I bought a new Butterfly HM betta last week. I knew something was wrong with him when I got him. I couldn't work it out but I noticed a gold area on his belly this morning,so I shined a light on him and vola!!! He has a fine gold dust coating over him. So I have heard that Copper-based medications are the best treatment however they are difficult to get hold of here, I can buy them on the net but he needs treating quickly. I was thinking of using Malachite Green as I have heard that it is quite good and also that some white spot medications are useful in the treatment of this disease.
I was just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions?
Ick
•Symptoms: Betta has white dots (looks like he was sprinkled with salt) all over his body and head, even eyes. Lethargic, No appetite, Clamped Fins, Might dart and scratching against decor
•Treatment: You can treat Ick either conservatively or with medication. Ick is a parasite. Because ick is contagious, it is preferable to treat the whole tank when one fish is found to have it. Ick is temperature sensitive: Leave your betta in the community tank and raise temperature to 85 F. Then you can choose to treat with salt or medication. Conservative: Add 1 tsp/gal Aquarium Salt 3 times, 12 hours apart so that you end up with 3 times the normal concentration. Perform daily 100% water changes to remove fallen parasites before they can reproduce. Replace the water with the right amount of salt. Do not continue this treatment for more than 14 days. If it fails or you do not want to use salt, treat with Jungle’s Parasite Clear, API Super Ick Cure, or Kordon Rid Ich Plus. If your betta lives in a jar/bowl, then it can be difficult to heat the water. There are heaters for smaller containers, but you can also float the quarantine container in a larger heated tank during treatment. Do a full water change every day and add an appropriate amount of medication to the water.
•Alternative Treatment: Personally, I have not found Ick medications very effective. I prefer to use PP to treat all external parasites. In the past, I have used 3 or 4 different ick medications unsuccessfully, and every time I resort to PP which works like a charm. Do lots of research before using PP as it is a more dangerous chemical than most.
Velvet
•Symptoms: Can be found by shining a flashlight on your betta. If it looks like it is covered in fine gold of rust colored dust then it has velvet. Clamped Fins, no appetite, darting/rubbing, loss of color, lethargic
•Treatment: It is very contagious so you should treat the entire tank. Treat as you would treat Ick. PP is also my favorite for treating Velvet.
It is definately Velvet, I went back to the pet shop and there has been out outbreak, almost all of the fish have it (all of the bettas). They are being treated. I have also read the sticky and was just wondering what other people who have had trouble with velvet had found worked best for them.
Umm I thought I would give everyone a quick update, My boy seems very happy and active and swims around all of the time always watching what I am doing. His tail is still no worse so hopefully it will repair soon I am keeping his water nice and clean. I am treating him with I think it is called Blue Planet Multicure. It has malachite green, methylene blue and something else starting with F can't remember. He is due for a water change and fresh treatment tonight so fingers crossed.
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