Ich and fin rot treatments needed?

Question

I have never had a problem with my fish (male betta) before and my water was NOT filthy so please don't lecture me on water cleanliness, I keep the filter clean and I do 25% or so water changes weekly. The only thing I know thats different is that I added bulbs that I bought from Wal Mart of all places and stupidly added straight to my tank. After several days one sprouted but the others have done nothing but grow something whitish on them. As I was removing them, I noticed my fish has Ich and I believe fin rot. So I did a 25% water change, added a little salt and started an Ich Away treatment. My question, is what fin rot product is the safest to use with the Ich Away? I don't want to add something that will have an adverse reaction to the Ich treatment.

Answer 1

speaking as a person with years of experience and also having worked with an expert in fish health, the only way to cure fin rot is to cut it off! yes it might sound drastic, but the rot must be cut off the fish, to do this, use some anesthetic, available from dealers and on the internet. put a small cap per approx 3 gallons, then put the fish in and let it be knocked out, it may look as if it is dead, but leave it in the anesthetic until it is knocked enough out to carefully trim the fin rot, try to cut the fin the same shape as it is, that way when it grows back it will lkook as though it was never cut. But you must cut it off,or else the rot will rot until it reaches the body of the fish, then it will get into the bloodstream of the fish and kill it!

Hope this helps!  

Answer 2

Oh good lord.  Whoever the expert Tes worked with really pulled the wool over her eyes.  Cutting off the infected fins will not cure the infection, just temporarily remove it, leaving the bacteria in the tank, ready to infect the open cut you just left in the fin.  If you don't treat fin rot, it will likely just stay there.  Fin rot is bacterial, while Ich is a parasite, so you will need to use separate medications.  Maroxy might be a good choice to treat both, but it's not nearly as effective as using a malachite green + formalin treatment like Quick Cure or Rid Ich (both of which will drastically slow the bacteria's spread), and after the life threatening Ich infection is cured, using an antibiotic like Maracyn 2, Furan 2, Kanaplex, Triple Sulfa, Trisulfa, etc. for the fin rot.  Remove any activated carbon during treatment, and if using minocycline based medications (Maracyn 2), keep the tank dark, as it degrades with exposure to light.

Answer 3

I believe that the bulbs that you put in your tank would make your fish sick even if you rinsed the bulbs off. They don't need to be rinsed off. You did not do wrong when you placed those bulbs in your fish tank. Also the bulbs can take a long time to sprout up. I've had some that didn't sprout for over a month. It all depends on what kind of bulbs they were. Each type has a different sprout or growth time period.

I would suggest to you that you put aquarium salt in your fish tank. The salt will limit stress for your fish while they are ill ans it enhances the medication you put in the tank for the ich. this will aid in faster healing time for your fish. Aquarium salt in my opinion is awesome and it truly works. A medication that you can add to your fish tank that won't negatively interact with the ich medication is called, All-In-One This is a GREAT medication and works for all types of illnesses even the ones that may be in your tank that you don't know that's there. It healed my discus hole-in-the-head disease ( a VERY hard illness to heal up ) also my goldfishes swim bladder disease, and ich. It's an awesome mediaction and all fish keepers should have it on hand. Good luck with you fish and I hope that I have offered you some help in clearing your situation up.