MotorcycleBoy

I haven't used salt for that but there's lots of good info online about it. I followed Aquarium Co-Ops quarantine tank 3-medicine treatment plan. In hindsight, I should have just done a Maracyn treatment, and that's what they recommend for fin rot.

Thanks. Yes, he has a leaf hammock and lots of real plants he likes to chill in, plus a floating betta log. The log is actually behind him in the picture. B this was in the quarantine tank. He's back in the regular tank and other than the bump seems to be doing well. His color is coming back and his fins continue to heal. I'm concerned that bump may be making eating difficult for him, but not sure what to do about that. Fingers crossed....

Thanks. He's kind of just been hanging out on the side, behind the filter. Unusual area for him, and just staying in one place. I'll keep an eye on him, see what he does tomorrow. Water parameters were fine yesterday, but I'll check again tomorrow.

So, our Midnight seems to be recovering well from fin rot (thanks to help and videos here). Getting color back and the fins appear to be healing. Then this evening I noticed this small white bump on its "chin" and the gills staying out a little. (Hard to see in the picture; you know how it is trying to get a good one.) Also seems to be staying at the top of the tank more - perhaps to breathe easier? Is this a concern? Something new? Part of the healing process? Not sure what to do here. Thoughts?

OK. Well, since I am already on day 6 of the 3-medicine general quarantine treatment, I suppose I should wrap that up, do the 30 % water change, and then start a round of JUST the Maracyn? Should I give him a break in between, or just resume feeding and go straight into the instructions for the active treatment? At least I'll know everything else is knocked out. Thanks again for helping!

Thanks. To clarify: this is the treatment I've followed (not being sure of what the cause/source is, it seemed reasonable). https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/faqs/how-to-use-quaratine-med-trio Perhaps I should follow that with a cycle of just the Maracyn? If so, how long of a break in between?

We've had this betta for about a year now. He's done fairly well. However, he started to have a problem with his fins a few months ago. On advice, we treated with Pimafix and Melafix, along with the usual tank maintenance and Indian leaves. Oh, also StressGuard. At first, things seemed to improve a little, but not much. Stabilized was probably the word for it. It wasn't getting better but wasn't getting worse. Getting ready to move to a bigger tank, and read about the 3 medicine quarantine tank treatment with Ich-X, Maracyn, and ParaCleanse. Planning to use the current small tank as a Q tank in the future anyway, so thought I'd try that approach and see if it improves. I don't know if this is improvement or worsening. But, in his fins right below his underside, you can now see through them pretty much. The light shows through. The color is gone. You'll also notice his head and upper body are white. When we got him he was all blue and red. The pictures are from the start of treatment (day 0, Sunday - you can see his fins under his belly were still blue then), Wednesday (day 3; a little light starting to show through in those fins on his underside) and today (day 6; light showing through in a much bigger area of those fins). Following the instructions and he hasn't been fed. What complicated this, too, is that in preparing the new tank, I'd planned to take the substrate from existing to help establish BB. I did that, but then there was a problem with the new substrate (clay exploded in tank; had never worked with that and got bad advice) and I had to dump it and start over. So, all the plants are in the tank here with him, which I would think would help, but the tank also lost a bunch of its BB and is essentially cycling again, though not from an entirely cold start. However, the substrate removed has caused the pH to lower a bit (I didn't expect that) and the new plants and situation may also be increasing stress. So, maybe that's all this is? I've been keeping up on the Stability and Prime as if cycling a new tank and using the StressGuard to try to help, as it doesn't interfere with medications. For the 3-medicine treatment in a 2.5-gallon tank, I did what is recommended and mixed the medicines with 10 equal water parts (as designed for 10 gallons of water) and treated the tank with 2.5 units of that, so it is prorated appropriately for a 2.5-gallon tank. (The rest is in the fridge in a sealed cup still.) Water parameters: Sunday, before a 30% water change and 3-medicine treatment administered: pH 7.4 (a bit lower than the 8.2 we usually have), ammonia 0.25 (a slight bump from our normal 0), nitrite: 0, nitrate 5 (a small bump from normal 0). Thursday (day 4 of treatment): pH 8.0 (getting back to normal), ammonia 0.5-1.0 (not sure exactly, the color was more between the two than matching either), nitrite 0, nitrate 0 (yeah!). I'm not sure what to do. Is this part of the process? Should I finish the treatment cycle as planned and go back to normal, or do something else? The new 20 gallon tank will be ready next week. Should I move him over then or keep him in the little tank until I know he's better? I could see the tank change potentially being stressful to him or it could actually help him do better in a larger space. Not sure there. Thoughts? Is this just stress, or is something else going on? His only tank mates are nerite snails he mostly ignores. Thanks!

The filter is one that is designed for the nano tank. I've supplemented it with sponge on the intake and sponge on the outlet to dampen the water movement primarily, but I'm sure it has picked up BB as well. I have a new HOB filter for the larger tank. I'm also using a small airstone with a small filter for it just as a supplement. I want to move the plants over so they can grow and expand better, and will add to them, of course. Good idea. So, when I need the Q tank, I could just move the sponge filter over. Thanks! Just don't want to crash it, cause major stress, or otherwise mess up in a way that kills the critters.

I got my gear (much of it from AC-O, thanks!) and I'm (finally) upsizing from my nano (2.5gal) to a 20-long! So, how should I do this, exactly? (Doh! Noob) I have one betta and 2 snails currently, and some plants. I plan to keep the nano as a quarantine tank. (I'll be adding to the collection in the 20 with a few betta-friendlies and more snails.) Do I... A) Take some (maybe half) of the substrate and maybe 1/2 the plants to the new tank along with half (~1gal) the water; then fill up the tank most of the way and treat it like I normally would (Stability, etc.) for several (6-8-12?) weeks until it consistently tests as cycled? (Then move the creatures over to the new tank, along with the rest of the stuff.) B) Move everything over and add 2 gallons of water (essentially, like a 50% water change) creating 4 total (shallow and long, but I don't think they'll mind that? It'd be ~20% full then); treat as usual, wait a week, test, add 4 gallons (total now 😎 like another 50% water change; repeat, adding 8 gal the next time (now at ~16), then one more time to add the last bit, then continue regular maintenance? C) Neither; something else? Also, what's easier to maintain for the quarantine tank: completely empty other than water (cycled, obviously, and continuing to monitor it) or keep some substrate and even a plant or two in there? Maybe even one or two snails? When it's not in use, how should I maintain it in readiness? TIA; never done this before. 🙂 Only a little over a year into this hobby and only with the one fish.