Help With Sick Betta (velvet And Fin Rot)

Hello everyone,

I have many questions.. Here is some background:

I had a 10 gallon tank with Sam (betta) and divided it so I could keep another betta named Avalon. I made the divider kinda hard to see through and it never affected Sam but Avalon... he was very aggressive and did not do well as he would flare constantly.

I left him there for a few days to see if he would get used to it but it was evident he wasn't. So I bought him a 3.5 gallon tank and tried to cycle it and it did cycle(0/0/5). So I made that his new home and added aquarium salt as he got fin rot when he was stressed.

So here are my questions:

I thought all he had was fin rot but he's just kept getting weaker. I've suspected velvet and now that he's so ill I'm sure he has it (researching all the illnesses has been confusing). Yesterday I blacked out his aquarium, zero light, and today he did want to eat and swim again (yesterday all he did was lay on his almond leaves at the top of his tank). He looks extremely weak. SO, how do I treat for velvet? Yesterday I went to three local pet stores and all I could find was Ick Clear from Jungle. Does anyone have experience using this? Its for ick but it has "victoria green" which I searched and its another name for malachite green. I heard someone say this is good for velvet too? I don't know if I should use the medication in his tank or a QT tank :/ He's so delicate I'm scared to move him. please help

 

Pictures!

 

on it!

 

I tried to show his color, he's really pale right now to what he used to be. I also tried to show the ends of his fins, the ends had turned white and then fell off.. I had trouble showing the gold color. His gills look "crusty" with a shimmer when I put a flashlight. I think I've seen him flash a few times. His fins have been better ever since I blacked out his tank. They were completely slicked to his body yesterday.

 

KinsKicks junebug

Blackout helps with velvet but I don’t know meds well enough.

 

HI there, I suspect that you are not from my neck of the woods in the UK/EU where we do not have access to stronger medicines available in the US.

This however sometimes works in our favour with some innovative companies developing some excellent medicines that can be used together.

In the Netherlands is an excellent company called ESha and they have two great medicines that can be used together, EXIT for the velvet and the ich and 2000 for the finrot (and a much wider range of ailments).

If you can get hold of these two meds online they will not let you down.

It makes a nice change not to be advising folks here to order medicine from the US (antibiotics).

 

Well thank you! I'll look into it! Will the Exit for the velvet harm the bio filter? That's my concern with the medicine I have right now.

@ well thank you for your time!

 

I haven’t had to deal with velvet, but maintaining pristine water quality can actually be the most natural way to clear up fin rot. All of those medications, in my opinion, do more harm than good, the MAJORITY of the time (sometimes they are needed.) So just try more frequent water changes and keep a careful eye on the levels. IF it refuses to clear up, then you can try medicating. I’ve heard good things about most of API’s products, just stay away from Melafix/Bettafix.

As for velvet, not something I’ve run into myself. I have heard it is an algae parasite, so low light may help, but this is something I pulled from the top of my head and it could be jumbled up with all of my other fish knowledge - just my 2¢ though. And less light can’t hurt at the end of the day.

 

Coppersafe is the preferred med for velvet, along with a blackout and covering the tank (velvet reproduces in light, and is airborne so can travel to other tanks).

Are we even sure the fish has velvet? It doesn't necessarily look like it in the photos. He's an iridescent white, so...

 

Yes, you have a point! I've been checking his water quality a lot and added IAL but when I see him looking so weak I get desperate And yes less light can't hurt. But I understand you, when I'm researching diseases and treatments there's a lot of scattered info everywhere...

I couldn't take a picture with the flash on..

But I'm still not completely sure :/ I'll see how he wakes up tomorrow. I also want to just have a first aid kit ready in the future, pet stores here don't seem to have anything so I'll have to order online.

 

Velvet is really obvious. You couldn't miss it haha.

 

Oh okay!! Well that makes me feel better. So the clamped fins, pale color and extreme lethargicness can all be attributed to fin rot? The first betta I got had fin rot but he didn't act so badly.

 

Coppersafe is the preferred med for velvet, along with a blackout and covering the tank (velvet reproduces in light, and is airborne so can travel to other tanks).

Are we even sure the fish has velvet? It doesn't necessarily look like it in the photos. He's an iridescent white, so...

it gets AIRBORN?!?! Seriously?!?! Oie veh...

 

it gets AIRBORN?!?! Seriously?!?! Oie veh...

Yep. It's terrible. Betta breeders hate Velvet like the plague.

 

I hope its not velvet

 

Holy crud... ha! Have fun with that. jokes aside I do hope for the best.

 

If you live within the EU(UK) get a product called Voogle by Easy-Life.
Also get liquid Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid ) to help protein/tissue regeneration.

 

HI again, I wanted to get back on the ESha meds. They are safe to use together and if instructions are followed they will not affect the filter bacteria. They are a great combination.

I would also like add a few thoughts on relying on just improving tank maintenance as a cure for disease. I am a firm believer that a fish kept properly will fight off nearly all diseases. However things change once a fish becomes sick.

Most disease pathogens are in most tanks. However we add a sick fish unknowingly and in extreme cases of columnaris for example every previously healthy and immune fish is dead sometimes in just days.

I fully agree that the first priority is to fix any environmental factors that have led to a disease outbreak. However it is essential to initially separate a sick fish from others. Next the QT tank needs excellent water quality. It is at this point I differ from some; a sick fish with severe bacterial infection (finrot) and a parasitic infection (velvet) is highly unlikely to improve just with clean water and excellent maintenance. I sometimes like to think how we would feel with severe ulcers eating away at a leg and agonising parasites eating away at our skin, mouth, throat and lungs. How would we feel if we went to a doctor who prescribed us fresh air and a spartan diet of raw fruit and vegetables with less than a 50:50 chance of survival on this prescription.

I know how I would feel, I would want real medicines that work. With pristine water some fish will recover; however many will not and even if they do recover why extend their suffering when the time suffering can be vastly reduced by using the correct medications?

I believe strongly that fish keepers have a responsibility to look after their fish to the best of their abilities. In the past we read book after book on our hobby. Magazine after magazine article by the experts. From these we learned an incredible amount over many decades of the hobby. On a personal level I even did a degree in aquatic bioscience some 3+ decades ago. I have been entranced by everything fish for 50 years. In that time I have never read a paper, studied a book or an article that supported the clean water is enough position. It is the first thing in preventing disease and if disease strikes it is the first thing to look at and fix but once the stress of poor conditions has led to disease that needs to be treated.

I do agree that some treatments can be stressful on fish and using the wrong treatment can do a lot more harm than good. If it is viral then for fish as for most humans there is little that medicine can do and the best chance a fish has is good clean water with no stressful chemicals.

However for a fish with extensive finrot (bacterial infection) and velvet (parasitic infection) at the same time suitable medication is required.

Sorry about my strong feelings on this particular subject.