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19 Posts
Good morning,
I've had this betta for a few months now and over the past couple of weeks I've been having some issues. Hoping for some expert advice, so thank you in advance.
Does it have a filter? Yes, Top Fin "Small" Filter Cartridge
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 78*f
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Just the filter
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? Golden Mystery Snail until a few weeks ago
Food:
What food brand do you use? Omega One Super Color Flakes, Omega One Frozen Brine Shrimp, Zoo Med Micro Floating Betta Pellet Food
Do you feed flakes or pellets? I mix it up between the three listed above. Brine Shrimp usually 1-2x weekly
Freeze-dried? No
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 2x pellets or a small pinch of flakes once or twice a day,
smaller than a pea-sized scoop of thawed brine shrimp 1-2x per week as a treat (in place of flakes or pellets)
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 1 gallon, 4-5x weekly
What percentage of water did you change? 20%
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner? Top Fin water conditioner, 14 drops per gallon
Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.8
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 3-4 weeks ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Fins got a little straggly at first, and began noticing what looks like a yellow/golden powdery covering, especially around the head. His head is black and he turns blue, it was more noticeable against the black but eventually was noticeable against the blue as well. Over the past 3-4 days his tail fin has lost it's shape and now looks like it was cut flat at the end with a few strands remaining beyond the edge.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Not really, at least not that I notice
Is your Betta still eating? Yes, like normal
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Shortly after noticing the powdery looking coating I did some research and determined that it might be "velvet", so I isolated the snail and over 4 days added aquarium salt (completely dissolved) with daily water changes, gradually increasing the amount but staying under the recommended dosage. By the end of a week with the salt it seemed to clear up completely, the snail had died (unrelated, I assume, since it was on it's own in unsalted water) so I went back to normal water changes. Two or so weeks later I began noticing the fin issue and the powdery coating began coming back, now am going back on the aquarium salt routine and the velvet (?) seems to be clearing up, but the fins are getting worse
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? Only as described above
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Bought from Petsmart 2 months ago, he appeared to be healthy and energetic which is why I picked this fish
I have trouble getting clearly focused photos through the glass but videos turn out a bit better. Short video clip can be seen here in addition to the pictures attached to this post. Photos were taken 2 days before the video, so you can see the change in his tail fin :frown2:
I've had this betta for a few months now and over the past couple of weeks I've been having some issues. Hoping for some expert advice, so thank you in advance.
Housing
How many gallons is your tank? 5 GallonsDoes it have a filter? Yes, Top Fin "Small" Filter Cartridge
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 78*f
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Just the filter
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? Golden Mystery Snail until a few weeks ago
Food:
What food brand do you use? Omega One Super Color Flakes, Omega One Frozen Brine Shrimp, Zoo Med Micro Floating Betta Pellet Food
Do you feed flakes or pellets? I mix it up between the three listed above. Brine Shrimp usually 1-2x weekly
Freeze-dried? No
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 2x pellets or a small pinch of flakes once or twice a day,
smaller than a pea-sized scoop of thawed brine shrimp 1-2x per week as a treat (in place of flakes or pellets)
Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? 1 gallon, 4-5x weekly
What percentage of water did you change? 20%
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner? Top Fin water conditioner, 14 drops per gallon
Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.8
Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 3-4 weeks ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Fins got a little straggly at first, and began noticing what looks like a yellow/golden powdery covering, especially around the head. His head is black and he turns blue, it was more noticeable against the black but eventually was noticeable against the blue as well. Over the past 3-4 days his tail fin has lost it's shape and now looks like it was cut flat at the end with a few strands remaining beyond the edge.
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Not really, at least not that I notice
Is your Betta still eating? Yes, like normal
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Shortly after noticing the powdery looking coating I did some research and determined that it might be "velvet", so I isolated the snail and over 4 days added aquarium salt (completely dissolved) with daily water changes, gradually increasing the amount but staying under the recommended dosage. By the end of a week with the salt it seemed to clear up completely, the snail had died (unrelated, I assume, since it was on it's own in unsalted water) so I went back to normal water changes. Two or so weeks later I began noticing the fin issue and the powdery coating began coming back, now am going back on the aquarium salt routine and the velvet (?) seems to be clearing up, but the fins are getting worse
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? Only as described above
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Bought from Petsmart 2 months ago, he appeared to be healthy and energetic which is why I picked this fish
I have trouble getting clearly focused photos through the glass but videos turn out a bit better. Short video clip can be seen here in addition to the pictures attached to this post. Photos were taken 2 days before the video, so you can see the change in his tail fin :frown2:
