Charlie's condition

[BettaMomma]

As you might know, Charlie has had a long battle with velvet, and obviously some other infection that gave him red streaks on his fins. (Assuming it was septicemia, but not positive)... Anyway - He was medicated with Coppersafe at first, the remedicated with Maracide as a follow up. He was also given a full 5-day dose of Maracyn 2 for the infection. Well, I went home for the weekend last weekend, came back and everything was back. Including swim bladder issues, full on. I medicated him again with Maracyn 2 at full dose, and used Maracide. Now I"m dosing him a second time with 1/2 doses of Maracyn 2. His fins had been shredding a bit, but they've started healing and they're not getting any worse, but they're better.

He seems to feel fine except he is really upset that he can't swim straight or get down from the top of the water. I've been soaking pellets and giving him 3 a day - one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one late at night, so as not to cause problems w/the swim bladder. I also gave him a few hunks of peas today for good measure.

He's not getting any better, worse or different. I just checked him, and it looks like while the velvet has improved, he definitely still has some gold dustings on his fins, but not like before.

I'm not sure what step to take next. Can someone offer me some advice here?

OH - additional note to add... I went out and bought a PUR water filter and used it today to give him a water change, so the nasty water issues I have been dealing with at my house should be helped by that, at least somewhat. He also has stress coat and colloidal in his water, but no meds at this point.

 

[WILDER]

What i'm afraid of is if the meds are not getting him better now, what is it going to be like when he has to come off then, i got a gut feeling that everything is just going to keep coming back, it sounds like his imnune system is shutting down.

 

[BettaMomma]

Probably, but I am going to try every possible thing I can think of before I give up on the little guy. It is, afterall, MY fault that he's sick. And that really bothers me.

 

[WILDER]

have you took his heater out as i don't think that's helping if the work place is air conditioned, do you have an airstone for aeration to move the water abit.

 

[BettaMomma]

I actually brought him home with me for the long weekend.
I didn't want to leave him at work to fend for himself.
No heater in his tank - it's a very nice day here today so the air is in the mid-70s, and so is he.

I don't think I want to put in an airstone because that will just toss him around in there - he can barely swim as it is.

 

[WILDER]

This might be of help with the velvet.
http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/heal...thprotist.shtml

 

[BettaMomma]

Crap.
So this whole time I've been trying to keep his temp down in the low 70s I should have kicked it up closer to 80.
JEEZ. That might be what's causing the velvet to hang around.
I just dug out a mini hydor heater - I'm going to try to pick him up a 25w heater tomorrow that will keep his temp steady around the 80 degree mark.
It also says that salt baths can help.
I think that would be too stressful for him at this point.
But we'll see.

I'll just keep monitoring him and see what happens, I guess.

 

[Ember]

Good job Bettamomma! Truly a dedicated momma you are too. That betta is lucky.

You're doing anything and everything you possibly can. I can't think of anything you haven't already thought of.

I just checked all my meds and the only one for Velvet that I saw was Maracide. You already did that. Hopefully the temp change will do the trick. I also had heard to do the higher temp.
I have heard some people rave about JFE (Jungle Fungus Eliminator). It's supposed to be an amazing multi-purpose medicine. I've only been able to find Jungle Clear and it never seemed to work for me.

I think you had a good idea with the salt bath. Instead of adding stress it may in fact help with the stress.
I did a combination of the Maracide and salt bath between water changes with a case of velvet and it seemed to do the trick.

After a few more days with higher temps and Maracide maybe give him a rest from meds. He's been through a lot in a short amount of time. Might be good to give him a break from the hard stuff.
Melafix wouldn't be bad to put him in the meantime. That stuff is less harsh but still has an antibacterial quality and it helps with healing.

Good luck!

 

[SRC]

You know...(now I'm not saying this is for sure or anything) but alot of VT's have a goldish dusting appearance to them anyways. This might be his case and medicating him without illness so much could be what is causing him to stay stressed and "sick" looking.

Just a thought. I haven't seen you mention starting the IAL I sent you...I personally think you should try that instead of all these antibiotics.

 

[SarahBravo]

If you want to try the Jungle Fungus Eliminator, it's available online here

Hope he gets better soon!

 

[BettaMomma]

You know...(now I'm not saying this is for sure or anything) but alot of VT's have a goldish dusting appearance to them anyways. This might be his case and medicating him without illness so much could be what is causing him to stay stressed and "sick" looking.

Just a thought. I haven't seen you mention starting the IAL I sent you...I personally think you should try that instead of all these antibiotics.

Sorry, I completely forgot to mention - I've had an IAL leaf (I change them out w/new ones every few days) in his tank for about a week and a half. Unbelievably, he makes a bubblenest under them when they float on the top of the tank. How he gets over to the leaf and is able to stay steady while he does it, I have no idea, but he does.

And you know - you might have a point w/the gold dusting. One round of coppersafe followed by maracide should certainly have taken care of the velvet problem.

On a good note, this morning he is swimming upright - not tipping over. He still bobs up to the top and can't get down but at least he doesn't tip. I think I will lay off the meds for a while. He's getting colloidal - I dump it right on his head when I put it in so he's for sure getting it - and the IAL... He's also eating the softened pellets I've been giving him, one in the a.m. and one in the p.m. I also gave him peas yesterday just for kicks w/the bloated belly. I've been keeping him on my side table by my bed where it's quiet and the lights are very dim, if he's in lights at all. His fins aren't deteriorating, but rather healing back up. His tank is about at 77 degrees and he's got a nice soft cabomba plant in there. We'll see what happens.

On a bit of a side note, I also put some IAL into Petey & Gabriel's split tank, and Petey had never built a nest until I put one of them in. HUGE nests showing up in there now. HUUUUUUGE.

As for the MelaFix - I avoid that stuff because I had a bad experience with it and haven't had the nerve to try it again.

Thanks for the advice everyone. We'll see where he goes from here.

 

[50000_tears]

cant say much ..watch for pineconing..i lost lightning from dropsy he was laying around everything failed in him ..he had difficlty swiming...i dunno what to do i dont use meds

 

[BettaMomma]

Yeah, that's why I'm using colloidal. I've been watching for sticking up scales like a hawk. Haven't seen any yet.