Hi, folks.

I brought home the rattiest looking betta you ever saw in a few ounces of slimy brownish water. (I hate it that I gave my business to a store that treats them that way. But I made the mistake of looking at him, and he looked back, and OH HADES here we go again with a sick fish.)

I put him in a gallon and a half of water to which I'd added Amquel Plus, NovAqua, and a teaspoon of salt. I got as little of the yucky original water in there as possible.

He's feeling pretty perky. He ate five Hikari betta pellets, and he wants more, but that's more than enough for tonight.

His fins are tattered--looks like some fin rot--and he has a touch of ick.

So... What do I want to treat him with?

Just out of curiosity, how long do you usually quarantine a betta? (I mean one that doesn't have obvious problems.)

If we can get him healthy, he'll be a pretty blue and burgundy pet store type veiltail. He has blue eyes.

--Caroline in San Jose

well heat will definatly help you betta and wen i quarntine i like to use a med that treats both bacterial and parisites so u got all you grounds coverd. a great medcine i use i almaost all my cases with fish is polyguard by seachem. i use it all the time it has never failed me.

You are getting lots of suggestions I have used Quick Cure on a betta that had ich and it worked very well.

Funny thing, I did exactly the same thing yesterday, and I, too, have a little betta in a jar in my bathroom. I am now trying to figure out where to accommodate him permanently. I went into a dreaded store, and foolishly looked at the bettas, and there was only one left on the shelf, in the most foul looking yellow water. He wasn't very attractive (I guess that is why he was the only one left on the shelf). My husband and I couldn't walk away ... so he is in the bathroom

BTW, I generally quarantine healthy looking bettas for two weeks. A month would be better, but I have been OK with two weeks.

Good luck with your little guy

Thanks for the advice, folks.

I can't find Polyguard. I will keep trying, because it sounds great. I got some Aquari-Sol, because lots of betta sites say it's good, but it might be that it's only for prevention and not for cure. The label says that I can use it daily at 85 degrees to cure ich and velvet and help with fin rot, but I don't believe labels any more. (I think I'll ask about that med in a separate post.)

I've added more salt at the water change today, so we're up to 1.75 tsp/gal. I don't plan to go above 2 tsp/gal until I know that's safe for bettas and with AquariSol.

The temp is up to 78, and will gradually go to 85 over the next 2 days.

As an aside, I have the biggest, least efficient QT heater ever... a wonderful big old 6-burner 2-oven gas stove from 1951. In a 68 degree house, a quarantine bucket on top of a cookie sheet that spans 2 burners is kept at 75 degrees by the pilot lights. In warmer weather, I move the QT (QB?) further from the pilot light, and don't use the cookie sheet to get 75 degrees. To go warmer, I use a small aquarium heater, which is how I'm at 78 now.

So, the betta is still eating like a little piggy... tropical flakes for breakfast, bloodworms late afternoon, and two Hikari betta pellets tonight.

But his fins still look like overdone spinach, and he still has a couple of visible grains of ich.

Again, thanks for the advice.

Caroline in San Jose

Off-topic P.S. to touchofsky... For weeks I've been wondering at the adjacent o and u in the Slavic name Touchofsky because I'd not seen it before, and was curious which country it might be from. But instead, you are touch-of-sky, true?

cjumper,
You are right. It is Touch of Sky. I actually picked that name many years ago to put on a business card. It is actually the name of my favourite iris

haha,that is very intresting touchofsky.
i hope your betta gets better soon.

And a beautiful iris that is, Touch of Sky.

Still can't find Polyguard, but I did pick up some Rid-Ich, which I think is is the same meds as in Quick Cure.

And I got some Maracyn II.

I talked to 2 LFS owners about the Aquarisol, and they both thought it was too mild to effect a cure. So, the plans are for a day of clean water between meds, then treating with Rid-Ich, and after that, use the Maracyn II iif the fins still look bad.

I feel lucky that the little guy is such a piggy. He had a pea for breakfast with a side of dried bloodworm.

I hope he gets better soon,did your local
pet shop considered you on doing
any thing else?

other than using the right meds, the advice was salt, warmth, clean water, and not mixing meds.

I didn't ask about lenght of quarantine though... Maybe a week or 10 days past the last Maracyn dose?

Quarantineing for about 2 weeks is good or until the
fish is not sick any more.
I would usally Quarantine a fish or snail for or until they arn't
sick ect ect.