cheri
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Post by cheri on Sept 7, 2014 13:55:58 GMT -5
Hi Is it possible to determine what this is, that is rapidly eating away at this betta? He started biting at his caudal fin in June, after moving him out of a vase into the small tank. I treated the wounds with Bettafix, as it was the recommendation by my LFS. The fin was healing well, and then I noticed white stuff between the fins about July. I struggled with trying to send you pics; and now I hope that it is not too late for him. The first pic I took was on 8-14; #2 taken 8-26; and #3 taken 9-6. The white that is eating into his flesh at the dorsal; is now at the flesh on his pelvic fin directly under the infected area on the dorsal. It is now moving soo fast that I don't want to just throw any meds at him but would like to start him on what can stop this. I hope it's not too late. One sales clerk said I should use PimaFix so I bought it but was too nervous I would over-dose him with it so unfortunately he's had no help other than keeping his water clean as possible. His appetite is very good, and he had stopped, but has started blowing bubblenests, again. He poos every few days, especially with pea and fasting! My bettafish eat frozen bld. worms, frozen brine shrimp w/spirulina, and two types of pellets. They are fed frozen peas approx. every fourth day following a day of fasting. All the frozen foods are of course defrosted with matching tank water, and peas are de-shelled. Water Params are approximate PH 7.4-7.8; Ammonia 0-.25 (seachem alert has never shown alarm though); tirtes 0; trates 5-10; KH 4/5 dkh; GH 6/8 dkh. Tank size hold 1.75 gals. Heater 77-80 degrees; no filtration, no bubblers. Water is 60-40 tap-RO water. Thank You so much for the help. Cheri Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
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Post by Carl on Sept 7, 2014 14:18:23 GMT -5
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cheri
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Post by cheri on Sept 8, 2014 9:03:52 GMT -5
Hi,
Thanks again, for your help.
I have all medications except for the salt that I'll pick up today.
I don't do 100% water changes anymore unless something like white fuzzy stuff starts to grow on the suction cups of the heaters, etc. Rare. Although, I do use a turkey baster to suck out the poo from the tanks and then replace that water with some aged water from a bucket, (not kept for more than 4 or 5 days). Sometimes I take out more water, 1 or 2 cups, to remove the film on the waters surface. Could that be causing false readings? If I may ask you to give me the proper dosage for a bath and than in tank dose of Furan 2 I would be very grateful. I want to get this started, asap. Already let this go too long now. I don't think swabbing him directly is good for him just because I'm scared to do it. Also, B-blue is very sensitive and stresses really badly whenever I tried taking him out of his tank.
Cheri
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Sept 8, 2014 10:04:15 GMT -5
Is this a tank you could add some type of filtration too? Even matrix? This would help with the bio-load and water condition.
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cheri
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Post by cheri on Sept 8, 2014 11:41:44 GMT -5
Hi,
There is a bottle with seeded Matrix. I did forget to say that in my first thread.
I'm getting the Furan2 ready to dose the tank. I can't seem to dissolve the crystals all the way. Is that okay?
What I learned in the past on dosing medicines like Furan2 is per package. So, one pkg. per ten gallons of water. Ex: One Tbsp. or tsp. for each gallon of tanks water. (It doesn't matter if tbsp. or tsp. so long as that is what is used when dosing tank with medicine). Anyways, add one packet of Furan2 to the ten tsp./tbsp. of water, mix well, than add one tsp./tbsp. of mixture per gallon of tank water. So for B-blues tank that would be one 1.75 tsp. of mixture for the 1.75gal tank. Then do I follow per instruction on the Furan2 package? Repeating the dose in 24 hours. Should I go ahead and change out 25% water per each dose since the tank doesn't have filtration? Or stick to the packages instructions? Should there be a bubbler in the tank or is it okay without one? I would like to know as previous thread on how much to dose for a one quart bath. I don't have much confidence in this as it seems I do more harm to the fish than I do helping; so I really do appreciate your experience in these things.
Another different question. I have been running a 5 gallon tank with two different sized sponges, some Matrix plus driftwood for most of this year now. I 've used this tank just for seeding them with ammonia and no fish has ever been in this tank. It's been used for seeding only. Awhile ago I lagged on cleaning it for a few weeks and the nitrates went high. Now I can't seem to get the bio cycle to fully eliminate the ammonia, within 24 hours after feeding, yet it eliminates the nitrites. I don't get it???
