ok, so i have had bettas for going on 4 years now.. and i thought i had it down, but this past month Im doubting my practices...

first- I lost my dear boy Spot, to velvet. I tried aquarisol, and it didnt work, so I changed the water, let him rest for 3 days, and tried quickCure, as per a friends suggestion. the next day he died...

then my oldest boy (had him almost 4 years, was full grown when purchesed) got it. So I have been treating him with the aquarisol, and it seems to atleast keep it from getting worse.. so yesterday when I came home from work, he had pop eye... and this morning he has sores on his tail and anel fins... the very base, iIm guessing tail rot...

Then my moms betta girl has been beaten to bits by our Gambusia (guppy imposter) female.

THEN this morning, My sweet whisper isnt acting herself, and neither is Rover. Though Rover has been depressed since his flare buddy, Spot died. I moved Whisper next to Rover, to try to get him out of it, he doesnt care.. I tried puting my new guy, McAurther next to him, he doesnt care...

McAurther and my newest girl (unnamed) who is in with my goldies temp. are the only ones ok.... McAurther is in the same exact style containers as Rover and Spike, and the same size as Whisper.

So Spike, Rover, Whisper and McAurther are all in 1 gallon, unfiltered tanks, cleaned religiosly once a week. I havnt changed ANYTHING... not my water conditioner, not even my feeding schedual. no, I take that back.. then the velvet outbreak started, I started using aquarisol along with my water conditioner.. and started that two weeks ago. What can I do??

I added some melefix to Spikes tank, and some Melefix to my moms bettas tank. Changed all my water today (was cleaning day) using one drop of aquarisol and a dose of StressCoat, which i always use the stress coat.

Sorry its so long.. I thought I had this down! I havnt really had many problems in 4 years... and NEVER a problem with Spike.

If your bettas are four years old they are just getting old. I'll look your problems in my handy fish book.

The fellow still with velvet doesn't have much chance. You should quartine him Treat with a copper sulfate solution add two teaspoons of marine salt for every gallon. Do water changes and cleanings daily. Don't use meds that main ingredient is erythromycin b/c most betta infections are Gram negative and this will not respond to Gram negative.

Okay that said, your mom's betta may have beened attacked b/c the tank is too small, but you probaly should remove the betta or Gambusia.

Whisper and Rover may perk up w/ a water change.

Seems like aquarisol isn't working so you could try Bettamax by Aquatronics I've never used it, but it should work well for mostBacterial disease.

One last thing, most two upset Betta should also have some marine salt (one teaspoon per gallon) to prevent velvet and other sicknesses.

Give whisper and rover a treat of blood worms or brine shrimp. Have caution to not over feed.

Hope this helps.
Good luck!
-Mark

Hi!

Be careful with bettas & salt. Many bettas do not tolerate salt well so use with extreme caution.

Also keep an eye on melafix. Some bettas have no issues with it & others well..(lets just say it rotted my bettas fins away & others have reported breathing difficulties with it)

You may have waited too long to treat the velvet (the 3 day break inbetween)& that's why it got so out of control but 4 years is a long time for a betta- you must be an awesome betta mom!

Have you tested your tap water lately to see if there is anything different about it? ( Like ammonia or nitrates or???) Since you are changing 100% of your water every week & have been doing that for awhile I wouldn't think it would be that unless the meds have something to do with it.

Are you sure this is velvet & not a bacterial infection? What does it look like?

Post back soon! Hope this helps!

Jenn

oh, its definently velvet... poor Spike... his pop-eye looks alittle better today, but not much... I think I'll do a full water change and start him on the bettamax (Forgot I had it! thanks for reminding me!!)

Im wondering if Whisper and Rover may have some velvet also. Their tanks have poor lighting, and are in a darker cabanet spece.. have to pull them out and check it out.

I have tested my water... but my other fish species are fine. (I have a puffer, few catfish, mollies, gobies, goldies, and assorted inverts, plus the Gabusia and fry, sepreated in different tanks.)

the Gambusia and betta are seperated... did that last night, before posting.. (forgot to mention that!) and the betta girl has a whole new personality! much happier now! that darn Gamb. also beat the crud out of the poor cory she's a nasty fish.. and so gets her own space.

arg... poor babies! and my moore had his butt kicked... @_@ poor fishes...... Thank you all though!

Spike died.. atleast he got a nice long life.. I had gotten the pop-eye cleared, but the veltvet came back. I'll miss him....

But now Rover has... fur on the ends of his fins! ACK! and my mom was watching McAurther for me and TOTALY over fed.. So Im watching them all like a hawk... Arg....

thanks all for the help..

I'm sorry about Spike and I hope your others recover quickly. I know it's hard when so much hits you at once. Sounds like you are a great and caring betta mom though!

thanks I miss him terribly... but hopefully my other guys will be ok.. I may take a break from bettas for a while.. atleast get down to 1 or 2.... @_@

Oh. I am so sorry to hear that. I sure hope your other guys perk up. I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of you. Seems like half this board is struggling right now.

Rover died this morning... arg...

and Whisper is looking terrible. i dont know what to do! I cant even tell what is wrong with her! all outward signs are normal... she's just laying at the top, gasping...

my moms girl, Crystal and McAurther are all doing fabulouse! you look at then and would think theres nothing wrong in the world....

Oh no! I sure hope she pulls out of this.

Oh no! I'm so sorry!!!
Andrea's right, there seems to be alot going on with our fish lately. I had to start treating my betta yesterday because his tail fin is really torn.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them all to get better real soon!

How is Whisper today?

She died... she waited untill i got home from a horrible day at work to die for me... arg..... So Im down to McAurther, the girl I cant seem to name and my moms betta... (whom SHE cant seem to name!)

I need a name for a VERY White betta girl, with PALE teal irridescents... not Snowball.... (4 of my co-workers suggested that!)

Sorry bout your fishie
How but Frosty,Icey,Flash,Ixi

I am so sorry that you are having a tough time lately. Is anyone else sick? I feel sorry for myself sometimes with my little guys seemingly incurable fin rot but you sure have made me count my bleesings. I hope things get better for you.

no.. Whisper was the last sick one... all of my other fish/tanks are all fine... So I dont know...

Thats a relief. I am sorry you had to go through this mess.

How awful you must be feeling right now.I have lost a few of my Betta's in the past,so I know it was none too easy going thru all of this. I'm glad to hear that the other two are okay.You weren't using anything between all tanks were you? Like nets/water vac's etc...? It's weird how they all got sick together.Feel better soo-you tried your best.

i have 2 nets- one for sick fish, one for healthy ones.. the one for sick fish i dunk in Jungle Net Soak, and rinse before going to the next fish.. but i guess I'll have to start using bleach or something