Velvet won't leave..? :/

[moonsand0wls]

So, I'm pretty sure it's velvet. I've never had to deal with it before, but when I first got Sasuke, his head was peachy. Now it's gold apart from the center of his forehead, but the rest looks like fine gold dust (that's what you look for in Velvet?) .

I have tried treating him with Tonic Salt and now Malachite green. He has been in the Malachite green for around five days, in complete darkness. I raised his tank temperature, too. But the thing is. I just checked up on him to see how he is doing and it still looks the same. He's also gotten slightly fatter (and he has been fasting..)

So.. what's happening? Why won't it go away? I've never had to deal with this before and I don't know what to do! :( Also I don't have a quality camera so I can't get good photos of him..

[callistra]

Velvet treatment can take 3-4 weeks to complete and the life cycle of the parasite will be at least 2 weeks, and that's assuming you've bumped up the temp enough (around 85 degrees).

Can't verify the bloat or velvet without photos. Sorry.

[moonsand0wls]

Oh.. it takes that long? I didn't know that. It just feels like it's not going away at all. :/

He's in a 18g tank ATM, I think I might put him in another one in my room as it's generally hotter.

Sorry, I have no camera only my phone and it's really bad quality. :(

[callistra]

It can take up to a month if he's in cooler water. It can be a very long treatment process because the parasite is only susceptible to medications in one particular point in its life cycle. You'll also need to be doing daily 100% water changes per the sticky.

If he's bloating without food I'm concerned about dropsy or a possible internal infection.. but again hard to say without seeing photos. Do you have a friend or family member with a camera on their phone?

[moonsand0wls]

Sigh. I don't have the time to do 100% water changes each day but I will try do it - regardless of the time or not.

And I just realised why he is fat... He was in a community tank with some tetras and plecos... And one of the tetras is missing.. go figure he ATE it while he was fasting. Pig lol.
And I have taken some photos, I will put them up but they are bad quality. Sorry..

[callistra]

You have to do the water changes to get the parasites out of the water. You can only get rid of them and kill them when they fall off the fish and are in their free floating stage. It also helps to keep the bottom bare - no rocks.

[moonsand0wls]

Also, I have put him in his own tank now.

Here are some photos, some are recent and some are from a week or three before (he had velvet then, too).



(Sasuke is on the right)

[moonsand0wls]

Originally Posted by callistra

You have to do the water changes to get the parasites out of the water. You can only get rid of them and kill them when they fall off the fish and are in their free floating stage. It also helps to keep the bottom bare - no rocks.

Okay, I have a tiny tank I have my female in that doesn't have rocks on the bottom and will be easier and faster to clean than my bigger ones. I will move him into that tonight. It doesn't have a heater but my room is pretty hot because it's summer here and really hot. Is that okay?

[callistra]

Unless your room is like 90 degrees (literally) the tank won't be hot enough. I have a fish room kept at 84 degrees and the fish water stays around 80

I can't tell about the Velvet at all but I do see his belly.. honestly he looks like a marble? And shiny goldish color may be normal.. does it look like any of these:

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/Fish/078.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starlessclay/5620031434/
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VkRP-IvOke...0/01-march.JPG
http://www.google.com/search?q=marbl...=1920&bih=1109

I would fast and monitor poop for now because of the constipation. If he does not poop in a couple few days, his belly continues to grow despite no food, or he starts to pine cone I would treat for that.

[moonsand0wls]

Yes, actually it does look like that. Marbles sometimes change patterns, right? Or increase in colour.. so it can be quite hard to tell.. but to me I'm not sure if it's velvet or natural because 1) I've never dealt with this at all and 2) I've never seen a betta with velvet!

But I will do as you say :) thank you so much!