Thank you! Cheri
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 13:19:17 GMT -5
What I learned in the past on dosing medicines like Furan2 is per package. So, one pkg. per ten gallons of water. Ex: One Tbsp. or tsp. for each gallon of tanks water. (It doesn't matter if tbsp. or tsp. so long as that is what is used when dosing tank with medicine). Anyways, add one packet of Furan2 to the ten tsp./tbsp. of water, mix well, than add one tsp./tbsp. of mixture per gallon of tank water.
This is fanstastic! This topic came up not long ago when I was also trying to dose Fungus Cure into a small tank. Seeing that the powder is comprised of multiple drugs in different proportions, I realized you can't simply divide the powder into smaller portions and get the correct balance of ingredients. The best we thought of was to make up the 10g solution- not practical, and draw the portion you need from that. This accomplishes the same in a manageable way. Love it! Thanks for posting I also think this would be a great tip to have posted as general info on the site, so (unless it already is and I've just never come across it). I would like to suggest that. Dosing powdered meds into small tanks is something most of us have to deal with at some point.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Sept 8, 2014 17:02:37 GMT -5
Hi,
There is a bottle with seeded Matrix. I did forget to say that in my first thread.
I'm getting the Furan2 ready to dose the tank. I can't seem to dissolve the crystals all the way. Is that okay?
What I learned in the past on dosing medicines like Furan2 is per package. So, one pkg. per ten gallons of water. Ex: One Tbsp. or tsp. for each gallon of tanks water. (It doesn't matter if tbsp. or tsp. so long as that is what is used when dosing tank with medicine). Anyways, add one packet of Furan2 to the ten tsp./tbsp. of water, mix well, than add one tsp./tbsp. of mixture per gallon of tank water. So for B-blues tank that would be one 1.75 tsp. of mixture for the 1.75gal tank. Then do I follow per instruction on the Furan2 package? Repeating the dose in 24 hours. Should I go ahead and change out 25% water per each dose since the tank doesn't have filtration? Or stick to the packages instructions? Should there be a bubbler in the tank or is it okay without one? I would like to know as previous thread on how much to dose for a one quart bath. I don't have much confidence in this as it seems I do more harm to the fish than I do helping; so I really do appreciate your experience in these things.
Another different question. I have been running a 5 gallon tank with two different sized sponges, some Matrix plus driftwood for most of this year now. I 've used this tank just for seeding them with ammonia and no fish has ever been in this tank. It's been used for seeding only. Awhile ago I lagged on cleaning it for a few weeks and the nitrates went high. Now I can't seem to get the bio cycle to fully eliminate the ammonia, within 24 hours after feeding, yet it eliminates the nitrites. I don't get it???
Thank you! Cheri Good idea. Breaks it down easily. I would follow the directions on the package for the in tank treatment. Dose, repeat in 48 hours, wait another 48 hours and do a 25% water change. Two doses for a full course of treatment. Double the dose for a bath, with salt and methylene blue. I would not add a bubbler, since you haven't had one to this point and adding on can have a fluctuation in pH. This might be harmful. The 5 gallon is interesting. Are you cleaning the tank at all? Could there be a higher bio-load than the filters can handle? This would just be from the fish food you have been adding. There are a few methods you can use to lower the ammonia temporarily. Then maybe the issue will correct itself? You're still not dosing ammonia are you? You should have a cycle going in the tan by now, so you wouldn't need to, if you are adding food. www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#highammonia
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Post by Carl on Sept 8, 2014 17:17:53 GMT -5
Hi,
There is a bottle with seeded Matrix. I did forget to say that in my first thread.
I'm getting the Furan2 ready to dose the tank. I can't seem to dissolve the crystals all the way. Is that okay?
What I learned in the past on dosing medicines like Furan2 is per package. So, one pkg. per ten gallons of water. Ex: One Tbsp. or tsp. for each gallon of tanks water. (It doesn't matter if tbsp. or tsp. so long as that is what is used when dosing tank with medicine). Anyways, add one packet of Furan2 to the ten tsp./tbsp. of water, mix well, than add one tsp./tbsp. of mixture per gallon of tank water. So for B-blues tank that would be one 1.75 tsp. of mixture for the 1.75gal tank. Then do I follow per instruction on the Furan2 package? Repeating the dose in 24 hours. Should I go ahead and change out 25% water per each dose since the tank doesn't have filtration? Or stick to the packages instructions? Should there be a bubbler in the tank or is it okay without one? I would like to know as previous thread on how much to dose for a one quart bath. I don't have much confidence in this as it seems I do more harm to the fish than I do helping; so I really do appreciate your experience in these things.
