# Missing scales



## jfthome (Sep 28, 2012)

My Dragon Scale Betta has 2 scales missing. I have read the other posts regarding parasites but I do not believe this to be the cause. He does swim erratically, darting around the tank, but only when he sees me. I have had him for over 4 months and he has always done this. Water is always crystal clear, at a steady temp and pH level. Ammonia is at a safe level. I have not observed any white specs on him anywhere. I think he rubbed up against the gravel or log in my tank too hard and rubbed off the 2 scales. So, what do I do to help promote scales to grow back and prevent infection? I have included 2 pics. 1 of the missing scales and 1 of the magnificent stripe down his body because I am so proud of him. LOL!


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

Mine gets missing scales now and then when she bumps into something. She's a jumper, so she's usually missing scales on her head because she scrapes it on the lid. Are your plants plastic? Do you thinking he could be scraping himself on them? That would cause missing scales.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

jfthome said:


> My Dragon Scale Betta has 2 scales missing. I have read the other posts regarding parasites but I do not believe this to be the cause. He does swim erratically, darting around the tank, but only when he sees me. I have had him for over 4 months and he has always done this. Water is always crystal clear, at a steady temp and pH level. Ammonia is at a safe level. I have not observed any white specs on him anywhere. I think he rubbed up against the gravel or log in my tank too hard and rubbed off the 2 scales. So, what do I do to help promote scales to grow back and prevent infection? I have included 2 pics. 1 of the missing scales and 1 of the magnificent stripe down his body because I am so proud of him. LOL!


*this just appears to be his coloring. as long as you are keeping the water very clean and he is eating, you should be good to go! He is GORGEOUS!*


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## jfthome (Sep 28, 2012)

MyRainbowBettaFish said:


> *this just appears to be his coloring. as long as you are keeping the water very clean and he is eating, you should be good to go! He is GORGEOUS!*


Well...what I circled are 2 scales that are missing. He did not look like that last month. But yes, the water is always clean and he has a great appetite because I never over feed. I was just curious why so many other Betta owners say that if Bettas dart around erratically then the y must have parasites. My last Betta did that as well and he lived for 3.5 years!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

jfthome said:


> Well...what I circled are 2 scales that are missing. He did not look like that last month. But yes, the water is always clean and he has a great appetite because I never over feed. I was just curious why so many other Betta owners say that if Bettas dart around erratically then the y must have parasites. My last Betta did that as well and he lived for 3.5 years!



my bettas dont dart, they just have a need for speed :lol:

this happens to my bettas occasionally(missing scales), but then they heal wiht clean water. He probably just bumped on something, no biggie. He looks very healthy to me!


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

They will heal, it takes about a week or 2. In the meantime, if you think he's scraping on something sharp, take that thing out. Otherwise, it could just be a one time deal. It's not really anything to worry about unless you he starts to lose a lot more.


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## Aerial (Apr 3, 2015)

my betta sargent is missing a lot of scales on his back bt its from him rubbin on his plants bt thats when he was sick hes starting to get them back its been abt 2 weeks now an i can see that its healin up


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