Keeping Fish

[Shellybean02]

I'll treat him with aquarium salt. How long should I do this for? In an earlier post you said keeping them in salt for a long time wouldn't be good. I don't mean to be a hard-headed or anything, but I keep Orlando, my sick boy, in Epsom salt for two days sometimes and he comes out much better. It might just be my luck though, and I wouldn't know about aquarium salt.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I'll treat him with aquarium salt. How long should I do this for? In an earlier post you said keeping them in salt for a long time wouldn't be good. I don't mean to be a hard-headed or anything, but I keep Orlando, my sick boy, in Epsom salt for two days sometimes and he comes out much better. It might just be my luck though, and I wouldn't know about aquarium salt.

Well, I thought that the Epsom salt may have been fragranced, with lavender or another herb, which wouldn't have been as safe as unscented. I also have never used Epsom salt and thought aquarium salt to be safer. If it works though, use it! I am not an expert by any means and am still learning and have a lot to gain from keeping these fish. I am currently treating a leopard gecko with a severe infection, so I may not be able to answer anything for a while. Oldhen is probably your best bet, along with PoliticalCenter. Dianacatz may also be able to help out. I hope your boy improves!

Regards,
Leaf

 

[politicalcenter]

I'll treat him with aquarium salt. How long should I do this for? In an earlier post you said keeping them in salt for a long time wouldn't be good. I don't mean to be a hard-headed or anything, but I keep Orlando, my sick boy, in Epsom salt for two days sometimes and he comes out much better. It might just be my luck though, and I wouldn't know about aquarium salt.

Remember what was said about worrying your fish to death? How many times have you treated that poor fish?

Sometimes when a fish is stressed from moving to different environments and being over medicated the fins will get ragged. It may not be fin rot or anything but stress. If he has been treated he will either live or die. I know this is harsh but that is the way it is with fish.

You should strive to set up a living ecosystem, not a chemistry set. This is the hardest lesson for a beginner to learn and sometimes it takes years.

I am not trying to put you down because most of us have been through it and we lose a lot of fish in the learning curve.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Remember what was said about worrying your fish to death? How many times have you treated that poor fish?

Sometimes when a fish is stressed from moving to different environments and being over medicated the fins will get ragged. It may not be fin rot or anything but stress. If he has been treated he will either live or die. I know this is harsh but that is the way it is with fish.

You should strive to set up a living ecosystem, not a chemistry set. This is the hardest lesson for a beginner to learn and sometimes it takes years.

I am not trying to put you down because most of us have been through it and we lose a lot of fish in the learning curve.

Exactly. We just want to minimize fish loss for you. To be honest, you probably should have started with an easy beginner fish tank, not Bettas, who have very specific care concerns. I've been keeping fish for what, ten years? More? And I only recently started out with my Bettas. Don't be discouraged, but you should let nature take its course, than pick out some easy fish.

Regards,
Leaf

 

[Bunnylady]

Y'know, it's funny. One of the first kinds of fish I had were guppies. I'll bet you've never heard of someone who could fail at breeding guppies, have you? Well, I did. Oh, I managed to keep the adults alive, and they did produce babies on a regular basis, but the fry never grew up. Even if I separated them out and could see the tiny round tummies that showed that they were eating the finely ground food I was giving them, I never had a single fry grow bigger than about 3/4 of an inch long . . . . 40 years later, I still don't know what I was doing wrong.

After that, I gave up on breeding, and decided to just enjoy the fish as pets. I've had a bunch of community tanks over the years. I've seen several species of gouramis build bubble nests, and watched glowlight tetras do loops as they scattered eggs - but I've never tried to breed them. I did have a couple of surprise white clouds emerge from the plants and join their parents' school - but I never even knew they were spawning.

But my point is, this hobby should be a pleasure - that's why most of us take up hobbies in the first place. Yes, it can be challenging and complex, but you really want to have some experience under your belt before you move into the more difficult stuff. It's kind of like trying to do post-graduate level work when you are still in middle school - you can set yourself up for a lot of frustration and failure if you try to take on too much, too soon. Having a goal is great, but time and patience are often necessary parts of the journey to achieving it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I can't keep live bearers alive, but find bettas simple and easy. I also have no troubles with Angel fish. The key I think is finding the species that do well in your particular water conditions without trying to alter it, everyone will have a different water chemistry and all fish species have certain conditions they need to survive and thrive. And of course how you maintain your tanks can affect your fish too as some are sensitive to either too clean of water or too dirty. It is a hobby of trial and error and discovery and learning.

 

[Shellybean02]

I know that bettas are my passion. This is the fish breed that I'll stick with and I'll continue learning. I wasn't implying at all that I was struggling. Again, it's one of my new fish who has curled fins. I was only asking how long I should keep him in the salt bath. I wouldn't consider Orlando a "poor fish;" he's shown a lot of improvement since I started giving him salt baths. I only put him in the treatment cup when swim bladder disorder is giving him troubles, he's a special needs fish with bad genetics and I'm willing to accept that. You all have been a great help, and I'm really grateful to have you all to help me with this learning process. Now, can anyone please tell me how long my new boy's salt bath should be? I'm okay with leaving him be, as long as his condition doesn't hurt him. I think he's been trying to scratch himself on the bottom of his container.

 

[enola]

 
I'll treat him with aquarium salt. How long should I do this for? In an earlier post you said keeping them in salt for a long time wouldn't be good. I don't mean to be a hard-headed or anything, but I keep Orlando, my sick boy, in Epsom salt for two days sometimes and he comes out much better. It might just be my luck though, and I wouldn't know about aquarium salt.

Remember what was said about worrying your fish to death? How many times have you treated that poor fish?

Sometimes when a fish is stressed from moving to different environments and being over medicated the fins will get ragged. It may not be fin rot or anything but stress. If he has been treated he will either live or die. I know this is harsh but that is the way it is with fish.

You should strive to set up a living ecosystem, not a chemistry set. This is the hardest lesson for a beginner to learn and sometimes it takes years.

I am not trying to put you down because most of us have been through it and we lose a lot of fish in the learning curve.

This is very good advice. Please listen to it. You really can kill your fish when treatments cause him more stress than the condition he has.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

There are many ways to use salts in an aquarium. Epsom salts are good for treating Dropsy, but not for therapeutic uses or long term use, aquarium salts should be used, the recommended amount is one teaspoon to 10 gallons, that rate can be kept up indefinitely, replacing any amounts during water changes. When I kept bettas in smaller containers I put a pinch in each bowl. For treatment of various illnesses salts are either dosed at one tablespoon per 5 gallons which can be used with the tablets used to treat fish made by jungle, or you add additional salts everyday for 5-7 days before doing a water change, I do it for treating ick outbreaks, though I find just cranking up the temperature to almost 90 for the same time will kill ick.

If your fish is scratching he's not happy with the water conditions, so change the water and add some salts. When I keep bettas in bowls I always kept a container filled with water, and let it sit at least a day to stabilize and for the temperature to equalise, then I would dump most of the water out of the betta bowl and refill it.

You need to vacuum the gravel out with every water change so demitris doesn't build up, my bettas aren't bothered by my larger water changes.

Edited to add, bettas like higher temperatures, 85-90 is what is recommended, I keep mine around 80, they suffer from too cold of conditions that can lead to health problems, they are native to a hot climate, that's why keeping them long term in bowls is bad for them.

 

[enola]

When your fish scratches on objects in his bowl, he is telling you there is s water quality issue.

What type of water are you using i his bowl?