Another different question. I have been running a 5 gallon tank with two different sized sponges, some Matrix plus driftwood for most of this year now. I 've used this tank just for seeding them with ammonia and no fish has ever been in this tank. It's been used for seeding only. Awhile ago I lagged on cleaning it for a few weeks and the nitrates went high. Now I can't seem to get the bio cycle to fully eliminate the ammonia, within 24 hours after feeding, yet it eliminates the nitrites. I don't get it???
Thank you! Cheri Good idea. Breaks it down easily. I would follow the directions on the package for the in tank treatment. Dose, repeat in 48 hours, wait another 48 hours and do a 25% water change. Two doses for a full course of treatment. Double the dose for a bath, with salt and methylene blue. I would not add a bubbler, since you haven't had one to this point and adding on can have a fluctuation in pH. This might be harmful. The 5 gallon is interesting. Are you cleaning the tank at all? Could there be a higher bio-load than the filters can handle? This would just be from the fish food you have been adding. There are a few methods you can use to lower the ammonia temporarily. Then maybe the issue will correct itself? You're still not dosing ammonia are you? You should have a cycle going in the tan by now, so you wouldn't need to, if you are adding food. www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#highammonia I know doing is often very difficult in small aquariums or fish batch. This can work, but you have note that these medications break down rapidly in water, therefore this premixed solution is not good much past 24 hours (maybe 48 hours with some medications) My preferred method would be to use a gram scale to measure out dry amounts based on the weight of a 10 gallon powder package. For a bath, going over in dose up to double is not generally a problem since the fish is only in the bath for 20-30 minutes. From Aquarium Answers; Fish Baths: "Medications in Baths;
Another option to baths is IN ADDITION to the salts and Methylene Blue, but NOT combined with Potassium Permanganate, is you can safely add many antibiotics at double normal "in tank" recommended dose for the 30 minute bath. This can both increase the effectiveness of the bath and the antibiotic added.
Medications that generally are good choices for baths are; Metronidazole A good choice for intestinal infections since it is not readily absorbed through the intestines. Kanaplex (Kanamycin) OR Minocyline for Columnaris, Dropsy. Nitrofurazone (Furan 2) For Aeromonas, Saprolegnia, Columnaris or Furunculosis (best combined with Kanamycin in cases of Columnaris or Aeromonas Usnea is an experimental alternative that has similar properties to Metronidazole and can also be effective for some viruses and possibly tumors. I use about 1 tablespoon per 6 oz. preparation for a 1 quart bath. Please see this article for more about the use of Usnea: Usnea as a Fish Disease Remedy"Reference: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2009/07/fish-baths.htmlCarl
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 19:54:44 GMT -5
Just wanted to say cheri, best of luck with your fish. I'm also familiar with the heartache we go through in these times of having a little guy we want so badly to help and the challenge of trying to know and do all the right things. You're getting some fantastic assistance from Carl and Devon who just know so much. Me, just sending lotsa good energy and pulling for you to have a happy ending. {{hugs}}
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cheri
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Post by cheri on Sept 9, 2014 9:14:17 GMT -5
Hi Everybody,
Thank you, seapetal for your understanding and support. That information on how to dose medication for small tanks is not my idea. It was such a practical way of measuring out medication, that it just made sense to me. I went searching on the web this morning to see if I could find the website where I first read about it. It's been 5+ years ago...I don't remember the sites name anymore. Too many sites...TMI I don't want to cause problems by sharing someone else's idea from the web. I agree it's a great idea, and it's worth sharing if this won't cause upsets.
Devon, Thank you, for your help. No bubbler for now and the in tank and bath doses. Bought some aquarium salt yesterday, so today I'll start his daily bath.
*About the 5 gallon tank, yes, I do still feed it with ammonia and not with fish food. I normally clean the tank every other week, but just got lazy and...you know the story. Hopefully, it might be saved.
Hi Carl, I hope not to be to confusing on the medication dosing. I want the medications to be a potent as possible to help cure the fish so I won't ever try to re-use them. Fresh daily! I appreciate all your help to save this fish. I now know for sure that all their stresses and sickness have been caused by me...trying to do what I thought was best for them, and not to hurt them. This is why your help is very important me. To be honest I read and re-re-re-read you articles and still learning from them! Thank you.
