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Advanced Velvet?

756 views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  Kiara1125 
#1 ·
I was rearranging my tanks to find my CT, Titanium, covered in this "gold dust". Now, I heard that it means velvet and that velvet is very contagious. I'm worried, because he was in a divided 10g with 3 other bettas. I'm wondering how to go about treating him, because he's acting very lethargic, his fins are deteriorating [not fin rot], he's skinny [yet bloated], it seems swollen where his swim bladder is [although he has no trouble when he does swim, it's just in tiny bursts, like he's tired], and starting to pinecone. Is this all velvet, or a mixture of things? I'm thinking about euthanizing him, since he seems to be struggling. He's already pretty old [at least 2], so he's had a good run. My question is, how can I make sure that my other bettas won't get velvet. They're all in separate tanks right now and Fall Out [my newest HM] was left the with the 10g to himself. I was doing this to help the plants in that tank grow. Anyways, all I have nearby is a walmart, so can anyone tell me if I need to go get something for preventative measures? Here's what Titanium looks like right now.

 
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#2 ·
You will need to treat the whole tank, including the others. It is very contagious. You can use a medication for Velvet or a general cure that says it cures Velvet. You will also need to keep the tank dark and warm to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Velvet are photosensitive parasites, so the warmth speeds up the life cycle causing them to drop off the fish faster, and the dark keeps them from reproducing, and the medication also helps kill them off.
Oh, and his fins aren't melting, they're very clamped, they will begin to open back up when he gets better.
 
#3 ·
No, that's just the picture that does that. He's not clamped. What I meant was that his rays are getting balls in them and then they just drop off. I'm not sure what it is, but I've seen it happen to CTs when they get older.

Anyways, I'll look around at walmart and see what they got. I can't turn off the lights, because it will kill my plants. So, I'll just have to take the risk of them reproducing. Hopefully I can just kill them off before they reproduce and everything will go well.

Also, how could I have possibly gotten velvet in my tank? I've done nothing with that tank for a month now. No new additions or anything. What happened?
 
#4 ·
If you have to kill your plants, you kill your plants. It's better than killing your fish and future fish. Isolating the plants without any fish may kill that parasites (no host) but I'm not 100% sure.

It looks to me like velvet paired with an internal issue, which is why you see pineconing. You could try aquarium salt, but that may make the dropsy worse.

I would like LittleBlueFishlets to weigh in, but her and I have disscussed a treatment for dropsy using a high dose of aquarium salt to make the osmotic pressure of the fish and the water equal... I wouldn't normally suggest it but you may be able to kill two birds with one stone...
 
#5 ·
Yes, I understand. So far everyone else seems fine. I'll go to walmart today or tomorrow and browse around to see what they have. Let's say the temperature is 80F. How quickly will the parasite go through it's life cycle? Also, will aquarium salt help kill the parasite? I know that it can help kill ich, but I'm not sure about other things. Also, I'm trying to find out if velvet can lay dormant. I don't think so, but I'm not sure ...
 
#6 ·
Yes, Velvet can lay dormant. It lives in the water always. If your fish was infected, it could have been able to fight off the Velvet on its own for quite sometime until something stressed its immune system (anything can weaken the immune system, from stress to constipation, to slight fluctuations in the water parameters - yes, I do mean slight), then the Velvet would go from "dormant" to prominent very quickly.
 
#7 ·
Oh, alright. I think he might have been able to fight it, but he's so old now. I wouldn't be surprised if his immune system was weakened. He seemed to be getting worse, and I just had a feeling that, if I cured the velvet, that he would catch it again or something else would happen and he would die. So, I euthanized him. He had a long run and a good life, I just couldn't stand to see him laying on his side at the bottom of the tank. All I need to do now is to make sure that no one else gets sick.
 
#8 ·
2 is not old (Bettas are not considered really considered old until 4) and Velvet is very easily cured.
 
#9 ·
But you didn't see how he was. He didn't look like he would make it, plus he probably had dropsy. I was doing him a favor. Also, most of my bettas live till about 2-3. I did have a VT live to be 8 and he was in a 1g unheated bowl his whole life, but that just goes to show that it all depends on genetics. I know how my fish act and I know that Titanium did not look like he was going to make it.
 
#10 ·
It looks like velvet. Quinine sulfate is the best treatment for this by a landslide. You will need to treat all fish exposed given how easily it spreads. It often comes from water parameter issues or too cold of temps, both which cause stress and make the fish more prone. Quinine sulfate much easier on all good organisms found in a tank, works quicker, is safe enough to use on sharks, loaches, plecs, rays, etc., and it kills the strands found to be formalin and malachite resistant. For ich/velvet, it's the best treatment by far and everything else is second class. As noted, boosting temp speeds lifecycline of parasites and the metabolic rate of fish, which helps the immune system. Tank lights should be kept off during treatment.

I cannot see the scales peeling back but if the fish has dropsy, kanamycin + vitamin B6 is the standard treatment (sometimes add doxy), but internal damage can make prognosis not all that great.
 
#11 ·
The scales were starting to pinecone on his stomach.

Anyways, thanks for the advice and added info on it. I'll see what I can find nearby and go to the store later today after I get some sleep.

For what it's worth, the tank stays at a constant 78F and there has been no changes in the water parameters. Like I said, nothing has changed, so it might just be because he was old and had a weakened immune system.
 
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