please help!

[chrisinha]

just got home from a petstore. i went there to buy food for my dog and saw this tiger barb swimming weird - with his head facing the bottom. when tapped on the glass he swam right but i noticed that he didnt have one of his side fins -- then i look even closer that there was a little fin, but very little. i told the guy works at the pet store, but he just said there was nothing they could do. well, i've treated one cory that had his tail fin nipped before with melafix, and the fin actually grew back. so, i brought the fish home. i thought i would give it a try.

now, i have a 10 gallon tank with just one betta. i have a divider. can i place him in there? im not going to keep him, i know he will need a much bigger tank, but it's just to see if he can get better. other than the 10 g tank, i have a 20 g long with balloon mollies, feeder guppies, cories and a bunch of fry.

please help!

 

[james1644]

Your best bet would be the 10 gallon divided tank since it is not unusual for even peaceful fish to attack an injured or sick fish. It has been a while since I used Melafix and can not remeber all of the specifics, but I guess the only question that I would have would be the effects of the Melafix on the Betta if the divider is not solid. Good luck

Jim

 

[Ken]

I think you could put the beta in most any clean glass container of a gallon or more, at least long enough to treat the barb for a week or two with melafix.

You would probably need to heat the ten, though, if you are not doing this already.

I wouldn't feel safe putting a sick fish in with mollies. Mine always tended to pick on any fish that wasn't acting right.

 

[chrisinha]

do you think melafix can harm the betta?
i'll do this then, i'll transfer the betta to a smaller tank. i'll try to get either 2.5 or 5g for him (i hate having to put my betta in such a small tank, though). BTW, i saw the other day something called "betta water". does anyone know it? if i use it, do i still need to cycle the tank, or use water conditioner?

the 10 g tank has a heater, a filter and an air pump running.

 

[Harlock]

Definitely keep the barb away from the betta and out of his tank. If you're going to purchase a five gallon tank, put the barb in it instead! Don't mess up one of your main tanks for a rescue. In general, I agree with what The Skeptical Aquarist has to say about rescue purchases"

Don't "rescue" fish. Retail marketers know that people buy bettas from cramped little jars in preference to bettas kept singly with other fish in 10-gallon tanks. "Rescues" reward and reinforce the very marketing situation you'd like to change, like those well-intentioned church groups that "buy the freedom" of human slaves at markets in Sudan, thereby establishing a going market price.

If you purchased meds or a tank or even the fish then you've reinforced for that LFS you will purchase and rescue fish at your expense. Just my 2 cents.

 

[chrisinha]

ok, but then dont i have to go through cycling first?

tonight he'll have to sleep in the betta's tank. it's already late here, besides it's rainning cats and dogs! of course, i put a divider. the betta was flaring at him in the beggining, but now he seems to be fine.

 

[Harlock]

ok, but then dont i have to go through cycling first?

tonight he'll have to sleep in the betta's tank. it's already late here, besides it's rainning cats and dogs! of course, i put a divider. the betta was flaring at him in the beggining, but now he seems to be fine.

Yes, you have to cycle first. That's the point of a Quarantine/Hospital tank. You use a sponge filter, keep a sponge somewhere in a main tank to keep it seeded, then pop it in the hospital tank when you need to keep a fish in there. I was just trying to help you from bringing parasites, disease, fungus or bacteria in from a possibly contaminated fish onto a treasured pet.

 

[chrisinha]

i know, and i appreciate it.

the store where i got him from is a good store. it's a pet store (not only fish), but it's not petco or petsmart. their fish always look pretty healthy (but we never know...). i really think this fish either had his fin nipped off or was born this way as someone here has already pointed out. my bf said he wants him. he has 4 tiger barbs. the problem is he lives in NY and i dont know if the fish can be in a cup for 5 hours. i have 2 weeks to find out!

once again, thanks for helping!