Just this morning I was searching the web trying to find an older fish site from the past, I began to browse through a couple of them and OMGosh...so much contradicting information!!! It's just so confusing out there on he web. Thank you, for sharing with us your experience and knowledge.
Let you how things are going in a few days, or sooner if I have more questions. Cheri
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Post by Carl on Sept 9, 2014 9:30:40 GMT -5
We appreciate your sharing of ideas; this is what a forum is for This also allows us to sort through all the potential positives and negatives of different methods of aquarium keeping. Using water to mix meds still works, I would simply throw away the solution after a day. Your bringing this up was great, as it allows other readers understand a simple method as well as that the solution should be thrown away after a day (including potential future readers since these threads get read in searches later). In other words your posting this here may prevent others who might use this to measure meds, but continue to use the solution for days or even weeks Carl
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2014 11:14:42 GMT -5
Hi Everybody, That information on how to dose medication for small tanks is not my idea. It was such a practical way of measuring out medication, that it just made sense to me. I went searching on the web this morning to see if I could find the website where I first read about it....I don't want to cause problems by sharing someone else's idea from the web. I agree it's a great idea, and it's worth sharing if this won't cause upsets. Makes sense to me too! It would be nice to give credit to the 'owner', but I'll bet it's a general concept that person was aware of and shared forward and it's fine to do the same. That's why they call it the information highway Certainly nothing that could be patented etc. Anyway, a great option to have so thank you for mentioning, and as long as we use it appropriately with respect to the lifespan of drugs as noted by Carl, then I think we're good
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cheri
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Post by cheri on Sept 11, 2014 21:41:55 GMT -5
Hi Everybody, That information on how to dose medication for small tanks is not my idea. It was such a practical way of measuring out medication, that it just made sense to me. I went searching on the web this morning to see if I could find the website where I first read about it....I don't want to cause problems by sharing someone else's idea from the web. I agree it's a great idea, and it's worth sharing if this won't cause upsets. Makes sense to me too! It would be nice to give credit to the 'owner', but I'll bet it's a general concept that person was aware of and shared forward and it's fine to do the same. That's why they call it the information highway Certainly nothing that could be patented etc. Anyway, a great option to have so thank you for mentioning, and as long as we use it appropriately with respect to the lifespan of drugs as noted by Carl, then I think we're good Hi,
Update on B-blue. Water temp. is 76 degrees. Today, he just lays under the heater. I think he's cold. Three days of baths were way too stressful for him and me. I tried being patient in getting him out of his tank for a bath; yet not taking too much time to cause him more stress...uugh! Than I tried to swab his open skin area with MB and that was crazy and scary. He's a big jumper. He showed signs of much stress but came back around later. Day 2 of baths was stressful all the way through. I ended up dosing his 1 QT. bath with a 5 gallon dose of Kanaplex! Day 3, was about the worse day yet. He kept hiding in his tank so I had to take everything out to net him, again I tried to swab the pectoral area with MB but he started to jump so much that I didn't get any on him. After that bath I thought that I might lose him. He was barely breathing and laid on one side just rushing to the top now and then for a gulp of air and then floated back down to the bottom. He's not quite the same as before but hopefully he'll make it. He's been so weakened from stress, that I don't think I'll put him through that again tomorrow.
His eyes look larger, also.
Different ways I tried to get him out of the tank was scooping, netting, and placing a cup in the water with a pellet in it and waiting for him to retrieve it. Does anybody have some way to catch a fish without causing them so much stress? Or how to get them to be still for a quick swab? I've seen pictures of fish laying just still while people are swabbing, etc. but I don't know how to do it.
As you see in the pictures of him that he isn't getting any better, only worse, and I contribute that to me trying to get him in and out of his baths. Tomorrow is the last day of the Furan2 in tank medication. Is there anything else that we can try as to help him? I don't want to just give up on him.
You have all been so helpful and I appreciate you sharing and caring enough to try and help B-blue to get well.
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Sorry I adding to this post but this may be important. After B-blues first bath, I noticed some tiny pieces of his fins left in the water and I think he lost some slime- coat as well.
The quotation from Sept. 9th was an oops. Not meant to be added into this post.
