BettaMamaPDJ

No, it’s not fuzzy at all.

Thanks! I had thought about the possibility of a benign growth (the betta who trimmed his own fins also developed one, though he still lived a fairly long life). I know that some bettas can change color, I just hadn’t heard that before with a mustard gas. I will keep an eye on him, and update as needed. Thanks again!

On Saturday or Sunday I noticed a little white spot on top of Charlie’s head, just behind his gills. I thought it was just a loose scale or that he maybe bumped his head (see first 2 pictures), but now it looks like it’s spreading…(see last 3 photos). I have been keeping bettas for 3 1/2 years and am very dedicated to caring for my wet pets. I haven’t made any changes to his 10 gallon aquarium. He is the only fish in the aquarium, no snails or anything. He has 2 small sponge filters, 2 heaters (don’t ask), and several live plants, so the parameters stay healthy. I have never had any problems that way. The temperature varies from 80-82 degrees. My last water change was done on Monday (which he didn’t like, but I didn’t see him in a location where he could have gotten hurt). I’ve had him for just over 4 months. He’s acting normal: happy to see me, excited for food, occasional bubble nesting. He did rip a chunk out of his tail earlier this week and I thought that somehow during that he might have bumped his head (I had another betta who was constantly trimming his own fins, so I’ve seen that before). He has been growing, most notably his fins, but his body seems to have grown a bit too. I’ve been doing research, but I can’t seem to find anything that matches as far as illnesses/diseases go. I’ve been adding Seachem Stress Guard the last few days and I put fresh almond leaves in his tank on Monday when I changed the water in hopes that they would help. It’s not ich, it’s not fuzzy…. Does anybody have any ideas? I would really appreciate it!

Thank you so much! I had been thinking about getting a snail, but knowing this changes that. I really appreciate your input!

Thank you so much!

Ok, one last question 😬 do I need to do anything to maintain the good bacteria in my tank? Add ammonia (which really scares me) or ghost feed (I have betta pellets and freeze dried daphnia)? thank you!

Will do! Thank you so much again! I truly appreciate all your help! 💕

Thank you! I will be sure to does with the Coppersafe. Should I still do my weekly water changes, testing the water to keep the Coppersafe dose where it needs to be? and should I keep the tank covered and dark or would it be ok to uncover it so my plants can get some light? Sorry for the extra questions, but this is my first time dealing with the aftermath of velvet. Thank you again for your help, I can’t tell you how much it means to me 💕

Unfortunately, my sweet Linus just passed away 😭😭😭 He hung on and waited for me to check on him, so at least I was able to be with him for his last moments…. Now, the question is: how do I make sure my tank is safe for its next fish? Keep the tank dark? Raise the heat a bit, since there are no fish? Water change tomorrow or wait til next week? Treat the tank with Coppersafe on Wednesday? And how long should I wait until introducing the next fish? From the research I’ve done, I’ve seen the life cycle of the velvet parasite ranges from 8-12 days…. so what should I do? My main goal is to keep my plants and good bacteria alive and make my tank safe for its next inhabitant. I’m sorry for all the questions, but I really appreciate your taking the time to help me 💕 thank you again!

Ok, so I just finished the 3rd day of treatment with the Ich-X, but Linus is not doing good. Compared to yesterday, he is worse, more lethargic, though he is still moving around some. Fins mostly clamped (they were clamped worse on Saturday). Though he is worse than yesterday, I would say he is still a little better than before I started treating him on Saturday. He was not completely disinterested today and his swimming is not jerky like Saturday, but he did twitch once or twice. At this point, I am planning to treat him with the Ich-X again tomorrow morning. The Coppersafe is coming tomorrow(Tuesday), but the copper test kit will not arrive until Wednesday. I would normally never ask this, because I know the wrong dosing could be dangerous, but I’m afraid that delaying the treatment could also be fatal, so…. Would it be safe and/or beneficial to add a small dose of the Coppersafe tomorrow afternoon/evening without having a test kit? And when I say small: I have a 10 gallon tank with approximately 8-9 gallons of water in it. If I was to add enough Coppersafe to dose maybe 2 gallons, would that be safe? I know that it wouldn’t be the therapeutic level to kill the velvet, but would it help him to fight it enough until I can properly dose the tank the next day??? I just really don’t want to lose him and I want to alleviate his suffering if I can. Please let me know your opinion. Thank you again!

Thank you so much! I just ordered the coppersafe and the test kit, which will arrive in a day or 2, which will time perfectly with the day 5 of ich-x, so hopefully, if it doesn’t help by then, it at least helps him to hold on.

I was able to diagnose my Betta, Linus, yesterday morning with velvet. The gold dust is unmistakable, but I have not been able to get a picture that shows it. His current water parameters are same as normal: pH 7.2 Nitrates 10 Hardness 200 Nitrite 0 KH/Buffer 120 Water Temperature 82-83 (as of yesterday, I turned the heat up to help kill the velvet, the tank is normally between 80-82) He has a 10 gallon tank with live plants and 2 small sponge filters with air stones. I do not have a quarantine tank, but he is the only fish in the tank. I started treating him yesterday morning with Ich-X, as I had it on hand and it says it works for velvet. Unfortunately, all the instructions on using it are aimed at treating ich. I have been following the instructions so far, treating the tank yesterday morning, and again this morning after doing a 30% water change. I know the instructions say to use for 3 days, but other info from Aquarium Co-Op that I’ve seen says to treat with Ich-X until it works (for ich)(but not more than 5 days if there’s no change) and then for 3 days after to make sure the ich is dead. Does the same apply for velvet??? I have also covered the aquarium with a thick bath towel, as from what I’ve read, velvet needs light to grow and live. Aquarium salt was another option to help, and though I’m not doing the velvet dosing quantity, I did add the appropriate amount for the water I was adding back in the tank this morning (a little over 1tsp for 2.5 gallons)(I don’t want to use a ton, as I don’t want to kill my plants) Appearance wise, I haven’t seen any change as to Linus’s velvet. His fins are not fully clamped any more, so that’s a little promising. Yesterday morning I noticed that his blue eyes have changed. The blue is not as intense, almost watered down and the interior rims of both eyes have turned copper. No changes there as of this morning. But behavior wise, he is doing better. He ate before I started dosing the tank, though he has not eaten since (I’ve tried to feed him twice). He is not as lethargic or disinterested. He was swimming around when I was changing his water, slower than normal but interested in what was going on. His swimming was also much smoother and normal, as before I started dosing the tank yesterday morning, his swimming was jerky, like he was having spasms. Any suggestions for continuing treatment would be helpful, especially on how to use Ich-X for velvet 😊 Thank you!

His poops have been fine, though I don’t always see them. I’ve had constipated fish before, but he is acting different. His neck/belly has a copper sheen when I shine a flashlight on him, thus my hopefully accurate diagnosis of velvet. The ich-x seems to be helping some. Does anyone know if I should continue feeding him during treatment, or should I pause? And I’m following the directions on the bottle, but is the 3 day dosing accurate for velvet? The anubias had only been in the tank for 1 week. I did not use glue to anchor it and I bought it from Aquarium Co-Op. It has been taken out of the tank already, and as long as it’s nothing that can cause health problems for my fish, I’m not worried about it any more, as I’ve got bigger problems trying to heal him 💕

So, I wound up taking the anubias out completely (the rhizome was feeling kinda squishy, which I had read could be bad, and I just didn’t want to take any chances). I set one of his silk plants back in the tank to give his somewhere to rest for now. And I’m 95% certain he has velvet, so I’ve started treating with ich-x. He’s already swimming around more, not resting as much, a little more personable, so I’m hoping that this helps

And I just now noticed that his belly has turned metallic. Could it be velvet?

Thank you so much for your help! I do weekly water changes with treated water and will be sure to move my heaters. I’ve been wanting to get some floating plants, but am waiting for them to get in stock. I will rinse off of my anubias today as well, though I may have to leave it floating because it seems my betta is not doing well. His fins are definitely clamped, he barely left the anubias to eat, and he did not eat with his normal gusto. His little blue eyes now look like they’re half copper…could he be going blind??? And his swimming was not smooth, kinda jerky. He also seems to be getting more air than normal. Could it be an infection? He is the only fish in the tank and I don’t have a quarantine tank. Is there something I could treat him with that won’t damage his live plants?

Currently freaking out a little…. So, I’ve been switching my tank over from silk plants to live plants and just finished the switch last week. Only thing is, my betta was very upset about losing all his tall plants and hiding places. He was wiggling and dislodged one of his new anubias, which then began to float and he decided that he liked it that way and has been constantly resting in it. I felt bad that he lost almost all his surface resting areas, and so I decided to temporarily leave it. But then I noticed a growth on the roots…I thought it was normal, but my betta has been more sluggish lately, sometimes fins slightly clamped. He can be rather dramatic when he’s not pleased, but I’m a little paranoid over my betta’s health after loosing my other previous bettas to various unrelated illnesses. I checked the water perimeters about an hour ago, and the readings were completely normal, all in the safe zone. I started doing research, though his symptoms can also just be from stress…. But if it’s white algae that he’s basically laying on… could it be causing him health issues? I’ve only noticed this on the 1 floating anubias. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, sorry for the quality on some of the photos, but the aquarium light is already off for the night.

Yes! I have 3 Marimo balls, so I will definitely do that to help it along. I would love to get more, but I hadn’t been able to find them anywhere. And I will message my brother tomorrow to see if he has any suggestions too. Thank you again!

Awesome! Thank you so much for all your help! I really appreciate it!

My brother does still have tanks, but he doesn’t live close by, so unfortunately, that’s not currently an option 😪

You are so helpful! My brother actually set up my tank initially and he had brought filters from his tank that had the good bacteria in them already. So starting the cycle from scratch is kinda new for me. Do you have any suggestions for resetting the tank cycle? Sorry for all of my questions, but I really do appreciate all your help!

Thank you so much for your advice! I am definitely planning on just doing one betta this time. I’ve really enjoyed the one on one time with Adam and would like that again. Option 1 & 3 together will probably be the best option for me, I just have a few questions: Do I leave the filters in while I “boil” the tank? And how long would I “boil” it for? And should there be a max temperature that I don’t want to exceed that could ruin the tank or it’s seams? And am I correct that I would wait 4-5 weeks after the boiling for the good bacteria to regrow?

I have a 10 gallon tank with 2 small sponge filters from Aquarium Co-Op with air stones (I have 2 due to the fact that I had a divider in the tank until a month ago, but Adam loved the bubbles so much I kept them both in when I removed the divider since there was still low water movement). I’m attaching pictures of my tank, though they appear to be loading upside down, I don’t know why… Currently the tank is 82 degrees and I just tested with the following results: Nitrate .5 (approximately) Nitrate 0 Hardness 120 (approximately) Chlorine 0 Alkalinity 100 (approximately) PH 7.2 I live in the high desert, so our outdoor temperature can fluctuate quite a bit. Generally in the morning, the tank is around 79.6 degrees and by night it has peaked at 82.6 max. Summer is another story, as I don’t even use a heater, and still have to keep an eye on the tank to make sure it doesn’t get too warm. My tank has been at these levels and temperatures for almost 3 years, and 2 of my betta lived fairly long lives (2 years and 20 months, which seems to be average when they come from Petco in my brothers experience, and he has kept a lot of betta) I hope that this helps, and thank you for your time in responding.

So we’re gonna start with a bit of a backstory to get the full scope. I have a 10 gallon tank (which had a divider) and my 2 bettas passed away within 2 weeks of each other, one from old age(I had him for 2 years) and the other from a tumor(he was with me 20 months). The water perimeters stayed stable and I took out all the silk plants, but kept the gravel, rocks, moss balls, and wood. I deep cleaned, suctioning the gravel, and did 3 water changes (80%, 50%, and 70%) and added new plants over the next 2 weeks to prepare for my new fish. Harry (an opal) and Adam (a delta) seemed to be doing well in their new tank, but Harry only lasted 8 weeks, the last 2 of which he was dealing with swim bladder issues. After 1 or 2 deep cleans of Harry’s side, and a month of water changes, I took out the divider and let Adam have run of the tank. He was never happier! It has now been 4 months that I’ve had Adam, and as of Wednesday, I thought he was a little constipated, but daphnia, peas, and fasting didn’t help, then last night he was more bloated and started pineconing, though he was still alert and attentive. (Picture from last night) He looked worse this morning and was slow to respond, though he did eat with some difficulty, but now it’s evening and he hasn’t eaten dinner, seems sluggish (though he can still zoom if the net gets close to him) and I don’t think it will be much longer before he passes. If I diagnosed correctly, he has dropsy. I know the success of treatment is really low, and though I love him and don’t want to lose him, I feel that trying to treat him would do more harm than good. My water has always been at a safe level and I’ve always been really careful when cleaning and everything. I don’t know what could have caused this string of deaths…. Am I doing something wrong, or could it just be that I’ve gotten bettas with hidden health issues? It’s just been hard, soon to be 4 deaths in 6 months. Especially as my fish are my emotional support. Also, when the time does come, what do I do to clean the tank to make sure it is safe for a new betta? I will definitely be replacing all the silk plants, and doing a standard deep cleaning, but is something more needed? (This is the first case of dropsy I’ve had) And what about the gravel, rocks, moss balls, and driftwood? Or the filters? Can they all stay or do they need to be replaced as well? Thank you so much for your help!

I noticed about a week ago that my betta’s tail was dragging it down to the bottom of the tank. His name is Harry and he’s an opal delta. After doing research and observation, I think he has mild constipation which is putting pressure on his swim bladder. The attached picture is from Thursday. I have tried fasting him from Wednesday to Friday. And tried feeding him a pea on Saturday, but he didn’t eat it, so I’ve been giving him daphnia yesterday and today in hopes it will help, but he’s still a little bloated, no improvement. He can still get around ok, it just takes more work for him to swim. So he’s mostly chilling on the bottom or convenient leaves. He’s just looking so miserable when he’s on the bottom and I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have a hospital tank and my tank has a divider with another betta on the other side, so I would prefer not to use any medicine. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!