Sitemaps

My male betta lives in a 2 1/2 gal tank, water changes 2 per week Has fungus, how to use salt for tr2007-11-24 23:38:37

Pet smart told me to use Maroxy, 5 drops per day, not doing a thing. Fungus looks like a fuzzy coating across the fish. He rubs it on the marbles. Also is listless and I don't want to loose him. Please help. Ive read that people use aqurium salt for parasites and such. Please enlighten me. I have no heaters and the other bettas seen like there doing well for quite some time now. Help please Thanks Barb

Answers:

Generally with bettas salt is used in 2 ways.

1) To help prevent disease, and help stop the progression of a disease. In this case you should add about 1 teaspoon of salt per 2.5 gallons pre-dissolved in a cup of tank water. (Note this is about twice what you'd use for most fish.) Just keep in mind I've not ever seen salt cure a fish other than mild ich, and velvet infections. (Of course I also turned the temp to 87 which ich can't take, but betta can.)

2) As a salt bath. Honestly I've tried this, but found it was more likely to kill the fish from shock then cure it.

Personally I'd go down to the fish store, and buy an antifungal med. Jungle Labs Fungus Eliminator is I use. I don't recommend Melafix/betta fix. If you want a "natural remedy" primafix is a better choice.

PPS- Also note that the rubbing sounds a lot like velvet. Is it a gold/rust color? If so it's velvet. In which case add the salt, and buy an ich med that says it treats velvet on the back.

PS- People will argue about table salt vs aquarium salt. The long and short of it is it really doesn't matter. (Both have iodine. The anticaking agents in table are harmless.)

---

place the betta in a temp home of fresh water. Take the tank he is in currently and scrub the crap out of it. Use soapy water with a bit of bleach. Wash the marbles or replace them, either way (new or old) they must be sanitized. Rinse, rinse, and rinse again to get all soap and bleach out of the tank. Replace with good clean water, I recommend using bottled water that is at room temperature. Replace your fish and you can purchase some aquarium salt. If you use the aquarium salt as recommended then your betta should be okay.