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Post by angelminx on Sept 11, 2014 23:57:32 GMT -5
I think I got lucky with King (my new Betta), most of my other fish I've had to try to out-think when it came to catching them. He's just so friendly (actually a busy-body) that he just "sits there" and "waits" to be caught. Once, when I was taking water from the tank with his old Betta cup to fill the specimen container for another fish's bath, I wasn't paying attention, and scooped him right up with the water (rofl)I probably surprised him as much as myself. In my 55G, when I've had to catch a tetra or cory, I usually end up pulling out all the plants before I can finally chase them down (they seem to turn into magicians and disappear). With my angels it's not so bad, but I still usually have to try a few times before I can catch them. Every once in a while I've managed to sneak up on them.
I've seen things about making fish traps, but I can't remember where at the moment. When I do, I'll post it.
Angelminx
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 0:22:52 GMT -5
Hi Cheri, I don't have the years of experience Carl does and so I will leave the advice on course of treatment to him, but some thoughts on things as I go through your posts.. Bettafix.. are you aware it is a .20 dilution of Melafix? I'd bought it once thinking it's weaker, maybe just safer to go with it.. but then realized the dose for it is 5X the Melafix dose. They are identical, the only difference is you pay a higher price for a wee bit of it. Carl had suggested <75º, and you got to 76º but I gather haven't gone further b/c you think he's feeling cold. Is it just the heater he's trying to hide under or is it 'anything he can'? Because that sounds like the behaviour I've seen when they're really not feeling good. Diving under anything, even a bit of moss ball or driftwood and sitting like that... down to not swimming, just maybe scurrying along but mostly hiding under things. If this is what you're seeing..again check with Carl, but my understanding from him is that Columnaris.. and I gather Aeromonas.. prefer temps above 75º, so if you're trying to kill these it's pretty important to get the temperature down out of their fav zone. You'd mentioned in your first post that he was eating, pooping and sounded like he was swimming but now you see him stressed and weaker following the baths. Has he rebounded at all? I don't understand how vital the baths are, but perhaps if he's not reacting well, it would be fair to pull back on those and continue with the Furan 2 for a bit and see if that alone will move him in the right direction. I think he's only had 2 doses, is that right? Because I see the instructions for it say the treatment can be repeated for 2 more followed by another 25% WC then charcoal to remove. (that's where small non-filtered bowls get tricky because you can't filter out meds). I don't have a pkg here, just looked online, but I believe it said you could repeat again as well. Again, see what Carl says.. my thinking could be all wrong but his comes with years of experience You mentioned you overdosed kanaplex ( don't feel bad, you're not the first to do this).. I'm wondering we're you intending to treat with Kanaplex? (I don't see that in Carls suggested treatment, yet his article quote does suggest the furan2 + Kanaplex combo for Columnaris and Aeromonas.) On catching him up, I've found it depends on how much they're moving/swimming. The netting gets stressful for sure when they get snagged in it etc. I prefer to go in with a little glass vase.. they're in water so less touching.. if swimming I can steer my guy to swim right in but if he's on the ground, a square one thats good because the flat side sits flat to the tank bottom and usually a little nudging with a plastic spoon or the edge of a small net and they'll go in. Also holding the vase facing down @ 45º close to him and stirring the water you can get the current to move him in. Either way, I find transferring from that into the bath or wherever smoother and less stressful. Oh, and the unwanted quote.. there's an 'edit' button at the top/right of the typing window, made just for those times. Hope there's a grain of help in all this... hope you've seen some improvement since your post.. and hope tomorrow's better.
