Betta, Snail, and Possible Parasite?

[BettaGal]

I got a snail to help clean up my betta's new desire to make a horrible mess and after a few hours, I started to notice my betta didn't look quite right. He hates anything bright, and has jumped at the lamp, so I didn't notice it before. I did turn on the lamp to take a better look (which he did NOT like) and saw that he seems to have sort of a thin whitish film over part of his back and a distinct white line at the base of his dorsal fin. Is this ick (none of my previous fish ever got parasites), and whatever it is, is there anything I can use that's safe for the snail, too? If absolutely necessary, I can move the snail to my tiny tank for a few days or so in order to treat the betta, but would prefer to just leave it all alone if I can.

 

[Rivercats]

You need to post a picture because we can't tell with just a description. It is not a parasite tho.

 

[BettaGal]

Here he is just now. Not happy that I turned the lamp on, but he'll get over it.

 

[umramgirl86]

Here he is just now. Not happy that I turned the lamp on, but he'll get over it.

Well, I've never seen ick in person, but from what I've seen in pictures, it is little white dots

 

[BettaGal]

I've never had any parasitic things on any of my fish, and I've had another betta, two guppies that turned into fifteen, glofish, and now Buddy and the snail my friend and I are struggling to name. I had a glofish come already sick somehow from the store, but I think that was more of an isolated internal issue. This is an entirely new issue to me. All new ground here.

 

[Rivercats]

Is it all those gray flimy looking patches? From what you discribed above and from what I can sort of see in the picture it looks like Columnaris.

 

[BettaGal]

Lovely fun joy. How to I get rid of it, and do they all require Mr. Speedy-Snail to leave?

 

[Rivercats]

I can't say 100% for sure that is what it is and I wish someone else would chime in. But if it is Columnaris it will have to be treated with antibiotics. My antibiotic of choice would be Maracyn II (which is snail safe). Seriously I would post his picture or maybe a clearer one with the symptons on the "unhealthy fish" forum. You might get more/better advice.

 

[BettaGal]

I'll try that. I'm hoping for other suggestions, since once you said columnaris I googled it and those patches don't seem to be the same. In the picture I took on my phone, it almost looks orangish, and in all of those, it said the gills went first, and his gills are perfectly fine. I don't know what it could be, but I hope it isn't anything too serious. I would hate to wake up and find him another martyr to the world of fish diseases. I tried finding it myself, but everything related to the filmy stuff said the fish got real lethargic and hardly ate, but he still acts normal, only stays at the bottom a little more than normal, not like anyone described, and he still eats ravenously.

 

[BettaGal]

I got the culprit! It took me till 2:00 AM, but I got it! I apparently had a moment of color-blindness, because he's got all these orangish grainy things colonizing around his fins, but they're dusted over his body, too, just lightly. The culprit conclusion has been velvet, but since I discovered this at 2:00 AM, nobody is open. I am quite willing to share his progress once it starts.

 

[Rivercats]

Well I'm glad you were persistant and figured it out... good detective work!

 

[BettaGal]

Thank you! It had me so confused. I've never had a fish get anything like this, so I didn't recognize it.

 

[Rivercats]

I don't think I've ever seen a fish in person that had velvet and that is well over 30 years. Kind of an odd thing to pop up.

 

[BettaGal]

It of course popped up when I've got exams and a million homework assignments. Why would anything go wrong when I get a break in classes? The best time is always when there's a million other things to do.