chickadee

I would not do a thing with his food if he is eating at all. He may just be a betta that is not going to eat more than that. Marty Jr. is one that used to eat like a pig and is now a very light eater. He is not interested in much more than one piece of food and then just swims off and ignores me if I can even get him convinced to come up to the top to eat sometimes at all. He gets to messing with the other fish at the bottom of the tank while they are eating and does not even pay attention to what I am doing some evenings. In the morning I have better luck. He usually at least comes up to eat a couple pieces of whatever is offerred. As long as he eats something, I would just let him alone. When he stops eating then try the garlic.

Rose

calinb

I think I might have these critters in my new chocolate gourami / Hengel's rasbora tank. They must've come in with the fish because all the plants came from a tank lacking the infestation, and everything else in the tank was new, except the gravel, which I boiled heavily.

I see them sticking on the glass about once per week and wipe them off with a scrubber (they come right off--much more easily than algae). I've never seen them move from their positions on the glass so maybe they're not the same thing but Whitney's drawing looks familiar and they stick to the glass via their "tails" with their "bodies" waving to and fro a bit in the currents.

The fish appear to be doing great, however and, although I'd like the buggers outta there, I'm afraid my sensitive CGs won't like any perspective treatments.

Hope someone figures out what they are so we may exploit a weakness.

ely

they might be copepods. cyclops copepods probably. try doing a google image search for cyclops copepod and getting a magnigying glass to look at some on your tank glass for comparison. they are not harmful, and apparently can just appear when water conditions are good for them. betta can eat them - they wont hurt him. i'm trying to remember, it's been while since i researched them. i think they are a very small freshwater crustation?? nothing like a parasite. but do the image search to be sure that's what you're dealing with.

calinb

Thanks, Ely! Wikipedia has references to a ton of them and I found many other sites too. Next time they appear, I'll grab a magnifying lens. Easily could be some kind of copepod or copepod larvae.

According to wikipedia they can come with the water too:

"Copepods are sometimes found in the public mains water supply, especially systems where the water is not filtered, such as New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. This is not usually a problem in treated water supplies."

antisen

Ely,
Since they're gone now it's hard to compare, but it's very possible that's what I had. At first glance I didn't think they looked like the ones in my tank but then I realized most of what was in that picture is probably too small to see. I didn't have a powerful enough magnifying glass to give me much insight.

Just an update: Dory's appetite seems to have improved. I have been able to get him to eat three pellets in the morning now, and he seems to have more interest in me too. He's still spending a whole lot of time sleeping, but who am I to judge? So do I His fin rot still hasn't improved and may be getting worse, it's hard to tell.

COBettaCouple

It's encouraging that he's eating and could be a sign that he's going to have more strength to fight the finrot off. What meds is he currently getting?

LuvaBetta

They're also beneficial in a saltwater tank, there are some really beautiful fish that feed on them almost exclusively.

antisen

He is not getting any meds right now, just Fish Protector and VitaChem.

chickadee

He may have needed to detox after all the meds he was on. He was on meds for finrot and all for quite some time and they do suppress them after a while. So if he is not on meds right now maybe his system is detoxing and you will get him back on track with natural care and vitamin therapy for a while. The Fish Protector is a natural cure and will not be like a chemical cure. So it should not make him go into a toxified state again. We will see.

It is so good to hear that he is doing better eating.

Rose