# Color fading!



## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Okay, so I noticed some white spots on my betta (see other post) and I thought it was ick or a fungal infection. Well, I transferred Serendipity to a cup with saltwater. Today, it looks like his color is faded and he's staying at the top of the water to get air! What's wrong with him?!?


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## xjenuhfur (Jan 30, 2012)

White spots, does it look like grains of salt? I haven't seen your other forum.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Not really. They just look like white spots and they're a little raised. What is this? I put him back in the tank because he looked like he was at death's door and I figured that since the color fading happened after I switched him to the cup, maybe the tank was better for him. Now, the color is still faded and he still spends a lot of time at the surface but not all his time, and he's swimming a bit.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Now, he's just lying at the bottom of the tank. However, he does that every night, so I'm not sure if he's sleeping or if it's a symptom. Does anyone have any ideas? Please?


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

What do you feed him? Keep him out of any kind of saltwater for now. He's probably suffering from dehydration. Can you post a picture?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Do you think you can take a picture of him? How big are the white spots?

What kind of salt did you use and how much per gallon?


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

When you mean Saltwater, do you mean Freshwater with Aquarium Salt? If that's what you mean, okay that would probably help. Can you post a Picture? It would REALLY help us Confirm your Problem.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

I had him in water with API Aquarium salt. I feed him Tetra Bettamin Tropical medley with ocassional bloodworms as treats. As for photos, how do I post them? There's an 'insert image' icon, but it only asks for an url and I don't have a website.


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## xjenuhfur (Jan 30, 2012)

Upload to photobucket or imageshack. Then use the image URL.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

Scroll down a little under advanced reply and put it as an attachment. (You don't have to upload it anywhere but here this way.)

Do a full water change and get him out of salt. Next time you feed him, soak his food in some tank water before feeding him.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Okay, so here are the best pics I can get. The color looks better, but his fins look clamped.


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## Maura (May 13, 2012)

Is that a whole bunch of poop on the bottom of the tank??
...You should probably clean that...The ammonia level is probably through the roof!


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

No, that's just left over algae from feeding my snails. A speck or two might be poop, but most of it's just algae and I did a 50% water change just a few days ago.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

Are these the dots you were talking about? Other than this, I really don't see any. If they are, that's definitely ich. (Note: I zoomed in with my Paint program. It was very hard to see otherwise.)

Increase the temperature to about 85F, but make sure to do it steadily. You don't want to shock your fish. DO NOT DISCONTINUE THE HEAT ONCE THE SPOTS GO AWAY. Ich parasites have a three-part life cycle, part of which you cannot see them. Keep the heat up for ten days, or 3 days after the spots go away. This is very important! Ich only die at temperatures that would kill your fish, but they cannot reproduce at a temperature above 85F. Daily 100% water changes are best, and make sure that you scrub the sides of the tank. (You don't have to go crazy with it, just make sure that there's no way that the parasites could be on the tank.) The scrubbing is only nessicary in the following 3-4 days after the parasites aren't visible.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

No. The spots are on the front fins (which are clamped and I can't get a good picture of) and the tail fin (can't get a picutre of unless he spreads it out a bit.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

I'm pretty convinced that he's dehydrated after seeing his fins, so feed him with pellets that are soaked in tank water for a few minutes before you feed him. I'll look at the other pictures with zoom to see if I can see them. Which picture do you think shows the spots best? You might want to go ahead and do what I said to do for ich. It's better safe then sorry.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

The top one shows one, midtail fin, but it's not very good. Thank you.


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## FishyFishy89 (Jul 3, 2011)

Dehydrated?


OP? what are your tank specs? Gallons? Water Temp? Filter? Water levels?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Er, I don't think a critter who lives in water can get dehydrated but I could be wrong.

Sooooo . . . . looking at the pics, I see some clamped fins but I don't see the tell-tale spots of ick. Trust me, once you've seen ick you know it. Nasty gross stuff, it even gets on their eyeballs.

Fading color can be from a lot of things, not necessarily illness. He could be stressed, he could be getting old. I would say keep him in aquarium salt for one week at a dosage of 1 tsp per gallon. Change the water as often as you can but otherwise keep him in a quiet, dark place and let him relax. We can see how he is after that.


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## FishyFishy89 (Jul 3, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Er, I don't think a critter who lives in water can get dehydrated but I could be wrong.
> 
> Sooooo . . . . looking at the pics, I see some clamped fins but I don't see the tell-tale spots of ick. Trust me, once you've seen ick you know it. Nasty gross stuff, it even gets on their eyeballs.
> 
> Fading color can be from a lot of things, not necessarily illness. He could be stressed, he could be getting old. I would say keep him in aquarium salt for one week at a dosage of 1 tsp per gallon. Change the water as often as you can but otherwise keep him in a quiet, dark place and let him relax. We can see how he is after that.


This is the 1st thing I would do


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Definitely no medication. Overmedicating can be just as bad as not medicating and in this case, I think AQ salt and some quiet will really help.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

I've got him in a 12 gallon tank, with a tetra whisper filter. It is for a 5 gallon tank, but I don't get paid until Saturday, Friday, if I'm lucky, so I can't buy a new one until then. Anyway, the spots on the front fins have been there ever since I got him 2-3 weeks ago and the ones on the tail fin just emerged a day or so ago. He's been in the tank for a litte over a week, so I don't think it's the filter. The color thing, clamped fins, and staying at the top of the tank only happened when I put him in the saltwater, so I'm not putting him back. Unless there's a sickness that would account for all three of those emerging in twenty-four hours with no change in mood/action to signal it.
Nitrate- between 0 and 20
Nitrite-0
Hardness 75
Chlorine 0
Alkalinity- 80
pH- 7. some other number


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

Sakura: He was put into water with salt in it. Salt is used because it draws out moisture. Just this could make them dehydrated. Fish don't drink water; they just take in whatever is in their food. It's very important to keep your fish hydrated. Liver failure = bad. Usually, fish gulp in a bit of water when they lunge for food. Also, a varied diet that includes brine shrimp, worms, etc. (frozen or living) helps with hydration since they naturally have water in them.

Now, might I direct your attention to the picture:
Yellow: I'm pretty sure this is what you were talking about.
Green: Might have been what you were talking about as well.
Light/Dark Blue/Green: This is the 3rd option, but they look like a streak of white on his fin or a reflection.
Brown: This is what I think I was pointing out earlier. I believe these are reflections of his scales.
Gray: A few tidbits. They didn't show up when I zoomed out, so I assume it's just odd pixels.
White: After looking closer, I'm pretty sure that this is just a reflection.

I'm pretty sure that what you're talking about is in fact ich. If any of these are what you're seeing, then it's probably the beginning stages of ich, and you should treat. DO NOT go out and buy medicine. Your fish just has it a little, and you don't want to use any unnecessary chemicals.

The reason most people can't see it by just looking at the picture is a. the picture doesn't have the very best quality, so you have to zoom in and b. they're not looking at the fish with your own eyes, so you don't know what to look for.

Edit: The spots on his front fins are probably just his coloring. My female has two white tips on her ventral fins. Even if he doesn't have ich, the treatment can't hurt. DO NOT put him back in saltwater!


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

The yellow one is the one I was talking about, the others are glares off his scales from the flashlight and specks on the outside of the aquarium. Thank you.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

Yeah, I thought it was the yellow one. I was just going to circle every thing else just so I didn't have to go back to Paint again.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Aquarium salt isn't used to draw out moisture. It's used to stimulate the production of slime coat and to neutralize bacteria and parasites (Aquarium Care of Goldfish, David Boruchowitz; Aquarium Care of Bettas, David Boruchowitz). Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is used to draw out excess fluids in bloated fish as well as to stimulate their digestive system. 

Ich looks like little particles of salt scattered across the fish. They are slightly raised but only a little. 

A clearer, close up picture would be required to properly diagnose ich but judging from the pictures, he has at the very most an extremely mild case. Ich is present at all times in our tanks and on our fish; it's only when fish become stressed and their immune system is compromised that the ich can take over.

EDIT:
Furthermore, a high heat treatment alone doesn't kill ich. Raising the heat speeds up the life cycle of the ich parasite but it doesn't kill it alone. The high heat treatment for ich is only effective when used in combination with 3 tsps of aquarium salt per gallon and daily water changes.

Again, I suggest you place him in 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon in a small hospital tank. There is no need to medicate or to treat for ich. Doing so will only stress the fish.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Thank you everyone! I woke up today and his fins are unclamped and he's swimming around!


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

That's wonderful! I'm glad he's feeling better.

Any kind of salt draws out moisture. Epsom salt it used for this purpose because it does so more than aquarium salt.

Any temperature raising speeds up the life cycle of the ich parasite. Although, at a temperature above 85F, they cannot reproduce.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

One thing I'll mention just in case, is that his tail fin seems shorter. the very end is twisted a bit and looks like it's stuck. I think he's just been chewing on it because of all the stuff that's happened to him in the last day or so, but I'm going to keep an eye on it and (if it gets worse or if I can get a good pic of it) I'll post a pic later.


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## FishyFishy89 (Jul 3, 2011)

The stress may have caused him to tail bite.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm glad to hear he's doing better, ROSELLA.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

You might want to wait a few days then use some aquarium salt for the bites. Fin twisting can also be caused by hard water, but that usually takes a long time to do, so I doubt it's that.


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## xjenuhfur (Jan 30, 2012)

Tailbiting seems to be common in betta fish. There are many members here (including myself) who have tailbiters. Tailbiting seems to be caused by stress, too much current, boredom, or just cuz they wanna. And it's usually the last one. Try rearranging the tank and doing the mirror trick with him to keep him stimulated and not nomming himself. 

I'm glad he's feeling better though. Clean, warm water will help heal the damage he's done to himself.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Agreed. Just clean water will do fine. Aquarium salt doesn't actually help the fins grow any faster, it just helps prevent infection. The same effect can be gotten by using API Stress Coat or Kordon Fish Protector, with less stress to the fish. It's best not to use salt or any other meds unless necessary.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Just an update, his one tear is definitley healing, the other one, I'm not sure, but it hasn't gotten worse.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm glad the tear is healing. The other one should follow soon.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

Thank you for all your help!


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

The other tear is now healing, too! The only thing that still concerns me is that he still has the white spots on his front fins. Is there anyway that they could be natural?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Are the spots raised or fuzzy? Are they small like grains of salt? If not, then it could be his natural coloring.


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## ROSSELLA1 (Jun 7, 2011)

As far as I can tell, they don't look fuzzy or like salt, but I think they might be raised.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

If they don't go away in a few days, put him in 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon for about 5 days and see if that helps.


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