More help for my Betta with Ich?

Question

Thanks so much for the help before with my betta!!
I did a 50% change, and added salt and more coppersafe to replace what I took out.

I have a couple more questions (sorry!)
I dont have a heater, do they make them small enough for a 2 gallon? And I live in South Texas and we turn the A/C up in the day so in the day his tank gets up to about 79-81 deg and at night it goes down to about 74. I was told this was fine for him...but does that mean I need to heat the water MORE to help cure the ich?

And I took out a decoration and scrubbed it and washed in in HOT water...should I put it back in his tank or boil it or throw it away or what? I dont want it to keep him sick.
Also, are his live plants (java moss, water wisteria and ribbon plant) ok or do I need to get rid of them and get him new ones when he is cured?

Answer 1

As long as you keep everything in the tank during the treatment, you don't need to throw anything away or boil anything. The salt will kill the parasite, plain and simple.

A heater would be very helpful in controlling your Betta's environment and allowing you to keep his immune system strong with the proper temperature, but your house is technically still an "adequate" temperature for him (if it is constant). They make micro heaters for containers as small as fishbowls, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding them....

Email me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

Answer 2

Fish are very sensitive to water temperature change so you need a heater to keep the temperature more stable. It does help to turn the heater up to around 80 degrees for a couple of days to help get rid of the Ich then turn it down to around 76 degrees and keep it there.

Answer 3

To really help you cure ich, i would buy a small heater (yes they make em that small) and turn up the heat to 88 degrees for at least 10 days, then turn it back down to 78-82 degrees, which is the perfect temperature for a betta to thrive



Hope that helps
good luck


EB