Need Help Before I Make Anymore Mistakes!

[GHandJ]

I got a beta fish about 10 days ago, and originally kept her in a 1/2 gallon tank. Two days ago I noticed her fins were clumped and she was acting itchy (darting around, rubbing on the gravel). I did some internet research and decided to start by moving her to a 5 gallon tank with a biowheel filter, a heater, a silk plany and alot of gravel. I put her into it yesterday (no cycling, which I now know was a bad thing, and with tap water treated with conditioner but not tested). I also added aquarium salt. With the new aquarium light, I could see that she clearly has Ich, so today I added some coppersafe. Now the water is cloudy too. I've also been gradually increasing the temp from the room temp of the small tank (68 degrees) to now 78 degrees.
So I have a beta with Ich and a cloudy aquarium. Where do I go from here? I feel like I keep making things worse rather than better. Can the situation, and littleTinkerbell, be saved?
Also, she has a small round white ball on her belly which I noticed a few days before she started acting sick, though it is possible it was always there but not as noticeable with her fins fanned. What could that be?

Thanks!
Tiffany and Tinkerbell

 

[OldMan47]

A small white dot at the back of her abdomen and right in front of her bottom fin is called an ovipositor and is nothing to worry about. You will probably find that ich medicine will advise a temperature of about 85, most of them do. If you have the test kit, start by finding out what your ammonia levels are. You have a more complicated situation than some because you will need to do water changes for the ammonia build up and then replace the medication that you are removing with the water change so it can keep working. When the ich looks like its gone, do not stop the treatment. Remember that ich is a parasite that will survive in your tank for several days after all signs of infection are gone. If you don't keep on treating for those days, you get to start all over again.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

as oldman said your fighting two battles here really, cycling tank and ich, they're definatley connected the ich will have been caused by the ammonia in the water.

best to get yourself a test kit asap and do daily 25% water changes, after you've water changed each day you'll need to top up the ich meds for however much you removed from the tank.

with ammonia in the water you'll struggle to cure the ich so you'll have to work at both at once.

the link in my sig 'whats cycling' will explain what to do about the water levels, and just follow the instructions on the ich med to treat that bearing in mind if you remove some water you'll also remove some meds so will have to drop up an appropriate amount.

 

[GHandJ]

Thanks so much!

I did a 20% water change today. I put the medicine, aquarium salt, and water conditioner in the gallon of water before adding it to the tank, is that right? I'm continuing to up the temp in the tank slowly, should I do that more quickly? I'm not sure how sensitive the dial is on the heater, so I don't want to overheat her. I'll get a test kit today. Is there anything I can/should do about the ammonia level, assuming it is high, other than daily partial water changes?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[OldMan47]

Depending on your ammonia readings, it may be necessary to do much more than a 20% change. It won't hurt the fish if you treat the water before you add it back in and the temperature is about right. If your heater has graduations on the control dial, you could move it the amount that would match the temperature you need. It may not be accurate as far the the indicated temperature but a 5 degree change should give a 5 degree change. Some heaters have markings on the control knob in temperature units, some have a pointer in the side of the heater with a little colored indicator that moves up and down as if it was a thermometer when you turn the dial. Some leave it up to you to guess what you are doing. The last kind are my least favorite and I will no longer buy one of them (at one time it was all that was available). You could move the temperature rather quickly if and only if you can find the markings to tell you how much to change it.

 

[Faythee]

You do not need to up the temp with Coppersafe per instructions. I have used it and kept my temp at 80F. I do not think the salt is necessary either, but others may disagree. I keep a stick-on thermometer on the outside of my tanks, that way you are double assured of the exact temp. 1 fish in a 5 gallon tank isn't going to produce alot of ammonia. I change my Betta tank water 50% 2x per week on a 3 gal. however, you may want to test your tap water. Mine has ammonia in it ! I do water changes with bottled spring water. I also have an "ammonia alert" inside my tank. It is a little card with a suction cup that tells you your ammonia level if any. Hope this helps and best of luck with Tinkerbell.