Help I Think My Betta Has Velvet

[PeachLove]

My betta's gills seem brownish grayish, but when I shine my lamp directly on him they have gold sparkly lines. Out of my two new bettas he's the one that doesn't swim as much as the other and his fins are down most of the time. Is using http/www.uskoi.com/betta_revive.htm enough? Or should I move on to another treatment?

 

[HurleyInferno]

My betta's gills seem brownish grayish, but when I shine my lamp directly on him they have gold sparkly lines. Out of my two new bettas he's the one that doesn't swim as much as the other and his fins are down most of the time. Is using [URL="http/www.uskoi.com/betta_revive.htm"]http/www.uskoi.com/betta_revive.htm[/URL] enough? Or should I move on to another treatment?

that product sounds like a gimmick to me

 

[PeachLove]

That's what they had at walmart. I'm very limited to walmart supplies because I'm not familiar with the state I go to school in and the closest pet store I've heard of is pretty far away >_<. What do you recommend I use instead?

 

[Mugen]

Hey

I would make sure to do a full water change in the tank and make sure to keep it spotless. My next suggestion would be to take out all of the gravel and decorations from the tank so that the organism that causes velvet has nothing to stick to. Try adding a little bit of aquarium salt and putting your fish into a darkened room after doing this. The darker atmosphere will help destress your betta. Make sure to feed him stuff like frozen peas/brine shrimp/blood worms. The healthier the food, the faster he'll get better.

As far as meds go, one of the suggested treatment for velvet seems to be copper sulphate. I really have no idea how you'd get a hold of that or how to treat the fish with it. All I can say is that I've used the medication you're currently using before and it really does absolutely nothing. It's pretty much a sham.

If you live near a downtown area, there's a huge chance that there will be a little local fish store that can sell you the correct treatment for your fish. If you really are that far away from any pet store, then I'd suggest keeping up with the current medication for the off-chance that it might work until you can figure out something else.

Hoping for the best!

 

[PeachLove]

Hey

I would make sure to do a full water change in the tank and make sure to keep it spotless. My next suggestion would be to take out all of the gravel and decorations from the tank so that the organism that causes velvet has nothing to stick to. Try adding a little bit of aquarium salt and putting your fish into a darkened room after doing this. The darker atmosphere will help destress your betta. Make sure to feed him stuff like frozen peas/brine shrimp/blood worms. The healthier the food, the faster he'll get better.

As far as meds go, one of the suggested treatment for velvet seems to be copper sulphate. I really have no idea how you'd get a hold of that or how to treat the fish with it. All I can say is that I've used the medication you're currently using before and it really does absolutely nothing. It's pretty much a sham.

If you live near a downtown area, there's a huge chance that there will be a little local fish store that can sell you the correct treatment for your fish. If you really are that far away from any pet store, then I'd suggest keeping up with the current medication for the off-chance that it might work until you can figure out something else.

Hoping for the best!

I'm pretty sure it's nothing in the tank that made it sick. I just got this betta on monday and everything in the tank is brand new. I have no live plants in it. I'm pretty sure the fish was already sick when I got it (Thanks Walmart). I actually go to school in a hell hole part of west virginia so there's not much I can do about supplies, the closest fish store would be in a city 45min drive on the highway with no parking, I also don't know the exact location. Now about keeping my fish in the dark.. I use a desk lamp to heat the water and keep my room temperature at 78-80.. so should I stick the tank in my closet for darkness? Would my fish be too cold in a closet? Plus the closet smells like perfume really bad.. would that be bad for my fish? I live in a one room dorm so a dark room is not an option.

 

[Mugen]

Reguardless of whether or not the gravel you have in your tank was clean and new when you got it, it's now contaminated. The bacteria that causes velvet and other stuff like that likes to cling to the rocks. Unless you take that stuff out, you'll never be able to fully get rid of the disease because it will just go dormant in the rocks. Ya gotta take them out until he's fully healed.

About the light.. you don't HAVE to put him in a dark room.. it's just a good idea if you don't want him to be stressed. Depending on how cold your room is, you could just drape a towel over his bowl and leave him at room temperature. Bettas usually do just fine at a water temp as cold as 70-72 degrees or so. If it's really hard to keep the tank warm or if your room is super cold, just go ahead and leave him in the light.

I still suggest getting a hold of copper sulphate somehow.. here's a reference for ya that has some other tips for medication:

http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/Q&A/all_about_copper.html

 

[Keavy]

Your town should have a chamber of commerce website, google it and look for local pet and aquarium stores. I live in a college town.

If you can find one, when my betta had velvet I treated it with Aquarisol.

 

[PeachLove]

I called walmart and they gave me the phone number for a fish store. Turns out it's in the "mall". It's a broken down plaza with half the stores empty and closed. I usually would never be found shopping in places like that but I guess it's for the fish. I called them and they said they have medicine.. when I told her my fish had velvet she was like "are you sure? It might be just the coloring" and then.. "Did you get it here?" "No Walmart" "Oh no wonder" Er.. And I'm pretty sure now because my other fish is getting it as well. I'm going to the pet store today after class to buy some medicine. I'll see if I can get aquarisol.. I'm afraid of adding copper sulphate to my fish's water, I seem to have had bad luck with heavy metal materials from when I was a bio major. I'd probably kill my babies and then some.

 

[Keavy]

Aquarisol is an anti-parasitic. It has copper sulfate in it, it works well. And my fish hasn't been harmed by it. If it's hard to get to a pet store near you, you might want to stalk up on meds in case your fish gets sick in the future. I keep tetracycline, maracyn I and II, betta fix, fungus guard, and aquarisol on hand. Remember that dosing is different on meds if you have your fish in a small tank. I had to divide up powdered tetracycline packets into ten little doses when my little guy had bad fin rot right after I got him.

 

[Bubblenester]

When one of my (Wal Mart) bettas had velvet, I used Aquarisol and it worked like a charm. I think it is also recommended to raise the water temperature a bit (80-84 degrees, maybe?) when medicating with it, if that's something you would be able to do.

 

[PeachLove]

Thank you for all the advice so far . I bought aquarisol from the petstore, and let me tell you their bettas looked horrible. They had one huge tank with dividers One had just the head left and this lobster-crab looking thing was eatting it from outside of its divider.. it made me sick to my stomach. But um anyway the medicine said to add 12 drops per 10 gallon so I added 1 to 1 gallon of spring water cause it was too hard for me to count out 1.2 drops, along with aquarium salt, and equlizer. I washed my fish tanks and plants and everything else in water. My fish seemed kinda weird in it till I let them flare in it, then they started swimming around. They ate their pallets but looked a bit mopy so I added 1 blood worm each, I only feed them 4 pallets (2 in the morning 2 in the evening) instead of 6 so I think it's ok. They seemed happier after that.. and when I woke up..



Yin made it . He was the sickest one to begin with. Now though Yang's hardly blowing bubbles even though he was the one making more before >_<.

I have a question though. Do I add more aquarisol today? Should I mix another 1 gallon and change their water? Also how long do I keep doing it?