Please Help on White Mark

[MareMare]

Hi I'm a newbie and I've had my butterfly betta for about 3 weeks. I had him in a small 1 gallon tank at first but realized he needed more room. I put him in a bigger 5 gallon tank last week. I ran the tank 24 hours before I added him, used water condition etc. He's eating fine and is very active. I just noticed he had a little white mark near his left eye. He has a light patch on his spine but I think that's just his coloring. Can you help, give me some advice. I am going to get some stress coat tomorrow. Thanks for any help.

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome. Are you familiar with cycling a tank? A water test can be useful when getting new fish eg ammonia, ph test kit.

The white mark is hard to tell on iPhone. If just a mark, should heal fine with water changes. If there is redness or something protruding out of the mark, could be more of an issue.

Same as us I guess. If an injury or something looks clean, it should heal by itself.

 

[MareMare]

Hi, welcome. Are you familiar with cycling a tank? A water test can be useful when getting new fish eg ammonia, ph test kit.

The white mark is hard to tell on iPhone. If just a mark, should heal fine with water changes. If there is redness or something protruding out of the mark, could be more of an issue.

Same as us I guess. If an injury or something looks clean, it should heal by itself.

I was trying to get a better picture but he's so active it's hard. When he sees me approach the tank, he wiggles in excitement because I = food. I've had fish before, community tanks, also 2 red tiger oscars, that were over 16 inches, at their passing. I know signs of a sick fish, but I never had a betta, so not sure of their illnesses. I did read up on velvet, etc. but nothing fits with my fish. Do you think stress coat would help? By cycling tank do you mean running the tank at least 24 hours before placing fish in, if so then yes I did. I will buy a test kit today for water. I think he may have gotten scratched on the decor. He likes to hide out in the lighthouse. Thanks for all the help with my posts as well.

 

[MareMare]

I was trying to get a better picture but he's so active it's hard. When he sees me approach the tank, he wiggles in excitement because I = food. I've had fish before, community tanks, also 2 red tiger oscars, that were over 16 inches, at their passing. I know signs of a sick fish, but I never had a betta, so not sure of their illnesses. I did read up on velvet, etc. but nothing fits with my fish. Do you think stress coat would help? By cycling tank do you mean running the tank at least 24 hours before placing fish in, if so then yes I did. I will buy a test kit today for water. I think he may have gotten scratched on the decor. He likes to hide out in the lighthouse. Thanks for all the help with my posts as well.

Here are some new pictures. At least he was still, you can see the spot clearer.

 

[mimiheart]

It looks like a scratch to me. Look in the getting started forum on cycling a tank. My newest boy did the same thing (and then tore off half his tail on some driftwood, which I've since removed). Get a kit. Keeping the water within the right parameters (0 ammonia/nitrite, <20 nitrate) is what you want.

I'd recommend removing plastic plants and going with silk or real plants. Bettas tend to tear their tails on them.

 

[MareMare]

It looks like a scratch to me. Look in the getting started forum on cycling a tank. My newest boy did the same thing (and then tore off half his tail on some driftwood, which I've since removed). Get a kit. Keeping the water within the right parameters (0 ammonia/nitrite, <20 nitrate) is what you want.

I'd recommend removing plastic plants and going with silk or real plants. Bettas tend to tear their tails on them.

The plants in background are real. The one in very front is so soft I wouldn't have thought it could hurt it.

 

[mimiheart]

Okay.

 

[Tpalmer]

Cycling a tank takes about a month. Buy a test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The cycle is complete when there is no ammonia or nitrite in the tank and nitrate starts to show up. I wouldn't even test for nitrate until after week two or three. Don't over feed and do lots of water changes (like 3-4 times a week) until the ammonia goes away. Then u can do like 2 water changes a week till the nitrite goes away. Then does ur normal water changes monthly or so when nitrate goes above 20 ppm

 

[MareMare]

Cycling a tank takes about a month. Buy a test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The cycle is complete when there is no ammonia or nitrite in the tank and nitrate starts to show up. I wouldn't even test for nitrate until after week two or three. Don't over feed and do lots of water changes (like 3-4 times a week) until the ammonia goes away. Then u can do like 2 water changes a week till the nitrite goes away. Then does ur normal water changes monthly or so when nitrate goes above 20 ppm

Thank you so much. I will do this today.

 

[splattered]

If you have any media from your 1gallon tank it'll help kick start your new cycle. Bettas are hardy but keep changing the water and don't add any more fish. You can add plants which will speed things along. The fact you have live plants in there along with it being a small tank are why the fish is surviving. Remember though a small tank is extremely sensitive to even subtle changes so I definitely wouldn't go adding any chemicals. Myself I only use spring water and where you have a smaller tank you might want to consider doing this as well. It's not as expensive as buying all those conditioners/chemicals and the fish love it

 

[splattered]

...figure $5 a week for a water change? ?? Not sure what you pay for 2 gallons of spring water in your area but it's definitely worth it. I even use it in my 180gallon and I'll never go back to tap. I don't care, when I say I spoil my fish, I mean I SPOIL my fish ha!

 

[Fresh2o]

If you have any media from your 1gallon tank it'll help kick start your new cycle. Bettas are hardy but keep changing the water and don't add any more fish...

Hopefully the filter in the one gallon has been running since the transition. Should help jump start things.

...It's not as expensive as buying all those conditioners/chemicals and the fish love it

Regarding the cost of spring water versus chemicals, using spring water at $5 per week will set you back $260 within a year. A 500 mL bottle of Seachem Prime is under $13 on Amazon. It treats 5,000 gallons of water. That will last forever with a 5 gallon tank.

 

[mimiheart]

Most bottled water isn't spring water. It's just tap water that's been charcoal filtered. I just looked up Arrowhead's water, and it can have levels of chlorides up to 12ppm. Evian is better, but I certainly don't have Evian lying around. Usually if I HAVE bottled water, it's Kirkland, and it's just purified/filtered tap water.

 

[splattered]

Bummer. My tap water is so bad it irritates me never mind the fish. My eyes are burning after a shower. It's total garbage

 

[Dr. Abhishek]

I mostly use a liquid which is available in store for fungal infection. Try it works well.

 

[MareMare]

Thank you to all the replied. I purchased a test kit and tested the water. The ammonia level was 0. I changed about a third of the water in the tank, it's a 3.5 gallon. I use Spring Water in his tank. I tested it the next day and was still 0. My fish seems fine and the white mark is almost gone.

 

[Tpalmer]

Does ur test kit do nitrite and nitrate? Those are the next steps. Test nitrite about an hour after each water change till it goes to 0 and then u test nitrate weekly and do a water change when it reaches 20 ppm or more till the end of time (always do this). That's the best way to keep ur fish happy.

 

[MareMare]

Does ur test kit do nitrite and nitrate? Those are the next steps. Test nitrite about an hour after each water change till it goes to 0 and then u test nitrate weekly and do a water change when it reaches 20 ppm or more till the end of time (always do this). That's the best way to keep ur fish happy.

Yes the kit tests all 3. My water tested great on everything. Thank you!

 

[Tpalmer]

Then u are cycled. Now just test for nitrate weekly and change a gallon or so when the nitrates get high. Nicely done

 

[Tpalmer]

Clean water fixes most problems.