Not sure if Betta has ich

[bullseyejoey]

Well, I think my Betta may have ich. What can I do to cure it if it is ich cuz I see the white spots.


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[lohachata]

first off you will need to treat the entire tank....if one fish has it ; it is all over the tank..
there are a number of meds you can use...i prefer those that do not stain the water...
methylene blue really is not formulated to treat ich..don't use it..
copper sulphate based meds have worked best for me and don't stain...i have been using Aquari-Sol for almost 40 years and it has been my preferred treatment..the only problem is that it can kill inverts...
whatever med you use always remember to increase aeration because the meds reduce oxygen levels...
also make sure you raise the temp to 84-88 degrees F....
make sure to remove any carbon before treatment...
do water changes too...but try to go by the medication recommendations...

[Betta man]

Bettas breath from the air so it less oxygen in the water will effect them little. I personally am methylene blue's biggest fan. IMO, it treats ich. It treats velvet too along with fin rot and many other diseases.

[Angelclown]

Betta man: bettas breathe air from the surface of the water. Not from the air.

[lohachata]

once again......bettas are fish...they have gills...air from the atmosphere is not their primary source of oxygen..it seems betta man that you are almost uneducable...

[Trout]

They do have gills, and will most often breathe through those. But what about the labrynth organ? Doesn't that allow them to take gulps of oxygen from the air, should the need arise, or am I just misled?

[lohachata]

you have it right trout...the key phrase is "should the need arise"....and that works as angelclown said..they will come to the surface and pull a small gulp of air with barely breaking the surface of the water...
but the fact remains that that is not their primary form of respiration as betta man suggests...
there are many species of fish that can live out of water for a while but they are able to survive long like that..

[Angelclown]

Lohachata: I caught Betta man's mistake about the betta's primary source of air. Hopefully he will learn correctly about bettas. Also thank you.

[Betta man]

Actually, my bettas in my fifteen gal always come up to the surface to breath. Bettas can survive with burned gills for months. Bettas will die if they can't get to the surface to breath.

[Angelclown]

If the tank is very well filtered and has enough oxygen in the tank, then the betta will not die if it cannot get to the surface.

Betta man: I would post links as proof of what you are saying. In all the reading that I have done on bettas, I have not found one single bit of information that states that if a betta cannot get to the surface it will die. Another thing, bettas cannot live with burned gills for months. They can live weeks or a month. If the burned gills are not treated then the betta will suffer and die.

[Chard56]

I suggest that you never try to put a Betta in a jar or tank without it being able to get air at the surface. You will have a dead Betta. I was looking for a recent article on the suject but the web site is unavailable. That is the reason for a low strength air bubbler in the fry tank. So it breaks the surface and they can get air. Otherwise when they are tiny and can't break the scum on the surface they will drown.

[Betta man]

Originally Posted by Chard56 I suggest that you never try to put a Betta in a jar or tank without it being able to get air at the surface. You will have a dead Betta. I was looking for a recent article on the suject but the web site is unavailable. That is the reason for a low strength air bubbler in the fry tank. So it breaks the surface and they can get air. Otherwise when they are tiny and can't break the scum on the surface they will drown.

+1.

@angelclown, My tank had three filters, a bunch of plants, and 6 juvenile fish. The bettas went to the surface to breath every two minutes. There was plenty of oxygen in the water. Explain to me why they do that and I will check into your theory.

[Angelclown]

I looked up what Chard56 was saying and I hate to admit it but he is right. The labyrinth organ that bettas have is like a lung that needs pure air. So bettas need to gulp air from the surface of the water. Sorry that I was wrong.

[Betta man]

Its okay. I wasn't saying that bettas don't get oxygen from the water. They do, but they need air.

[Chard56]

You weren't neccassarily wrong. I thought I was wrong once....but I was only mistaken! Ha ha! I just wonder how many times Bettas have accidently been killed by not having access to the surface like some of those multiple tanks with tubes running between them or topping off a tank so no air is under the lid?