[BettaChic]

Housing (Hospital Tank)
What size is your tank? 2.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 84 F
Does your tank have a filter? No (Hospital Tank)
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? NLS Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets, twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? every 2 to 3 days
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? Water Conditioner, Mardel's Coppersafe for Velvet

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.6

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? More gold around the gills, gold spots on the tail have turned greenish/blue
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Still active and hungry, but seems to rub against the walls
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Over a month ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, over a month ago. Mardel's Coppersafe for 2 weeks, Saltwater Treatment for 10 days, now back to Coppersafe
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No, I just got him just over a month ago
How old is your fish (approximately)? 5-6 months

Hello Everyone,

I've been treating Ghosty for Velvet for over a month now. I noticed him flashing, then found small gold specs on him when I used a flashlight. I put him in a 2.5 gal QT, raised the temperature to 84 F, covered the tank to make it dark, and started treating with Mardel's Coppersafe. I treated him with that (while doing 100% water changes every 2-3 days) for about two weeks. Then someone on this forum suggested using the salt water treatment.

For the next 10 days, I upped his salt dosage to triple the amount, and then weaned him off. He seemed to be doing better, but I could still see some gold around his gills. There were two particular spots (one on his back tail and one on his top fin) that were gold, and eventually started turning a light green or bluish after the treatment. You can see them in the pictures with the bright light and circles below.

After the saltwater treatment, I put him back on the Coppersafe treatment because it didn't seem like I got it all. Am I doing something wrong or is there anything else I can do to get him better sooner? My tank just finished cycling a few days ago and I've been waiting for him to get better to introduce him to his new home.

How much longer should I continue the treatment for? Are the greenish/blue spots still Velvet? Are the gold around his gills for sure Velvet?

 

[ao]

I thought the same with my betta too, treated him for velvet, no improvement. Gave up and let him be. one day as I was flaring him I notice that said "velvet" got brighter and shinier. Finally realized it was just natural coloring of some sort... when he really flares the gold atuff on his gill covers almost goes white.

 

[bahamut285]

I personally don't see any velvet on this fish? That gold just looks like natural colouring, this is velvet:

If I recall correctly, velvet is fairly deadly and will literally suffocate your fish to death as it dies of hypoxia.

 

[Tamyu]

I agree that it doesn't look like velvet.
I don't know what he looked like when you started treatment, but I have seen fish with velvet... And it isn't a few specks of gold. It is like a dust on their entire body that shimmers gold in flashlight. I have also never seen a fish with it that wasn't clamped and very clearly unhappy.
I don't have much experience with bettas, but I doubt it would be any different. The gold on him looks like natural coloration, and it changing color makes it seem very likely that it is.

 

[SwaggDaddy]

hi my betta name is shushi and lives in a 10 gallon but no heater or tempeture how can i do somthing

 

[frazier71]

Yeah that doesn't look like velvet he actually looks pretty healthy. If he had velvet he would clamp his fins lay at the bottom or top be itching pretty bad like against rocks and ornaments. You would know. He also wouldn't be eating very well. When a betta is sick you'll know it. And swingdaddy what are you asking ? If you want to do something about temperature get a heater and a thermometer. The handing ones are like a dollar and get a heater for a ten gallon tank.

 

[BettaChic]

Wow, thank you so much for all these encouraging posts! I was hesitant to stop treating because I wasn't sure if it was Velvet or not, and the fins were turning red, which I also thought was a symptom.

I'm so happy to hear everyone agrees he is Velvet Free! The next few days are going to be monitoring the newly cycled tank closely and getting ready to introduce him! Thanks again!

<3 BettaChic