# Help betta developing black spots



## 76will (May 7, 2020)

I got my betta fish for my gf on Saturday, and noticed some black spots developing and spreading! We got him at pet smart and he was in a little bin so I don’t know its from them or my tank.
First day


http://imgur.com/EDcY6NV

Now


http://imgur.com/V7U57z7

I’m worried so I added the directed amount of aquarium salt and lifeguard all in one yesterday and will keep adding the lifeguard for 5 more days. I also have erythromycin but am not sure if it’ll help but am weighing my options if after the treatment it doesn’t get better. Any advice on what it could be?
Edit: my ammonia nitrites and nitrates are all pretty much 0 and the ph is about 7.2. I also added a decent amount of nitrifying bacteria before hand and am wondering if it’s because I added too much? Should I do a complete water change and clean the decor?


Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
3 gallons

Does it have a filter?
Yes but currently treating with lifeguard all in one

Does it have a heater?
Yes

What temperature is your tank?
78C

Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Yes bubblers

Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
nope

Food:
What food brand do you use?
aqueon

Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Pellets

Freeze-dried?
No

How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 
about 2pellets a day

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
just recently got it and did a water change of some of my other tank water since it had more established bacteria and the nitrates and ammonia were high, afterwords the levels were normal

What percentage of water did you change?
60-70%

What is the source of your water?
Tap but dechloronated 

Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
Dip out

What additives do you use? Aquarium salt api

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: About 0
Nitrite: about 0
Nitrate: less than 5ppm
pH: About 7.2
Hardness (GH): not sure 
Alkalinity (KH): not sure

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
Day after we got him 

How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
Yes black spots spreading 

How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
Haven’t had him long 

Is your Betta still eating?
Yes

Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
aquarium salt and lifegaurd all in one

Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
Not sure 

How long have you owned your Betta?
Less than a week

Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?

not sure


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

I'm sorry you are concerned about your betta! Please fill out this form, so we have the info we need to help: 








*****PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Fill out this form so...


Many thanks to BF/TFK Member Mike for developing this questionnaire. It is the same form with a few additions. Please copy and paste into a new message and complete this form when seeking help for your Betta. This information and a clear photo posted directly into the thread will help us give...




www.bettafish.com





Also, if you could circle the place(s) in the picture you are concerned about, as well as describing what you are seeing in words, that would help to make sure we're focusing on the right area.


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## 76will (May 7, 2020)

Rana said:


> I'm sorry you are concerned about your betta! Please fill out this form, so we have the info we need to help:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Housing:
How many gallons is your tank?
3 gallons

Does it have a filter?
Yes but currently treating with lifeguard all in one

Does it have a heater?
Yes

What temperature is your tank?
78C

Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Yes bubblers

Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
nope

Food:
What food brand do you use?
aqueon

Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Pellets

Freeze-dried?
No

How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 
about 2pellets a day

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
just recently got it and did a water change of some of my other tank water since it had more established bacteria and the nitrates and ammonia were high, afterwords the levels were normal

What percentage of water did you change?
60-70%

What is the source of your water?
Tap but dechloronated 

Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
Dip out

What additives do you use? Aquarium salt api

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: About 0
Nitrite: about 0
Nitrate: less than 5ppm
pH: About 7.2
Hardness (GH): not sure 
Alkalinity (KH): not sure

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms?
Day after we got him 

How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
Yes black spots spreading 

How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
Haven’t had him long 

Is your Betta still eating?
Yes

Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
aquarium salt and lifegaurd all in one

Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
Not sure 

How long have you owned your Betta?
Less than a week

Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?

not sure


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Regarding your betta's changes, I am not seeing any spots that alarm me. Are you talking about the dark area under his gills & on his belly? If so, many bettas have darker, silvery or golden patches in that area. And most bettas also have their natural colors deepen when they are introduced into an aquarium, as opposed to being in a jar at the pet store. So to me, he looks perfectly healthy right now!

If the spot(s) you're talking about are in a different place, or if the colored surface is different from his other scales- rougher, fuzzy, swollen- then please describe what you are seeing in as much detail as you can so we can figure out what it is.


If it's just the natural color on his belly, I would do a water change to remove the AQ salt and the Lifeguard. Use water from your tap instead of your other tank so it's nice and clean for him. You may want to do two or three smaller changes an hour apart instead of changing 100% at once, because such a large change can often be stressful.


So you put the other tank's water into your new betta's tank. Did you transfer any of the filter media (cartridges, pads, sponge, floss, ceramic rings- whatever you have inside your filter), any gravel or decor, as well?

If it was just the water, then unfortunately you have not cycled the new tank. It's a common misunderstanding that the water itself is where the Beneficial Bacteria live. In reality, the vast majority of the BB live in the filter's media, and the rest live on the surfaces of the tank- gravel, plants, decor, etc. So just putting "old" water into a new aquarium does nothing, except mean that your new tank doesn't have completely clean water.

If you can transfer half of your established tank's media to the new tank's filter, that would essentially "instantly" cycle the tank. Or you can instead add a bottled bacteria supplement like Tetra SafeStart, Seachem Stability, etc. This will speed up the cycling process by quite a lot- I use TSS on all my new tanks, and the cycle is usually stable in about two weeks.

