Post by adingo8yrbaby on Mar 30, 2006 23:24:04 GMT -5
Three weeks ago, my sister presented me with a male betta as a birthday gift. This is the first fish I've owned - I'm trying to learn as much about him as I can. My betta is currently ill. I think I've correctly diagnosed his problems, but since I'm such a novice, I wanted to ask some experts for advice regarding diagnosis and treatment.
I'll try to include as much information as I can (hopefully not too much). Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera, and so can't post a pic. First thing's first...
Environment
Weebo (yes, it's a silly name) is housed in a 1 gallon bowl that is unfiltered, uncycled, and unheated (I know, I know - I've since learned that this is far from an ideal environment for the little guy). There is a pothos (ivy) plant and some glass stones at the bottom. There are no other decorations, and no tankmates.
He gets a 100% water change weekly. I recently stepped up the frequency to every 3-4 days, given his illness. I use tap water conditioned with Aqua Plus. Before doing a change, I leave the bucket of newly conditioned water sitting next to his bowl for at least 24 hours to allow the temperatures to equalize. I always use the same water source.
I bought a freshwater test kit a week after Weebo came home, and have been testing every other day since then:
I feed him 3-4 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets once a day. Despite his illness, he has consistently eaten well. I have tried to add some variety to his diet with freeze-dried brine shrimp, but he refuses to eat them. I think I might try introducing him to bloodworms at some point.
Symptoms
Weebo is just a standard pet store veil tail, but I thought his coloration was interesting when I first met him. He has blue-green fins and a white body with blue iridescence. He also had dark red flesh ringing his gill plates, fading to a rust-colored tinge on part of his face. In my ignorance, I originally thought the redness and rust were part of his natural coloring.
After I brought him home, it started to become apparent (even to a newbie like me) that something was not right. Weebo was not particularly active, spending most of his time hovering or lying at the bottom of the tank. His fins were not clamped, but he wouldn't flare either (more like his fins just drooped with gravity). However, he never had any problem swimming to the surface for air or food, so I figured he was just stressed out from a new environment and from being transported first from the pet store to my sister's place and then to my place over the course of 48 hours.
By the end of the first week, his condition had deteriorated. The area around and under his gill plates had become even more inflamed - redder and so swollen that his gill membrane (which is black - is that normal?) was starting to protrude more and more from underneath the plates. The rusty tinge had grown in size to encompass his entire head and was starting to spread down the rest of his body.
Shortly after this, his fins also started to change. At first, his anal fin and tail started to appear slightly thinner and more translucent. Then he developed red streaks towards the tips of these fins. At the current point in time (a little less than 2 weeks after I noticed the first fin changes), he has developed small tears in the edges of his dorsal fin and tail. His dorsal fin is visibly clamped (not just droopy). The edge of his anal fin now has a slightly saw-toothed appearance. Worst of all, his ventral fins are shrinking considerably, with black clumps at the edges. None of the other fins are black and clumpy, but his tail and anal fin still have red streaks, as do his ventral fins. His pectoral fins are still intact but are starting to lose their color and become translucent. There hasn't been a huge amount of fin loss (yet), but enough to make me worried.
He's still eating well and has not become any more or less lethargic since I got him. He takes interest in his surroundings and will swim over to check you out if you come near his bowl. No flaring, though.
Diagnosis
Based on everything I've read, I'm guessing that Weebo has a case of Velvet. He probably was already infected before my sister purchased him. Due to the stress of the infection and the environment changes before I got him settled in at my house (and probably the low temp as well), I think he's developed a secondary bacterial infection that's causing fin rot. Does this sound about right?
I'm especially worried about the red streaks on his fins. I've read that these are characteristic of septicemia, which is difficult to treat. However, the descriptions of septicemia usually describe the red streaks as located on the body or on the part of the fins close to the body, while Weebo's streaks are towards the outside edges of his fins. Is it possible that the streaks are just part of the fin rot?
Treatment
So, assuming the diagnosis is correct, I've got three things I need to do now:
I'm thinking that it would probably be a bad idea to try to do all three at once, since the stress of all those changes might kill him in his currently weakened state. Is this correct?
Based on my research, it seemed like I should try to treat the velvet first, since it is much more likely to kill him quickly as compared to the fin rot (which is yucky but does not appear particularly aggressive). A week ago, I started doing a 100% water change twice a week and adding a drop of Aquari-sol to the water with each change. I also started wrapping the bowl in a dark towel during the daytime.
