ich or velvet?

Question
I have a betta that I purchased from Petsmart for about two weeks now. His name
is Pluto. Last Friday I noticed that he has several orange spots on his back.
Then white spots gradually spread across his body. The white spots are smaller
than the orange ones on his back. Now he has developed a large white spot on
one of his gills. I treated him for ich yesterday with Jungle Ick Clear Tank Buddies. Today I did a water change of about 50% and I vacuumed his rocks and I treated him with Maracyn in combination with CopperSafe even though I am not very sure
what it is. Pluto is eating well and still poofing up and attacking his
reflection in the aquarium. He also has what appears to be a stringy orange
thing on one of his bottom fins. He is still very active, but he darts around
his 2 gallon tank a little spastically. He also is rubbing up against the filter that
sucks the water in. He positions himself so that his fins are being sucked to
it. He also seems to be yawning quite a bit. What does it look like he has to you? The spots
seem to big to be ich but not all of the spots are orange so I'm not convinced
that it's velvet either. He is the only one in the tank. I usually do a 25% water change once a week. I do not know the pH, ammonia, or nitrite  levels.  I turn on the light on the top of the tank for periods of time to make sure his water stays around 80.

here are the pictures of Pluto:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/3f44082181010
http://www.imagebam.com/image/a6c85b2181011
http://www.imagebam.com/image/4a46162181012

Thank you so much!

Answer
Hi Allison;

It's really hard to tell by the photos but it could be natural coloration that he is developing as he matures. Many bettas develop scales of different colors and often have a metallic sheen to them. Or, if he lost a few scales when he was transported to your house he may be growing them back now. You won't necessarily notice it when they are lost and the new ones don't always look the same color as the older ones. They grow in kind of like a fingernail and are shorter than the others at first. If the spots look like they are individual scales that are a different color, that's my guess.

It does look like his belly is a bit rounded too. It's possible he is having constipation issues. That alone can be a reason for darting and wanting to rub up against things. It's uncomfortable and he could be trying to relieve himself of it. Here is a web page about it with a photo;

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/12/332/

Or, if the spots look a little fuzzy or cottony it may be a disease called "Columnaris". It will surround individual scales with white. It needs treatment with an antibiotic called "Maracyn Two". It absorbs inside the fish, unlike regular Maracyn. Here is a web page about columnaris;

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/331/

Ich spots are white and look like salt. If he still has those he may just need longer treatment. The copper should take care of it though. See how he is doing in another day or two after the copper and maracyn has had a little more time.

Followups welcome...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins