BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 (edited) 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! Edited April 18, 2022 by BettaMamaPDJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 Fritz copper safe treat's treat's velvet it's not shrimp and snail safe I would keep treating with ick x you treat velvet the same way you treat ich when using ick x daily 30% water change and redose ick x daily if you seeing no improvement with you ick x I would start treating with copper safe you will need a copper test to make sure it at the right concentration to treat velvet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 18, 2022 Author Share Posted April 18, 2022 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 18, 2022 Author Share Posted April 18, 2022 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 18, 2022 Share Posted April 18, 2022 On 4/18/2022 at 7:11 PM, BettaMamaPDJ said: 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! He how you dose copper safe in a 10 gallon tank you would use 12.5ml of copper safe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 On 4/19/2022 at 8:34 AM, BettaMamaPDJ said: 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! Sorry to hear he didn't make it from what I read about velvet the parasite can live without a host any were from 7-30 days depending of the stain what I would do is add a dose of copper safe and leave it a 30 days before adding new fish to be on the safe side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 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 💕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 As your dosing the copper safe I would use your normal lighting period so your plants don't suffer as you have no fish in the tank you could just top off the tank keep an eye on your water parameters and do a 50% water change before adding new fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Will do! Thank you so much again! I truly appreciate all your help! 💕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 20, 2022 Author Share Posted April 20, 2022 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 I would just add a small amount of fish food every day to feed that is usually enough from my experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 21, 2022 Author Share Posted April 21, 2022 Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydawnsin Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 On 4/19/2022 at 9:35 AM, BettaMamaPDJ said: 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 💕 I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I just had one pass recently, it's unfortunate. I just wanted to come on here and say that if you're treating the tank with coppersafe, that's probably the safest route if you want to keep fish in the tank, but the tank will probably no longer be safe for snails or shrimp. Coppersafe has been known to stay in the silicon of the tank because silicon is porous. Just want you to keep this in mind for when you're setting up the tank again for new inhabitants. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaMamaPDJ Posted April 21, 2022 Author Share Posted April 21, 2022 On 4/21/2022 at 12:43 PM, JaydenDSin said: I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I just had one pass recently, it's unfortunate. I just wanted to come on here and say that if you're treating the tank with coppersafe, that's probably the safest route if you want to keep fish in the tank, but the tank will probably no longer be safe for snails or shrimp. Coppersafe has been known to stay in the silicon of the tank because silicon is porous. Just want you to keep this in mind for when you're setting up the tank again for new inhabitants. Good luck! Thank you so much! I had been thinking about getting a snail, but knowing this changes that. I really appreciate your input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydawnsin Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 On 4/21/2022 at 4:35 PM, BettaMamaPDJ said: Thank you so much! I had been thinking about getting a snail, but knowing this changes that. I really appreciate your input! No problem! I was watching someone last night cleaning a tank and they mentioned that and I had never used copper meds before, but I kept that little piece of info filed away in case I ever needed it. Wasn't expecting it to be useful so soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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