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Kaitlin Borkus

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Hi Everybody!
I just got a crown tail betta fish the other day and noticed that there is a gold powder on him. I do not think that it is his natural iridescence because the gold stuff is clearly powder looking and does not shine or shimmer. I have him in a 5.5 gallon tank with plants and a hide. The water is 82*F because I think that this is velvet and have already sort of began treatment (via heating the water and dimming the lights). Medicine is on the way for him but I just need to determine whether or not this is actually Velvet. The only symptom he has is the powder. Please help me!
 
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I believe that is Velvet but have never experienced personally. Pics I’ve seen of bettas show it in the head like that first. I know you have medicine coming but I also found this. Good luck and please keep us posted.
Treatment
  1. Raise water temperature.
  2. Dim lights for several days.
  3. Add aquarium salt.
  4. Treat with copper sulfate for ten days.
  5. Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment.
Aug 7, 2019
 

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Hi and welcome to the forum :)

It does not look like velvet to me and it is unusual to be on the head and not the rest of the body. Velvet does not spread that rapidly either unless the tank is full of the Oodinium parasite, and it should not have covered his entire head in a few days.

If it is velvet, you can normally treat it with heat alone and medications are not normally needed. Raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks.
Add 2 heaped tablespoons or rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt per 20 litres of water.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
Turn the tank lights off for the 2 weeks treatment.

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Before raising the temperature:
Wipe the inside of the glass.

Do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.
However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it.
Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.
 
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Hey guys thank you for your help! I tried to get a better picture of his entire body this time. I know that Colin_T said that it might not be velvet because it’s not over his entire body, so can you see the gold stuff in this picture more in his fins and things? I know how the contamination of velvet occurs which is why I’m so confused why he has it. There are no other tank mates and I’ve cycled the tank for 6 weeks before even getting him. Is it possible he had it in the cup beforehand? Also, do the Oodinium die after 24 hours without a host? I have a hospital tank ready but I am concerned about the established tank. If I treat him in the hospital tank for the recommended amount of time will the Oodinium swimmers be gone? Thanks again for your help!
P.S. his name is Elmo
 
Ok the second picture is velvet and it's a bad case.

Don't bother quarantining him, just do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate to reduce the number of disease organisms in the tank and then crank the temperature up to 30C and keep it there for at least 2 weeks.

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Depending on how long you have had him for, will determine where he contracted it. My guess is he got it at the pet shop and he had a minor case when you got him. The parasites dropped off the fish shortly after going into your tank and multiplied and now he is covered in them.

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Normally the parasites die after a couple of days without a host fish to live on, however there are strains of Oodinium that can go dormant for months if there are no fish in the tank. When fish are added to the tank, the parasites wake up and infect the fish and it starts all over again.

Just treat him in his main tank and if you have other fish tanks, treat them with heat too.
 
Best of luck in treating him. Please keep us posted on his progress.
 
Hey thanks both of you. He is currently being treated in his tank at 30* Celsius after a big water change and scrub down! I will keep you updated.
 

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