WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY BETTA?????????

[honmol]

There's something wrong with her. She has developed reddish brown coloration on her front fins and is a deep red around those fins. It's the color of blood to give you an idea. Her head's turned white with red freckles and she breathes every 20-30 seconds instead of her usual 100-150. She tried to jump out but fortunately the water level was low enough in the tank that she didn't get out, the walls were too high for her. She hasn't lost any of her usual coloration. She has just about every color but red on her. She isn't being as active as usual either. She stays resting on the elodea that floats in the tank. I don't know what's wrong with her. I'll test her water in a second and will post that too. If you can think of something please help.

 

[honmol]

pH: 7.4

I tested for ammonia and nitrite too just in case but I have to wait for the color to develop. I did a fishless cycle but I'm testing anyways. :|

 

[An t-iasg]

Does the white area look like a color change only or is it fuzzy/stringy? What are your ammonia and nitrite readings? I had a betta once that had rust-colored gill covers. Too much ammonia in the water burned his gills. He was like that when I got him. Antibiotics helped him, but that rust color on his gills didn't go away.

If the white areas are fuzzy, or if the betta continues to be inactive, try a med like Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It's a combination of anti-fungal/antibiotic. This med is best dosed in a QT tank so you don't hurt your biological filter. I think the directions say to give a dose and then do a water change 4 days later, and then give a second dose if necessary. I would give a dose of the med, but do a 50% water change every 2 days. Add back a half dose of the med that you took out during the change. Treat for up to 8 days if necessary.

 

[honmol]

Ammonia: 0.1

Nitrite: 0

I was surprised to find ammonia. Now something worse. An evil parental unit is forcing me to put a sick betta in with her because they don't believe me when I say that the new betta has ich. My lfs doesn't have much of a variety in the way of medication. They have gel tec food which doesn't work and they have assorted things to get rid of ich. That's it (this is the closest lfs, the other one is 1 half hour away but it's bigger and better.) The white doesn't appear fuzzy but her head is usually a deep blue so white with red freckles is odd. She's being more active now after I changed 25% of her water but doesn't go all the way to the bottom which is usually where she stays unless she's breathing at the top. She sees her reflection and so after breathing she zig zags seeing what she thinks is another fish will do. I think that the wall of her tank is like a mirror. It does work like one from what I can tell. And although she stays closer to the bottom she usually uses all of the swimming space.
Water temp: 79 degrees

That's odd. The water feels cooler than that but I guess it's not. I'm trying to find a way to convince the maternal unit to return the new betta to the pet store because she won't get a good home here with what's being done for her. Anyways, I'll try and get a picture up

 

[honmol]

Here She Is



Her colors are a little faded and she's stressed out but she's there.

 

[honmol]

her tail usually has purple on it and her body's usually purple. She's different now. I realise the second picture's a little blurry but this isn't normal for her.

 

[An t-iasg]

I once had a blue/red betta that turned mostly red. I wouldn't worry so much about her purple fading as much as the way her gill area looks. Treat with the Jungle med or another antibiotic.

 

[Rach101]

Bettas are also known for changing colors when they get older, if that helps at all. :/

 

[honmol]

thanks. She's about a year old. I'm going to another aquarium store to see if they have Jungle Fungus Eliminator. They have just about everything so they should have this. Thanks!