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Post by Carl on Sept 12, 2014 9:45:28 GMT -5
Thank you angelmnx and seapetal for your very helpful suggestions, including the excellent points about Bettafix . Swabs in particular can be tricky, especially if you are uneasy. I use my hands to cradle for small fish and a smooth container to cradle/control larger fish. This may be an option that is too stressful and thus difficult for you and might be better off skipped. For baths, try not to be nervous, as I believe this makes it worse. Generally the only tricky part is netting and as angelmnx noted, some fish actually seem to cooperate. With smaller fish such as Bettas, I prefer to keep the fish in an isolation box withing the holding tank whereby I can very gently net the fish or often just hand scoop the fish. The picture from "Fish Baths, Dips, Swabs" shows such an isolation box/container: Reference: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2009/07/fish-baths.htmlAs per in tank treatment, seapetal made a good point that your best results will be obtained with a combination of Furan 2 & Kanaplex as by themselves the results are often poor, but together they work synergistically. As for hiding by the heater for warmth, I doubt this. As seapetal stated well: Carl
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 10:26:44 GMT -5
Thank you angelmnx and seapetal for your very helpful suggestions, including the excellent points about Bettafix . Swabs in particular can be tricky, especially if you are uneasy. I use my hands to cradle for small fish and a smooth container to cradle/control larger fish. This may be an option that is too stressful and thus difficult for you and might be better off skipped. For baths, try not to be nervous, as I believe this makes it worse. Generally the only tricky part is netting and as angelmnx noted, some fish actually seem to cooperate. With smaller fish such as Bettas, I prefer to keep the fish in an isolation box withing the holding tank whereby I can very gently net the fish or often just hand scoop the fish. The picture from "Fish Baths, Dips, Swabs" shows such an isolation box/container: Reference: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2009/07/fish-baths.htmlAs per in tank treatment, seapetal made a good point that your best results will be obtained with a combination of Furan 2 & Kanaplex as by themselves the results are often poor, but together they work synergistically. As for hiding by the heater for warmth, I doubt this. As seapetal stated well: Carl I love your suggestion of using the breeder net box, Carl. For that matter, could you not just lift him out in that and set the whole thing right into the bath? Then perhaps dip him in a rinsing bath before returning to the tank? (you have to make enough bath solution of course). If going with the furan+kanaplex would it be fair to withhold the baths if he's still not responding well? Cheri, I wouldn't be overly concerned about a bit of fin tissue calling off, given he's a crown tail and how affect the fins are but may I ask about the red, is that part of his natural colouring or are these raw areas? Carl, when treating my red betta his skin came to look grey almost scalded and it was suggested this was due to slime coat damage from all the meds etc. Is it possible to avoid this in these situations? Correct me if I'm wrong, it just looked like something that would provide extra discomfort for the fish. Side note: use of net box for another situation: I had a situation recently where I had a new betta who was just weak and I was working to build him up. I started him in a 2.5 g with only 4" of water so he could reach the top for air. Then, feeling he needed heat but there wasn't enough water to add a heater, I set about adding water, which involved moves, lead to errors, too many changes etc.. went from bad to worse and I lost him. It was suggested to me the other day that it would have been better to start him in a larger tank/more water, but in a net box which would keep him a few inches below the surface so he could rise to get air. A heater could have been added in the larger tank and would have prevented all the changes I brought on him that (I believe) lead to his demise. Great idea.
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Post by Carl on Sept 12, 2014 13:07:13 GMT -5
Yes This is a good idea for acclimation in general, and one I have used. I would only differ as to the need to reach the surface for oxygen (in fact I am currently working on an article for "Fish as Pets" addressing this and other similar issues about fish) While Bettas certainly have the ability to get oxygen from the surface unlike most other fish, this adaptation is for the dry season from the regions Bettas originate. This does not mean that this adaptation indicates this is the best way for the fish to obtain oxygen, quite far from it. As an analogy, many animal have adaptations that allow them to survive in harsh climates, but that does not mean that such a climate ensures a long life span or using this adaptation indicates the animal/fish is doing well. In fact many animals live much shorter life spans in the environments they are adapted to live in than when kept domestically under optimum conditions. Example; Wolves live only 3-4 years in the wild but liver 13+ years in captivity. My point being is that a constant need to rise to the surface to collect oxygen more likely indicates a betta in an aquarium with too low of dissolved oxygen and/or damaged gills. Carl
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 21:02:35 GMT -5
When I found this betta, he seemed not ill but a bit weak, which I thought was from all these little guys go through to get from Thailand to our LFS's, and the perhaps less than perfect treatment there in terms of water changes, feed etc. He was a looker and I felt with just a little tlc I'd bring him around. He seemed to have enough strength to rise the few inches necessary to get a gulp of air which he did every 5 min. or so. This is why I started him in a shallow tank, and it didn't occur to me until you mentioned this that you rarely if ever see healthy bettas doing this. And come to think of it, during the short time that this boy rallied and got to enjoy a couple weeks of relative health, he didn't do it either. So, good point and thank you for pointing that out. Maybe a combination of weaknesses then because he was in the same water others were without problems, and once he got stronger he swam and behaved normally.
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Post by angelminx on Sept 13, 2014 2:20:47 GMT -5
I always keep the fish I am going to give baths in a Net Breeder, so that I don't have to chase them down over and over.
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