New To Site....have Major Ich Problem! Need Help

[Caprichoso]

and do you have any idea as to what is up with my betta being lethargic? He is VERY healthy and had plenty of room to swim in his private 3 gallon. but he likes to lay in the rocks, on his castle, or on a leaf for most of the day.

Oh thank you Caprichoso!!

I thought those Bio-Bags were great. Well, some beginners fish site said they were awesome and the pet store did too lol

You're welcome. As far as your Betta goes, they do like to sit around a lot but you stated that he gets white spots from time to time so he can't be that healthy if that's the case. When fish get sick, a fish keeper has to consider these things: Am I doing enough water changes? Do I have proper biological filtration? Am I over-feeding? Am I adding de-chlorinator? Am I only rinsing the filter in tank water? Is the temperature ideal? Are my fish compatible with each other or are they stressing each other out? Are my ammonia and nitrites always at 0? Did I add anything new to the tank? Could anything toxic have entered the tank(ex; aerosols sprayed into the air, bleach from cleaning tank ornaments, etc). In your case, and as stated, replacing those bio-bags causes you to never get a healthy colony of bacteria growing. You need bacteria to be able to "eat up the fish poop" so to speak in not very technical terms lol. Otherwise, you will get ammonia and nitrite spikes which will kill your fish and at the very least to permanent damage to them.

 

[xx-erin-xx]

Ok.

I havent tested the betta water, but i will now.
As stated above, the Nitrite levels are in the stress zone in the 10 gal. So i will have to work on that. I think they were being a little over-fed. I would feed them in the morning, and at night. Just about a pinch of flakes..but when i would be at work, my boyfriend would feed them some too. But that was when we first had them. All the fish were compatable with each other. They were all barbs from the same tank at the store lol. The tetra safe plus de-cholorinates the water along with removes heavy metals in the water. It also helps their slime coat and reduces stress by protecting gills and such.

I think this all started from the filter change and adding a fish that already kind of looked sickly =/

 

[Dieses Madchen]

"This is what you need to do. Everyday do around a 70% water change. Than after the water change get a bucket and fill it up with a gallon of tank water. Now add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt. Than take your betta out of the tank with a net. Now place the net in the bucket of water. Make sure you hold your hand over the net to make sure your betta doesn't jump out. Leave him there for 5 minutes. IF at any time your betta shows sign of discomfort while in the bath take him out and put him back in the tank. This technique almost always works to cure ich. Proceed to do this until your fish gets better."

This was suggested to me by another member in regards to my Betta that I am currently treating for Ich. Before you try it with your barbs verify that freshwater salt will not harm them, and if you are comfortable, give this method a try. It seems tobe helping my betta. Best of luck to you.