is BettaZing lethal to catfish?

Question

my betta, which lives in the same tank as my catfish, contracted velvet, and i bought some bettazing http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
to heal it's velvet. to use it, you place a certain amount in the water. I don't know if my catfish got velvet from the betta or not, but i don't want to use bettazing if it'll kill the catfish. there are other medicines that can be used on other fish, and i think bettazing is a combination of some of those medicines, but i'm worried that it's ONLY for bettas, since it has the word betta in the name of the product. should i use it on my catfish as well?

Answer 1

betta zing is basically betta max. they're simply watered down antibiotics. they shouldn't be used to help a bettas that's "slowing down" as betta max says because unnecessary medicine isn't good, and they aren't atrong enough to help sick fish.

however, it shouldn't hurt your catfish. but I would get something else instead. go to the store and look for something that treats velvet, which is parasite. you don't need to get the most expensive, but the cheapest usually doesn't work. you can try the bettazing, but I wouldn't waste my time, as much as I love bettatalk.com.

also get some aquarium salt too, add a little less than half a teaspoon for every gallon of water. I suggest separating the fish first though because msot types of catfish are sensitive to salt.

Answer 2

What type of catfish do you have? If it doesn't have scales (most catfish are scaleless, and are more susceptible to reactions to medications in the tank) it may react badly to any medication.

The best thing you could do is move your betta to another tank (or large jar) to treat him. It's possible that your catfish may get velvet, so I'd keep an eye on him. One thing about velvet is that it needs light, so you can turn off any light over the tank and cover the sides with paper if it's anywhere that it can get indirect sunlight. If it can tolerate a raise in temperature, you can increase the temp in the tank to around 80o. If he does get it, I'd try comparing the ingredients in your product to other commercial velvet remedies to see if they are similar - if they are, use what you've already got, but only about 1/2 strength.

More info on velvet:
http://www.mn-aquarium.org/masart43.htm

Answer 3

The best thing to do is to always have some sort of hospital tank on hand for if a fish gets sick. Then you can treat the individual fish without the risk harming your other fish and tank. This hospital tank can be anything, many people use plastic bins because you can get them dirt cheap, then go to walmart and pick up a cheap filter, put in some filter media out of your main filter so you have nitrifying bacteria so you don't kill your fish from ammonia poisoning. Put on a heater and you have a dirt cheap hospital tank that you can treat sick fish in without harming your other fish.

For a betta it will be easy, you can just go get one of those plastic shoe boxes for a dollar or 2. Throw on a 10 dollar whisper 3i, and a 6 dollar 7 watt heater from walmart and you are in buisness.

Answer 4

Ouch! Yes! Those gill fins(spines) can pop you in a hurry. You gotta handle with care. You can carefully grip under the fins if you grasp it while the fins are extended. Still, be careful! All catfish have sharp stout spines in their dorsal and pectoral fins. The dorsal fin is the one on the back, and the pectoral fins are where its arms might be—if a catfish had arms. Catfish lock these spines when they are alarmed. Touch the tip of one and you’re stung or finned, as you say. The fleshy barbels near a catfish’s mouth look like stingers, but these just contain taste buds and are harmless.