# Fish darting/black spots on body.



## revolutionrocknroll (Sep 22, 2011)

I brought home a new fish from Petco today. She's in a 1.75 gallon Petco pet keeper until I can set up and cycle my 10 gallon tank. I only have a cheap Hydor slim heater to use for now though. It's supposed to keep the water about 10 degrees warmer than room temp, and since my house is 62 degrees, 74 is pretty good. I wish it could be about 6 degrees higher though.
But anyways, she was doing fine at first but she's started darting around. Her fins are clamped- but most of the fish at the store had clamped fins because they were stressed. She has black dots on her body, which I had thought were just part of her color, but now I'm wondering if they're parasites. 
She's in clean, conditioned water and I added some aquarium salt before she started darting just to help with the stress. 

Housing 
What size is your tank? 1.75 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 74 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I haven't fed her yet. I gave her an Aqueon pellet, which she spit out. But in my experience, it's normal that new fish don't eat right away.
How often do you feed your betta fish? N/A

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? I just added her to the tank tonight with clean water
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? It was 100% (completely new water)
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Seachem Prime- I do have some Stress Coat I can try.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?Not yet- I'm getting a water testing kit tomorrow since I'm going to cycle my other tank too.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Clamped fins (maybe just from being in the pet store) and black spots on her body (also possibly just her color)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Darting
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Tonight
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I've just added some aquarium salt since I figured the clamped fins were from stress from being in a cup/at Petco
Does your fish have any history of being ill? N/A
How old is your fish (approximately)? Under a year. I don't know too much about younger bettas. She's not a baby, but she's pretty small. So maybe 4-6 months?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Do you think you could post a pic of these black spots? And are they raised up or flat? And what color is she? 

For now, yes, add the Stress Coat too.


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## revolutionrocknroll (Sep 22, 2011)

Unfortunately my digital camera's not working. The computer keeps "deactivating" it because it says the camera's taking too much energy from the computer.

But here's a link to a video: 
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2349576058718&set=vb.1229607931&type=2&permPage=1
It's on Facebook, but I shared it with the public. Idk if it will work though. If it does, at about 30 secs you can see her darting around and you can kind of see the dark spots a little after that, though they aren't very clear.

If it doesn't work- she's a white fish with red fins. I can't tell if the spots are raised or flat since she's pretty small- but they seem to be flat. There are quite a bit of them towards her back and top, it's not like a few scattered dots.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hmm. Usually fish of that color don't get black spots as a part of their natural coloring. If they get spots at all, the spots are usually red. I'm concerned that she may have argulus, or fish lice. They are black parasites that are visible to the naked eye and they burrow in to the skin, causing damage and sometimes leading to secondary bacterial infections. You can google them and see if any of the pics might match up to what you're seeing.

If it looks like she might possibly have these, then there are two ways to go about this. 
Conservative treatment: 3 tsps of aquarium salt and medical dose of Stress Coat. This will help her produce lots of slime coat that will dislodge the parasites from her body. You'll need to do daily water changes to remove any parasites that fall off before they can reattach.
Aggressive treatment: PraziPro Praziquantel or API General Cure. Seachem ParaGuard also works. Same deal with the water changes.

Poor girl, I could see how her fins were clamped up.


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## revolutionrocknroll (Sep 22, 2011)

I'm going to Petsmart today so I'll pick up API General Cure. How much would a medical dose of stress coat be? Thank you.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Ah. The medical dose for Stress Coat is 1 capful for 10gs. Actually, for your 1.75g, you can just dribble in a bit and you'll be fine. Like maybe 4 drops or so. As long as you aren't pouring in half the bottle, it's pretty hard to overdose on Stress Coat.


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## revolutionrocknroll (Sep 22, 2011)

Okay. Thanks so much for your help! I just cleaned her tank again and used the Stress Coat, and I bought the General Cure to use if I need it. I think she's going to be okay


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Good to hear.


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