Otherwise, you'll be going through a fish-in cycle in the next few weeks. I highly recommend reading our excellent guide for a tutorial on how to go through the process safely:








CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial


Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm, or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of information packed into those...




www.bettafish.com






Also, if you have the ability, I would encourage you to consider upgrading to a better food. Aqueon is not the worst brand because fish meal _is_ the first ingredient, but there are also a lot of plants/veggies in its ingredients list, which bettas have a hard time digesting. Instead, it's better to get a food which has fish/seafood, or insects, as the main ingredients. Some good brands to look for are Omega One, New Life Spectrum, Northfin, or Bug Bites- at least one should be available at most pet stores.

And a last general note- I'm guessing you meant the temperature is 78*F, not Celsius.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

He's changing some of his coloring; including the black on his ventrals. This is quite common in white/platinum Betta. Some only get a bit of black and some become mottled. The marble gene is the culprit. Betta bought from chain pet stores aren't bred for color purity. They are usually a mishmash and carry the marble gene.


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## 76will (May 7, 2020)

Rana said:


> Regarding your betta's changes, I am not seeing any spots that alarm me. Are you talking about the dark area under his gills & on his belly? If so, many bettas have darker, silvery or golden patches in that area. And most bettas also have their natural colors deepen when they are introduced into an aquarium, as opposed to being in a jar at the pet store. So to me, he looks perfectly healthy right now!
> 
> If the spot(s) you're talking about are in a different place, or if the colored surface is different from his other scales- rougher, fuzzy, swollen- then please describe what you are seeing in as much detail as you can so we can figure out what it is.
> 
> ...


Thank you I did mean F and I do see he is missing some scales on both side and his face appears to be a little fuzzy


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Is there a way to get a brighter or more contrasting photo? So we can see the fuzzy part and missing scales? Under semi-bright white works best. It is much harder to tell on a white one, but Betta have "full masks" (full scale coverage) and "partial masks" (partial coverage).

I'm not saying there isn't anything wrong with him; just that it takes a better photo to tell.

The circled area is all normal color change.


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## 76will (May 7, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Is there a way to get a brighter or more contrasting photo? So we can see the fuzzy part and missing scales? Under semi-bright white works best. It is much harder to tell on a white one, but Betta have "full masks" (full scale coverage) and "partial masks" (partial coverage).
> 
> I'm not saying there isn't anything wrong with him; just that it takes a better photo to tell.
> 
> ...

















Thank you I have circled where some of his scales are missing and the white appearing on his face


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

His scaling is normal. Not all Betta have full body scales and if the scales on his face appear "thicker" most likely has the "dragon" gene. 

Unless, his face is fuzzy and the areas where he is missing scales is bright red or discolored he is fine. But, do watch for any changes.

Here is a full Dragon Betta so you can see what I mean. A Dragon Betta has thick opaque scales; almost like armor. Do your boy's cheeks look like Lemony Snicket's? If you go to "Pictures" and open "Eye Candy" you will see my Betta, 'Tude. He has missing scales but you can see them better because the scales are white and his body is dark.


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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

Thank you for the clear pictures. It looks like he might, possibly, have a little bit of damage scale damage to me.. or it could be a normal scaling variation, as RtST illustrated. He does _not_ look like he's got any sort of infection. Most likely, _if_ the scales are actually damaged rather than simply a bit "scruffy" because of his genetics, they're the result of a decoration in his tank.

Decorations, including plants, should be smooth enough to run a piece of pantyhose over and not snag. If the fabric does snag, then the decoration is too rough/sharp, and should either be smoothed down or replaced. Also, decor should follow the "rule of thumb"- if there is a hole, like in a cave, it needs to be large enough for you to easily get your thumb through or else your betta can get stuck. If it's just barely large enough for him to get through, or to poke his head in but not his body, he may be wriggling against the edges and scuffing up his scales.

In general though, fins are more delicate than scales and so I would expect to see damage there first, while your boy's fins look to be perfectly clean and whole.

So right now I don't think your betta is sick, I think you are taking good care of him so far and he is just showing changes to his coloring as he settles into his new home.


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## 76will (May 7, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> His scaling is normal. Not all Betta have full body scales and if the scales on his face appear "thicker" most likely has the "dragon" gene.
> 
> Unless, his face is fuzzy and the areas where he is missing scales is bright red or discolored he is fine. But, do watch for any changes.
> 
> ...


thank you, I was just worried because the first day he looked really good(last picture) and then his gils were turning black so I got worried since it all happened very fast


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

He looks good. These guys can sure scare us with those color changes!


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## 76will (May 7, 2020)

Rana said:


> Thank you for the clear pictures. It looks like he might, possibly, have a little bit of damage scale damage to me.. or it could be a normal scaling variation, as RtST illustrated. He does _not_ look like he's got any sort of infection. Most likely, _if_ the scales are actually damaged rather than simply a bit "scruffy" because of his genetics, they're the result of a decoration in his tank.
> 
> Decorations, including plants, should be smooth enough to run a piece of pantyhose over and not snag. If the fabric does snag, then the decoration is too rough/sharp, and should either be smoothed down or replaced. Also, decor should follow the "rule of thumb"- if there is a hole, like in a cave, it needs to be large enough for you to easily get your thumb through or else your betta can get stuck. If it's just barely large enough for him to get through, or to poke his head in but not his body, he may be wriggling against the edges and scuffing up his scales.
> 
> ...


just an update: I’ve noticed he’s been developing some whiter areas now as well? The part on the top looks a little bit yellow, but I wanted to know if this is due to color changing or something else since the first picture looks like he “chapped” or if he is healing because he scrapped himself


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