Can indian almond leaves cure sick betta fish?
by Aquaboy on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 | 3 Comments
well i have a female and male betta fish and i think they have a gill disease (scars) ,eye disease (red eyes), fin rot, and some parasites becuase it keeps scratching his body. And why do females get paralyzed after breeding? plz need help
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All symptoms of dirty water,maybe overfeeding. I believe that Indian Almond leaves are used to encourage spawning,not cure diseases.
The females go into a “trance” as a matter of course after spawning. I suspect it is to give the male time to gather up the eggs and blow them into the bubble nest.
In the wild he would then drive the female away,to further protect the eggs.
treat your Betta with proper medicine for the problem…
here is an easy to read link on Betta info
http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Everything-You-Want-to-Know-About-Betta-Fish-But-Were-Afraid-to-Ask.75754
The females will look paralyzed when laying eggs so the male won’t get agitated and attack her, she should be fine and swim away after she has laid all her eggs. If not, something is wrong. Remove her from the tank away from the male and place her in a tank with Indian almond leaves (Terminalia Catappa)
For them to get fin rot, gill disease and red eyes, it shows your water quality is really bad. You have either been overfeeding, not doing regular water changes or both. Terminalia Catappa leaves will help to boost the immunity of your fish and prevent fungus.
To cure the red eye and gill disease, keep your Betta in a half a gallon bowl with a dry banana leaf for 7 days. It will turn a tea colour and smell rather bad but don’t worry, your Betta is fine. Adding half a pint of mud from the bottom of a lake will help them grow their fins back. Make sure the bowl is kept in a warm place, feed as per normal. The eyes should return to normal and the fins should grow back. If the male is tending eggs, do this for the male only after the eggs have hatched and the fry are free swimming. After 7 days, return the fish to their old homes with clean fresh water and a Catappa leaf.
Do your Bettas have white spots in their bodies? if they do it’s ich, if they don’t it may be anchorworms or some other parasites but most likely it’s ich. Take a torchlight and shine it on their bodies to be sure. Are they eating well? If they’re not the parasites may be internal. Once you have identified whether the parasites are internal or external, go to your local fish shop and get the proper medication. Gradually raising the temperature and adding salt helps too. If the male is tending eggs, only use half the dosage or medication and half a spoon of salt for every 5 gallons and only raise the temperature a few degrees. Do full water changes if possible, if not then do half.
Ich can be prevented by not changing the temperature of the water too fast. Keeping the almond leaves in with your fish at all times will also help them to be more resistant to diseases and can help you to cut the water changes for your tank by half.
Hope this helps.