This seems to have helped somewhat. The rust-colored tinge has turned more golden than red, and has stopped spreading over the rest of his body (it hasn't retreated, though). His gills are much less inflamed - the swelling is almost completely gone, but he still has the deep red around the edges. On one side, the red part is only around the gill opening, but on the other side, it surrounds the entire gill plate (the poor guy looks like he has a big red "D" stamped into the side of his face).
I'm afraid I'm not being aggressive enough in treating the Velvet. The directions on the Aquari-sol said that I should treat daily, but I was afraid of overdoing it and killing him. Also, the directions say nothing about whether the daily treatment should be done in conjunction with water changes or not. Should I start changing his water every day and adding a drop of Aquari-sol each time, or can I just add the Aquari-sol directly to the existing water (still changing every 3 days, of course)? How long should I continue the treatment? Is there anything else that I can do to help him? I know that raising the temperature to 80-85F will aid in treatment (as well as preventing future outbreaks) - is there a safe way to gently heat a 1 gallon fish bowl?
Then there's the fin rot, which will have to be treated with an antibiotic, right? I ordered a betta first aid kit that includes tetracycline and ampicillin - which is best for this application? Or should I be using something else entirely? Is it safe to use the antibiotics in conjunction with the Aquari-sol, or should I wait until the velvet clears up before treating for the fin rot? There's a lot of conflicting information out there about treatments, and I'm not sure what is best.
Finally, I'd like to set Weebo up in a heated, filtered, cycled tank of at least 2.5 gallons (preferably 5). Should I wait until he gets better before switching tanks? I'd like to set it up using fishless cycling to avoid undue stress. Also, from what I understand, any antibiotic treatment will cause the cycle to crash. Switching tanks now would make it easier to get the water to the right temperature to aid in treatment, but everything else seems to point to waiting until he gets better. Any suggestions?
I'll try to include as much information as I can (hopefully not too much). Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera, and so can't post a pic. First thing's first...
Environment
Weebo (yes, it's a silly name) is housed in a 1 gallon bowl that is unfiltered, uncycled, and unheated (I know, I know - I've since learned that this is far from an ideal environment for the little guy). There is a pothos (ivy) plant and some glass stones at the bottom. There are no other decorations, and no tankmates.
He gets a 100% water change weekly. I recently stepped up the frequency to every 3-4 days, given his illness. I use tap water conditioned with Aqua Plus. Before doing a change, I leave the bucket of newly conditioned water sitting next to his bowl for at least 24 hours to allow the temperatures to equalize. I always use the same water source.
I bought a freshwater test kit a week after Weebo came home, and have been testing every other day since then:
- pH - 7.0, with no fluctuations
- Ammonia - almost always 0 (once it spiked to 0.5ppm on day 7 when he was due for a change. I'm always prepared to change the water immediately if I get a reading above 0)
- Nitrites - 0
- gH - 7
- Temp - I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I haven't purchased a thermometer yet. Room temperature at my house is steady at 71-72F, which I now realize is too cool for a betta.
- kH, Nitrates, and all that other cool stuff you people will ask about - I just don't know right now. The test kit only included the basics. I'll have to purchase some additional tests and get back to you.
I feed him 3-4 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets once a day. Despite his illness, he has consistently eaten well. I have tried to add some variety to his diet with freeze-dried brine shrimp, but he refuses to eat them. I think I might try introducing him to bloodworms at some point.
Symptoms
Weebo is just a standard pet store veil tail, but I thought his coloration was interesting when I first met him. He has blue-green fins and a white body with blue iridescence. He also had dark red flesh ringing his gill plates, fading to a rust-colored tinge on part of his face. In my ignorance, I originally thought the redness and rust were part of his natural coloring.
After I brought him home, it started to become apparent (even to a newbie like me) that something was not right. Weebo was not particularly active, spending most of his time hovering or lying at the bottom of the tank. His fins were not clamped, but he wouldn't flare either (more like his fins just drooped with gravity). However, he never had any problem swimming to the surface for air or food, so I figured he was just stressed out from a new environment and from being transported first from the pet store to my sister's place and then to my place over the course of 48 hours.
By the end of the first week, his condition had deteriorated. The area around and under his gill plates had become even more inflamed - redder and so swollen that his gill membrane (which is black - is that normal?) was starting to protrude more and more from underneath the plates. The rusty tinge had grown in size to encompass his entire head and was starting to spread down the rest of his body.
