Velvet

[mstenorsaxplayer]

Lil Sano has velvet. Should I take out all of the aquarium decorations? How do I make sure the velvet is not on the decorations when I put them back in? All help and advise is much appreciated.

[Sixwolf]

Velvet is a very contagious parasite, so it's usually advised to treat the whole tank. Make sure you're washing your hands before and after handling anything. I've also heard that velvet is easier to kill if the tank is kept in a dark place for the treatment period. Just remember to sanitize things like nets and other stuff that goes into the tank or might have the parasite on it.

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

Yes velvet is very contagious, because some velvet medications contain a dye that could discolour your tank decor it is advisable to remove it. Velvet is a parasite and cannot survive for long periods without water. In order to steralize your tank decor sit it out in the sun for a week to give it a really good drying out and the sun will make it hot and help to kill anything. Put a black garbage bag on the ground out in the sun and place the tank decor on it. The black plastic bag will attract the heat and get the tank decor scalding hot which will also work to effectively kill any velvet. Good luck

[mstenorsaxplayer]

Thanks for the advise y'all. I have most of his decorations out now and he is in the dark. This is the 3rd day of treatment and he already seems better. He is even blowing more bubble nest. He hasn't done that in a while.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Hmm... I would increase the temp, if you can.
Velvet uses light to reproduce, like photosynthesis. That is why it is recommended that you keep the tank in the dark. Also, increasing the temp to about 84-86 degrees will speed up its lifecycle and get rid of it quicker. Because it is a parasite, you also will need to do regular water changes to get rid of any fallen parasites.

However, IMO, I do not think that keeping the tank in the dark alone is always affective. Velvet usually takes up to two weeks to completely disappear, and it generally also needs to be treated with a strong medicine.

Also, I have notices all too often that people misdiagnose velvet, so I am a little curious as to why you think he has velvet and what you are using to treat it... Three days sounds a little fast. Also, when it clears up, I would still continue treatment for a few days to be sure it is completely gone and it won't come back.

[mstenorsaxplayer]

Well, I noticed him scratching against things. I looked and didn't see any ick, so I did a velvet test. I shined the light on him and saw some large, shiny, copper colored spots on his head. I wish I could post pics. :( Today his gills seemed to be a tiny bit inflamed. I am treating him with malachite green and formalin.

[mstenorsaxplayer]

I also noticed some large patches on his face. It looks as if his scales are missing from the scratching.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Velvet normally looks like gold colored specks of dust... Like they are covered in pollen, sort of. I have a male with a goldish color on his gills that I at first thought was velvet... I'll see if I can find a good picture.

[mstenorsaxplayer]

Okay. I have had to deal with velvet before. This looks a bit different though so I wasn't sure. He has large splotches of copper colored areas on his face and near his gills. Once again, I wish I could post a good enough pic, but my camera is crap. They reflect when light hits them. Could that just be a color change in his scales? He has had some since I got him getting his color back. He was grey when I first got him because he was very sick. Now, there are more on his face and near his gills. There is also some at the base of one of his pectoral fins. The other fin never really gt its color back. It has a bit of blue at the base and 3 redish copper spots.

[LittleBettaFish]

Shine the flashlight on gill area and see if when he breathes you can't see specks of velvet on his gills. Also you may be able to see some specks on his fin membrane.

I had velvet go through my entire fish room (learned not to share equipment) and I had to euthanise a whole breeding group of fish as well as losing two of my homebred adults. Velvet is extremely nasty and can hide itself well on fish that have a lot of natural iridescence.

If he has been hiding a lot, gone off his food, is breathing especially fast and scratching frequently, it may be velvet. My fish had big ulcers around their heads because they had scratched themselves so hard. They looked very pitiful and near death for weeks and it took me a month, maybe more to finally eradicate velvet from my tanks.

If it is velvet, I bumped the temperature right up, used a copper based medication and covered my tanks so no light came through. This seemed to kill the velvet off I haven't seen it come back at all.

Just be aware that if it is velvet and it seems to go away that like ich it has a longish lifecycle and can still be there waiting to infect your fish if you stop medicating earlier on.

I found aquarium salt and just bumping the temperature was not enough to kill it off and I lost two fish while I fumbled about.

(Velvet is very small to look at. Also if you look down the length of your betta's body it will look like a sort of greyish or goldish dust. Almost like your fish has been rolled in a fine sand or powder http://www.petfish.net/articles/pix/arts3/velvet.jpg)