Betta with velvet... please help!!!

[mablisboa]

So my Betta has velvet and I've been treating him for the past 5 days with no results...(he's gotten better with the lethargic swimming and the belly rubbing at the gravels but the velvet still there and I can see some new stops at his body that was not there 5 days ago) should i change the medicine I'm using?? any suggestions on what medicine to use??

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

Here's my fish info:

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 84 F
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1x day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?every other day
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? tap water conditioner and since he got sick 1tsp of salt and 1ml of maracide.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? took some water sample to the pet store and they told me everything was great but did not gave me any results :/

Ammonia: n/a
Nitrite:n/a
Nitrate:n/a
pH:n/a
Hardness:n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he got some gold dust on his chin and gills and starting to spread to his body
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? lethargic swimming and rubbing belly on gravels
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about 6 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? 5 days ago
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? not sure i have him for about a month

[Sea Dragon]

As your treatment with the medication ends, gradually increase the concentration of salt in the water to 2 tsp/gal. If that doesn't work, gradually increase it to 3 tsp a gallon.

[Sakura8]

Hi mablisoba. The best way to treat velvet is with high heat, 3 tsps of AQ salt per gallon, darkness, and LOTS of water changes. Stop the maracide and increase the salt. Get the heat up to about 85-86 degrees F and cover the tank so it is as dark as possible. Velvet responds to light so the darker, the better. Some people have even stuffed the tank into a dark closet. o.O

Every day, change 100% of the water and redose the salt. This is the key because the water changes remove all the velvet spores that fall off because of the salt. If you don't change the water, the spores have a chance to reattach/reproduce.

Continue this treatment until the gold flecks are gone and he is no longer rubbing and then continue for 3 more days after that, gradually bringing the heat back down to a normal 78-80.

I hope this info helps you. Good luck and keep us updated.

[LionCalie]

I don't have much experience with Velvet, but I did have a fish who I thought had it (turns out he didn't) so I ended up researching a lot. You are going to want to keep his tank dark, because the parasite that causes Velvet is dependent on light and I agree with increasing the amount of salt.

Edit - Opps, didn't see Sakura's post. What she said!

[mablisboa]

Thanks guys for all the help!!! I really appreciate it ;)

I had him in the dark, but not that dark... I'll make sure to change that today, my room is pretty dark so I'll take him up. He gotten better with the crazy swimming and he's not rubbing his belly anymore but the golden dust still there, I can only see it with a flashlight.. but yesterday a saw a couple new spots :( . I'll try the daily water change, completely dark and the extra salt, the salt I'm using is aquarium salt, is that the right one?

I do have one more question ;). I have water softener at my whole house, and the drinking water is RO... I heard is not good for fish so I'm buying spring water, I'm still using the conditioner with it tho (that's what the guy from the petshop told me to do) it's that ok?? is tap water better for him??

My kids are not happy with me having "Sonic" cover up all day.. lol... just hope he gets better soon!!!!

Thanks again!!!

[Sakura8]

One thing you can do with your RO water is get a mineral supplement. Kent's R/O Right is perfect for adding back the minerals that fish need but are taken out by the RO process. But I also have a water softener and so far, all of my fish have been doing just fine with the water out of my faucet (with conditioner, of course). So if you're comfortable with the idea, I'd go ahead and try the tap water.

And yes, AQ salt is what you want. :)

[mablisboa]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

One thing you can do with your RO water is get a mineral supplement. Kent's R/O Right is perfect for adding back the minerals that fish need but are taken out by the RO process. But I also have a water softener and so far, all of my fish have been doing just fine with the water out of my faucet (with conditioner, of course). So if you're comfortable with the idea, I'd go ahead and try the tap water.

And yes, AQ salt is what you want. :)

Do your have to add salt to your water softener from time to time? I do with mine and I didn't know if that salt can cause any harm to the fish.

Thanks for the tips with the RO... I'll look into that!!!

[Sakura8]

Yep, it's a salt-based water softener. There have been some studies about the long-term effects of these kinds of water softeners on humans but the results are still somewhat inconclusive as far as I know. Some studies show that it can harm humans so I guess it could be harmful to fish too. I know OFL usually recommends not using water softener water so if you aren't comfortable with the idea, I'd look into the RO remineralization. But in my own personal experience, my fish haven't shown any negative effects from the water. My very first betta is coming up on his 1 year anniversary with me later this month so it doesn't seem to have harmed him. :)

[mablisboa]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Yep, it's a salt-based water softener. There have been some studies about the long-term effects of these kinds of water softeners on humans but the results are still somewhat inconclusive as far as I know. Some studies show that it can harm humans so I guess it could be harmful to fish too. I know OFL usually recommends not using water softener water so if you aren't comfortable with the idea, I'd look into the RO remineralization. But in my own personal experience, my fish haven't shown any negative effects from the water. My very first betta is coming up on his 1 year anniversary with me later this month so it doesn't seem to have harmed him. :)

Ohhh really??? didn't know that !!!

Yeah... couple yrs ago i had a bad experience with my water and my fishes... so this time i decided not to use it... but i will definitely try the R/O right. I can always get some tap water at my mom's house... but if i can use my own water it would be much easier... we'll see... i"ll just keep the spring water for now... until he gets better...

Ohhh and congrats on your betta!!! and thanks for all your help!!!

[Sakura8]

:) You're welcome and thank you. :)