Can't Diagnose This Illness! Help >.<

[Aleydis]

Dion is a red veiltail I got from a nice fish store that has filtered tanks for all its fish. I chose Dion because he seemed to flare a lot at the neighboring red Betta...

When I got home I realized:

He had grey-ish transparent ends to his fins. Not sure if that was good or not, but his fins didnt get any smaller.
He had difficulty eating some foods and he would spit some of it back out...
He did not flare at Levi, my blue crowntail. He seems to only flare at the color red, which was okay for me.

But just recently:

He began to get lethargic, white stuff appeared on his head. I don't know what the white stuff is but it doesnt look like Fungus. It's not cottony or anything. It just looks like how a Betta looks when he is very stressed. It looks more like a film. It's in patches all over his head, and if I look in the right light I see some on his body too.

He's clamping his fins and stays at the surface all the time. He does eat though. I don't know if its swim bladder or not, because I havent seen him anywhere but at the top for a long time. He sometimes darts around his tank and I've seen him flash against a rock today, but he pretty much stays at the top. I checked ammonia today, and it was at 0.25/0.5, but I don't think it's the Ammonia, because my other betta seems fine and his water had the same reading.

I really don't want to lose Dion. D: I've already lost Aspen, who was a red crowntail. If Dion dies I dont think I'll ever get a red betta again. D:

Please and thank you in advance.

 

[Aleydis]

UPDATE: I just saw him dart to the bottom, but he floated right back up. He seemed to struggle a bit. Is this a mild swim bladder issue? He's not going in circles at all.

 

[Netty]

Hiya. Sorry to hear your boy is in such a bad way.

Could do with some extra info?

Size of tank?
Is it heated (what temp)
Is it filtered?
Any tank mates
How often and how much are you water changing.

Any amount of ammonia is bad for fish so you'd need to do a water change straight away.

 

[Aleydis]

Size of tank: 1g
Is it heated (what temp): No. It's room temperature.
Is it filtered: ...No. -Shifty eyes-
Any tank mates: No. Levi killed the last one. He ate a snail that's half his size. No idea how he did it.
How often and how much are you water changing: Once every three days, 70% of the water.

By the way- Last time I changed the water once every day for Ammonia, it was what killed Aspen. He was too stressed from the constant water changes.

 

[Netty]

It sounds like he may have velvet. Have a look at this link.....the symptoms sound very similar. The treatment however does require the temp to be raised. You'd be much better moving him to a larger tank with a filter and heater, that way you'd be doing less water changes and not stressing your fish out.

http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm

Being in cooler tempteratures lowers their immune system which means he's unable to fight off any infections or diseases.

 

[Aleydis]

Thanks. I turned off the lights and shone a flashlight on him and lo and behold, there's gold stuff on him. D:

I think he does have velvet... Now what? Is there any medicine that treats it? I actually went to a pet store today and picked up Maracyn and Tetracycline... But they don't say they cure Velvet. D: DARN.

What should I do for Levi, because I've been using the same water changing equipment for both of them O_O And I see in the article that Velvet is highly contagious?

Levi isn't showing any signs of illness right now. He's never had anything other than a gradual fin rot a long time ago.

UPDATE: I shone a flashlight on Levi in the dark.

He also has small amounts of gold powder on his fins and gills.

...I'm scared D:

LEVI IS MAH LUFF

WHATDOIDO >.<

 

[devon_charm]

I'm not sure if you can get it in canada (sorry for thickness) but Waterlifes Protozin treats it very successfully

 

[Netty]

You need to keep the lights out on both of them and you should be able to get a medication from your lfs specifically for Velvet.

The temps need to be increased to at least 82f as this will help to speed up the cycle. Try to use separate things for each tank to avoid cross contamination as it's highly infectious.

 

[Aleydis]

OK so I raced to Petsmart and got a 5gal with heating and a filter.

I also got Maracide. There was a choice between copper-something and Maracide, but the people there said Maracide should be safer for Bettas. I'm planning to put gravel from my 20gal into the 5gal so there will be balance with the ammonia and such, and I will treat Dion in the 5gal.

I'll try to dilute the medicine and treat Levi in the 1 gal. I think he has better immune system. Of course, I'll do partial water changes every day to keep up with the medicine.

Is there any problems so far?

Thanks again for helping.

 

[Netty]

That's great news

Sounds good to me so far. Don't forget to keep their lighting off too until they've recovered as this will help.

And make sure to update us with their progress. Good luck and hope they both make a full recovery.

 

[Aleydis]

Thanks. =) One last question-

Should I also use Maracyn to prevent secondary infections?

 

[Netty]

Sorry.....That's best answered by one of our American members as we don't have that med in this country.

 

[Aleydis]

Thats okay. Thanks anyway. =)

 

[Netty]

I think it's probably best to just treat for what you can see at the moment. My concern would be over medicating when there may not be a need to.

 

[loraxchick]

yes. take one thing at a time. please dont ever medicate for something you're not sure of (so in this case, skip the maracyn for now)...great news about the new tank for him. and good luck with the velvet. please keep us posted on your progress with him.