Whats the best treatment for betta ich?

Question

I'm new to the world of betta and I'm getting mixed messages.
Ideas? Thanks everyone :)

-T

Answer 1

There are a variety of treatment options. The easiest is probably to go get Rid-Ich or Ich-Cure from the petstore and treat following the label.
Personally, I'm not a fan of store-bought cures. In my experience, they do as much dammage to the fish as they do to the ich parasites. They also kill your biological system and any invertebrates you might have.... aaand they can dye all your stuff blue.

I'm a big advocate of the salt treatment :) Salt will kill ich just as effectively as a chemical cure, but without harming your fish.

In brief, ich is a parasite that has 4 lifestages: free floating - then it finds a host fish and feeds off the fish - then it realses, but it is encapsulated - then it attached to plant decor where it soon erupts into 100s or 1000s more parasites. Only in the FIRST stage of its lifecycle - free floating "swarmers" - is it killable. So, you can increase the temperature to 81-84F to speed up this lifecycle.

Anyway, treat with 1 tablespoon of AQUARIUM or KOSHER salt per 5 gallons of water. Disolve it first in dechlorinated water. Leave the salt at this level for 2 weeks (during this time, at 80F, the lifecycle should have gone through at least 2-3 times, so you'll be sure to kill all the parasites). Then slowly remove the salt by doing small daily water changes.

You *can increase the temperatuer higher than hat. At 87F, Ich stops reproducing and at 89F, it dies. But frankly, the temp increase would probably be worse on the little guy than just the salt and a slight temp increase.

Bettas are tough; he should be fine :)

Answer 2

If you have heater, then raise the temp in the heater to about 85 degrees (Fahrenheit). This will cause the parasite to detach from the betta and become free swimming were the parasite is vulnerable to treatment. Once the temp reaches 85 degrees, add your Ich treatment according to the manufacturer. Do this until there are no visible signs of ick and then continue for a few days afterward. This should take care of your problem.

http://www.aquariumhelp.aliveinindy.com

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

This is from a friend of mine. I don't want to be chosen best answer, because this is not "MY" answer. The owner of this answer is Carl S, who has been taking care of Aquariums for over 27 yrs. He is an Administrator on the forum that I am a member of....

Even though this is a well known freshwater aquarium disease, this infestation is still brings out a lot of misinformation

Here are the basics
FROM MY ARTICLE:

PREVENTION:
As in many parasite-caused diseases the fish must be sufficiently stressed and susceptible to the parasite. Also, the parasites must be present in the aquatic environment. It is not uncommon for an aquarium population to have a low-level of ich infestation present but not be showing any signs of the disease. Then, once a new fish is placed into the system it develops the disease. Fish can sometimes carry the parasite and not actually be diseased. These carriers can shed the parasite into a new aquarium into which it is placed. If the fish in the new aquarium have never been exposed to the parasite, and they become stressed, they can develop the disease.
The health aquatic environment can play a major role in susceptibility to the ich parasites. High ammonia and nitrites severely stress a fish. Also long term nitrates above 50 ppm in freshwater or 30 ppm in saltwater can weaken the immune system in fish. Calcium is also often forgotten as an essential to fish health (including soft water fish such as Discus). Without calcium fish cannot carry out many osmotic functions and are more susceptible to disease, including ich infestations.
A healthy, cycled aquarium with a steady temperature and a KH above 80 ppm is less likely to develop ich, or when it does, a healthy aquarium will have a less serious and more easily treatable infestation.

TREATMENT:
There are many ways to treat ich infestations in freshwater, less in saltwater, but not all treatments are equal or can be used for all types of fish or all aquatic environments. I will discuss the options I prefer to use in my maintenance business or in my personal aquariums first.
For freshwater a Malachite Green/ Formalin combination has generally been the most effective for moderate to severe infestations. “Quick Cure” is good product with this combination of medications. Malachite Green by itself as in “Nox Ich” is also effective in moderate infestations. Other treatments of note are copper sulfate and Quinine Sulfate or Hydrochloride. For scale-less or delicate fish use Malachite Green at half dose. The safest treatment for scale-less fish is Quinine Hydrochloride, but this is less effective than other treatments, although it can be combined with half strength Malachite Green for more effectiveness.
For mild to moderate infestations (even some severe) I also use “Medicated Wonder Shells” as these products have Malachite Green (lower levels safe for most delicate fish), acriflavin, and small amounts of methylene blue (not enough to affect bio filtration) and copper. What is best about these “Medicated Wonder Shells” is that they also add electrolytes, calcium and maintain a proper KH, which is very important for treatment with Malachite Green as this medication is more toxic at lower pH and KH (Best used at a pH of 7.2 or higher and a kH of 80 ppm or higher).
One more treatment option is a hospital tank with a Sponge Filter and no gravel. Methylene Blue works well here, but so do ALL of the above treatments as well.

Another method that can work is salt and heat. 1 Tablespoon of salt is added per 5 gallons of tank water and the temperature is adjusted to 84-86 F. I have tested many methods over the years and used to use this method more under the flawed assumption that is safer and even more effective, it is neither. Salt is safe for most fish, but not always for catfish and this method can take so long that the fish die of the ich infestation. The other false assumption by armchair aquarist is the dangers of ich medications such as malachite green. Yes this is a poison and can be especially poisonous to scale-less fish, but many of these persons do not recognize the importance kH and pH play in the treatment and toxicity of ich medications such malachite green (usually the kH was too low and the medication gets blamed for poor water parameters). At a kH below 80 ppm, you have too low a calcium level to buffer the pH and the malachite green itself that is why the Medicated Wonder Shells are especially useful for delicate fish.

For much more researched information about "ich", based on my research and thousands of aquariums I have maintained!
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/...

Source(s):

27 years aquarium maintenance experience

All my information is based on my researched articles, that I will modify, when new information becomes availabel. Not regurgitated information from aquatics groups.

Answer 4

umm if you mean ick, then there are plenty of treatments you can buy in the pet store, just ask what's best for your fish. Put him in a hospital tank with clean water and change it as often as the medication you put in with him tells you to. I hope your fish gets better!

Answer 5

Use Methyl Blue in the water. They should have it at pet stores or at the pharmacy. Sorry, I don't remember the dosage per gallon.
Maybe someone else knows.

Answer 6

Go to your local petstor and ask them for a treatment. I prefer "Ick guard"

Answer 7

ich-out

Answer 8

stress coat

Answer 9

bleach