maia

Hello everyone on the disease forum.

I have a betta (Mr. Velvetine - soon to be Mr. Complicated with all these illnesses) in my 14ish gallon tank. I noticed that he had some bronze colored spots on his face and decided to treat the tank for Velvet (the cories were looking itchy too). It's in the middle of treatement for velvet and I just noticed the betta's fins look like they're getting frayed. UH OH!! I can't start treatment for fin rot until 2 days after the velvet treatment ends (on Wednesday). What should I do? I was also wondering what normal swimming behavior for bettas are. He CONSTANTLY paces back and forth along the front of the glass. He doesn't do it slowly either. He'll be at one side then quickly swim to the other and back again all day. The lights have been off in the aquarium for a few days for the velvet, so I know he's not chasing his reflection. Just wondering if this is a sign of an illness or how I can get him to stop - he seems to be stressing himself out.

chickadee

I would say the stressing is a reaction to the medication. I should say on the bottle that you should remove it if the fish show signs of stress. The finrot can be treated with a temperature rise. What temperature are you at now? If less than 85 try going to 85 slowly. He could also be reacting to the lack of light. My light in the 5 gallon tank was on the fritz a few monts ago and it took weeks to get a new one. I was having trouble with my fish getting sick so I called a fish vet and he said they need at least 6 hours of light a day to make Vitamin D in their systems. So he may be having a Vitamin D deficiency. I thought maybe he could last until Wednesday, but maybe not. I still am thinking it is a medicine reaction though. That is really what it sounds like.

Rose

0morrokh

Don't get stressed yourself before adding the finrot meds. While the disease can eventually get really bad, it won't do so overnight. And from what I've seen with my poor little Otos who are just recovering from finrot, fish have a good capacity to recover from this disease. Remember to keep your water really clean. Finrot is often caused by poor water conditions.

maia

Thanks for the advice!
I changed about 30% of the water today, turned the lights on and decided to skip the last dose for the Velvet. I did see one of the cories flash while I was feeding them today. But I'm going to wait and see before medicating again. I'm going to leave the temperature up for a few more days. I know it's reduced the oxygen for the kuhli loaches, but I think they'll survive. I think you were absolutely right about the medication. Mr. Velvetine is swimming much much MUCH more peacefully now. Every now and then he does dart across the front of the glass, but it's not as crazy as before.The fin rot looks like it hasn't really gotten worse, so I'm going to wait and see if it heals by itself. I didn't really notice, but my friend today asked why his face was white. Rose, with your uber amount of betta knowledge....perhaps you know what's going on. I read somewhere that it could just be aging. I couldn't take a picture, but I'm going to attach one that looks pretty similar.

Whew...who woulda thunk that this first tank experience would be so much worry!

Attached Images

bettaface.jpg (256.8 KB, 29 views)

newbie101

oooo pretty betta!
wow a lot of people are saying über...

chickadee

i still believe it is ICH. i am enclosing a picture of a fish with an advanced stage of ich. it is not a betta but it gives you an idea of what an advanced case can look like. when it is a new case it looks like the fish has been salted but later it can look like larger spots. Here is what i mean.

Rose


This is from the manual of fish health by Dr. Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell, & Dr. Neville Carrington

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jssm_jssm_scan.jpg (96.7 KB, 28 views)

0morrokh

I wouldn't wait to see if the finrot heals itself. It probably won't. The medication I used was Fungus Clear tank Buddies. It worked better for me than other ones.

Neen

Turning up your heater to 85 degrees for 14 days is supposed to help with the fin rot & ich. That is the advice I have gotten off of this site. Check with Chickadee, Gunnie or one of the other more experienced fish keepers I hope your fish will be okay & I wouldn't wait to see if it heals itself. I waited & it was to late. Keeps us posted. Gina

0morrokh

Yes chichadee told me that turning your temp up helps.