So, tomorrow I'm returning the betta which I was 'fish sitting'. He's got brand new substrate (sand), a new 'cave' (a teracotta pot I managed to squeeze in), and some pothos strands.
I noticed one thing about him which I found really odd -- he seems to produce and shed off large quantities of slime. Not enough to call it 'slime disease', but enough for me to wonder what on earth is going on. I thought, at first, that it was "Slime Coat", which is a decholr I purchased recently, but when I switched to a different dechlor, he acted the same way.
I really dislike "Slime Coat", by the way. It makes the water actually slimey, even when there is no fish in it. I hope to use it up quickly and switch to something else, suggestions welcome.
After reading up on him a bit, I finally read that Velvet actually attacks the silme coat and gills first, before it manifests itself as that velvety sheen that is the telltale sign of 'velvet'. I also read that it's generally caused by temperature fluctuations -- which I know for a fact he goes through -- I shone a flashlight on him, and saw no signs of the illness. I don't know his coloration well enough to tell if he's got discolorations going on.
Tomorrow, I'm going to change his water out 100% with 3 day old water, to see if he reacts the same way -- and this is the water his owner normally uses.
Do you think this little brat is ill, or is it simply me being slightly paranoid over someone else's fish?
Perhaps it's just a stress response? "OMG where's my person!"?
I noticed one thing about him which I found really odd -- he seems to produce and shed off large quantities of slime. Not enough to call it 'slime disease', but enough for me to wonder what on earth is going on. I thought, at first, that it was "Slime Coat", which is a decholr I purchased recently, but when I switched to a different dechlor, he acted the same way.
I really dislike "Slime Coat", by the way. It makes the water actually slimey, even when there is no fish in it. I hope to use it up quickly and switch to something else, suggestions welcome.
After reading up on him a bit, I finally read that Velvet actually attacks the silme coat and gills first, before it manifests itself as that velvety sheen that is the telltale sign of 'velvet'. I also read that it's generally caused by temperature fluctuations -- which I know for a fact he goes through -- I shone a flashlight on him, and saw no signs of the illness. I don't know his coloration well enough to tell if he's got discolorations going on.
Tomorrow, I'm going to change his water out 100% with 3 day old water, to see if he reacts the same way -- and this is the water his owner normally uses.
Do you think this little brat is ill, or is it simply me being slightly paranoid over someone else's fish?
Perhaps it's just a stress response? "OMG where's my person!"?