the tank, it may calm him down. I know it works for birds. Worth a shot?
Best of luck and my fingers are crossed for Miikun
I read yesterday that we shouldn't feed fish 4 to 6 hours before AND after changing the water - as they will still be stressed out and possibly cause them to vomit their food out.
Betta's like darkness, perhaps you could put a dark cloth around the outside of the tank, it may calm him down. I know it works for birds. Worth a shot?
Best of luck and my fingers are crossed for Miikun
I've been trying to keep the temperature at 80 but I live in an on-campus apartment with 3 other very inconsiderate girls who lowered the thermostat down to 60 yesterday and caused Miikun to start developing ich in his already weak state! >_< I had to fight with them just to keep the temp at 75. I've had to keep a lamp over his tank during the day which kept it around 78 but at night the temp still dropped, he's in a 1 gallon hospital tank now and I have no way to heat it other than this. Not to mention it's below freezing outside and I am freezing in here too cause those girls keep lowering the temp to 70 or lower, which is outrageous! I told them they're killing my betta and freezing me out but they don't care, they only care about themselves. Bunch of narcissists! Poor Miikun is even more sluggish now that his water is in the low-mid 70s. He's having trouble just getting the energy to swim up for air now, and he just sort of falls back down weakly to the bottom. He needs to eat but nothing I do works...
Also I tried to feed him a peeled, cooked pea as one person recommended, but he still won't eat it. As for live food, I don't have any on hand, I just had freeze dried bloodworms, flakes and pellets, cause I read live food can have parasites so I was afraid to try live bloodworms... I wish I had them now though ;.;
Also I tried to feed him a peeled, cooked pea as one person recommended, but he still won't eat it. As for live food, I don't have any on hand, I just had freeze dried bloodworms, flakes and pellets, cause I read live food can have parasites so I was afraid to try live bloodworms... I wish I had them now though ;.;
Poor Miikun! 
Are you SURE what he has is ICK? If so, if you stand any chance of saving him, you have GOT to get him ich meds at your local fish store. Also, the temp swings are going to stress him a lot, as you already know. Since you don't have a way to keep the temp constant, what *I* would do (and I'm not an expert) is to put a small heat pad under his container. Monitor the temp CLOSELY for a day until you know where it will top out at. You have a thermometer in there, so watch the temps creep up and if it gets above 82* put a thin handtowel in between the tank and the heat pad to keep the temp at bay. If you run the heatpad all the time (you should), his temp will stay constant.
In regards to the ICK - it is a parasite with a life cycle. It's only succeptible to medicine in the water for a short time, so the meds should be in the water ASAP. I have used Maracyn with great success, but others here have used Methlyne (sp?) Blue and Coppersafe. Do some quick research to find the med you're most comfy with. I like Maracyn because you can add it to the tank in drops, which would be good for you since you only have a 1 gallon tank. You would probably only need one drop a day.
Good luck to the two of you. Keep us posted on how things are going.
Are you SURE what he has is ICK? If so, if you stand any chance of saving him, you have GOT to get him ich meds at your local fish store. Also, the temp swings are going to stress him a lot, as you already know. Since you don't have a way to keep the temp constant, what *I* would do (and I'm not an expert) is to put a small heat pad under his container. Monitor the temp CLOSELY for a day until you know where it will top out at. You have a thermometer in there, so watch the temps creep up and if it gets above 82* put a thin handtowel in between the tank and the heat pad to keep the temp at bay. If you run the heatpad all the time (you should), his temp will stay constant.In regards to the ICK - it is a parasite with a life cycle. It's only succeptible to medicine in the water for a short time, so the meds should be in the water ASAP. I have used Maracyn with great success, but others here have used Methlyne (sp?) Blue and Coppersafe. Do some quick research to find the med you're most comfy with. I like Maracyn because you can add it to the tank in drops, which would be good for you since you only have a 1 gallon tank. You would probably only need one drop a day.
Good luck to the two of you. Keep us posted on how things are going.
I do have meds and I have been treating Miikun for the ick evertime any of it pops up on his body from stress. It keeps going away but with the fluctuating temps and his general weak condition secondary diseases will try to overtake him. I've been doing my best to keep his tank warm, I am always monitoring the temp. I don't have a heating pad here, just the lamp which gets his water to 78 degrees (The temp is currently around 75-76 and slowly rising with the lamp). I have jungle ick fizz tabs and also wardley ick away (Methylene Blue liquid). Both have been very effective, I used the tabs when he was in the 5 gallon tank and for the one gallon I used a few drops of the wardley's and he looks like he's clearing up, I don't see any ick on him this morning thank god. I'm going to change 20% of his water in the 1 gallon with clean treated water from his 5 gallon everyday to make sure his water stays fresh. I wish I didn't have to go to classes, I wanna just stay with him and keep an eye on him ;.; And those stupid girls downstairs better not lower the thermostat and freeze out the apartment again X_X I told them they were going to end up killing my betta and the one girl just said "Well my Banzai tree isn't going to make it cause it's been too warm in here." What's more important? A plant or a fish? >_< These people make me so mad. They don't care about little living creatures, just themselves!
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If you can't leave the lamp on all the time, even at night, the fluctuation of temp will be worse for him, IMO than just keeping the temp constant, even if it's lower. I really would invest in a way to keep his water a constant temp if you want to keep him alive.
Also, in case you don't know, you need to treat for ick for 7-10 days - for at least 3 full days after the last ick spot that you see on the fish's body.
Good luck!
Also, in case you don't know, you need to treat for ick for 7-10 days - for at least 3 full days after the last ick spot that you see on the fish's body.
Good luck!
Thank you so much for all the good advice! I'll do the best I can for him. BTW do you know about how long a betta can live without eating...? he's at the 3 weeks mark.... I think I read somewhere 4 weeks is the max before they starve to death ;.;
I don't know the exact number of days, but you'd probably be surprised that he's eating a little. Even if it's only crumbs that have fallen to the bottom of the tank, he's probably eating some, maybe at night.Otaku1811 said:
It's too late...I just got back from petsmart with a java fern and frozen bloodworms for miikun only to find him dead in the bottom corner of his tank *is crying atm* T_T I did everything I possibly could! I even talked to Faith from BettaTalk but in the end he wouldn't eat. I', completely torn right now ;.; He must've had cancer or something internally wrong, cause I weeded out bacterial infections, parasites, and bad water conditions. Poor Miikun ;.; God rest his little soul T_T