Shortly after this, his fins also started to change. At first, his anal fin and tail started to appear slightly thinner and more translucent. Then he developed red streaks towards the tips of these fins. At the current point in time (a little less than 2 weeks after I noticed the first fin changes), he has developed small tears in the edges of his dorsal fin and tail. His dorsal fin is visibly clamped (not just droopy). The edge of his anal fin now has a slightly saw-toothed appearance. Worst of all, his ventral fins are shrinking considerably, with black clumps at the edges. None of the other fins are black and clumpy, but his tail and anal fin still have red streaks, as do his ventral fins. His pectoral fins are still intact but are starting to lose their color and become translucent. There hasn't been a huge amount of fin loss (yet), but enough to make me worried.
He's still eating well and has not become any more or less lethargic since I got him. He takes interest in his surroundings and will swim over to check you out if you come near his bowl. No flaring, though.
Diagnosis
Based on everything I've read, I'm guessing that Weebo has a case of Velvet. He probably was already infected before my sister purchased him. Due to the stress of the infection and the environment changes before I got him settled in at my house (and probably the low temp as well), I think he's developed a secondary bacterial infection that's causing fin rot. Does this sound about right?
I'm especially worried about the red streaks on his fins. I've read that these are characteristic of septicemia, which is difficult to treat. However, the descriptions of septicemia usually describe the red streaks as located on the body or on the part of the fins close to the body, while Weebo's streaks are towards the outside edges of his fins. Is it possible that the streaks are just part of the fin rot?
Treatment
So, assuming the diagnosis is correct, I've got three things I need to do now:
- Treat the velvet
- Treat the fin rot
- Move the betta to a larger tank that is heated, filtered, and cycled.
I'm thinking that it would probably be a bad idea to try to do all three at once, since the stress of all those changes might kill him in his currently weakened state. Is this correct?
Based on my research, it seemed like I should try to treat the velvet first, since it is much more likely to kill him quickly as compared to the fin rot (which is yucky but does not appear particularly aggressive). A week ago, I started doing a 100% water change twice a week and adding a drop of Aquari-sol to the water with each change. I also started wrapping the bowl in a dark towel during the daytime.
This seems to have helped somewhat. The rust-colored tinge has turned more golden than red, and has stopped spreading over the rest of his body (it hasn't retreated, though). His gills are much less inflamed - the swelling is almost completely gone, but he still has the deep red around the edges. On one side, the red part is only around the gill opening, but on the other side, it surrounds the entire gill plate (the poor guy looks like he has a big red "D" stamped into the side of his face).
I'm afraid I'm not being aggressive enough in treating the Velvet. The directions on the Aquari-sol said that I should treat daily, but I was afraid of overdoing it and killing him. Also, the directions say nothing about whether the daily treatment should be done in conjunction with water changes or not. Should I start changing his water every day and adding a drop of Aquari-sol each time, or can I just add the Aquari-sol directly to the existing water (still changing every 3 days, of course)? How long should I continue the treatment? Is there anything else that I can do to help him? I know that raising the temperature to 80-85F will aid in treatment (as well as preventing future outbreaks) - is there a safe way to gently heat a 1 gallon fish bowl?
Then there's the fin rot, which will have to be treated with an antibiotic, right? I ordered a betta first aid kit that includes tetracycline and ampicillin - which is best for this application? Or should I be using something else entirely? Is it safe to use the antibiotics in conjunction with the Aquari-sol, or should I wait until the velvet clears up before treating for the fin rot? There's a lot of conflicting information out there about treatments, and I'm not sure what is best.
Finally, I'd like to set Weebo up in a heated, filtered, cycled tank of at least 2.5 gallons (preferably 5). Should I wait until he gets better before switching tanks? I'd like to set it up using fishless cycling to avoid undue stress. Also, from what I understand, any antibiotic treatment will cause the cycle to crash. Switching tanks now would make it easier to get the water to the right temperature to aid in treatment, but everything else seems to point to waiting until he gets better. Any suggestions?
. I wish all of our new members/new betta owners were as diligent as you seem to be in trying to get up to speed on proper care and such. 
- some members have many years of fishkeeping experience, others aren't much further along than you are. But I'm sure you'll learn a lot from reading the threads here on the forum, and from the articles and links on the main HB webpage. 
but the inflamed gills and reddish streaks sounds much more like an ammonia problem or bacterial infection than velvet. Velvet is characterized by a golden dusting on the fish...you don't mention that at all (unless I missed it). 