# New here, Betta turning silver?



## jakoby94 (Dec 4, 2011)

Please help, I love my poor betta! I just got him in october for my birthday and hes been fine until recently. Neither me or my family knows much about taking care of fish so we just followed the instructions the pet store gave us and it seemed to be working fine.

My fish has a white/silver patch that started on the bottom of his chin, but I just noticed today it has grown to his gills and spreading towards his underbelly. He itches it and darts around a lot, but it doesn't appear to be fuzzy, actually it just looks like the scales have turned white. Do you think it could be ammonia or some kind of bacterial infection? Also I should mention that his fins are starting to curl up. 

I'm starting to get worried, because before when the patch was small he wasn't acting sick but now his fins dont spread out, he slowly swims up to eat and doesn't eat that much, and he spends most of the time sitting at the bottom of the tank or lazily drifting around...

Heres a picture, hes fanned out here because the camera scared him so you cant see the curling so well. The curls are circled in yellow and the white patch in red. Let me know if you need more info!


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

try and fill this out as much as possible while we wait for someone who can help more:

Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?


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## jakoby94 (Dec 4, 2011)

Thanks I just saw in the sticky that you should put that, I guess I should have read them first! 

Housing 
What size is your tank? _2L_
What temperature is your tank? _I dont know. Slightly warm._
Does your tank have a filter? _ No_
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? _No
_Is your tank heated? _No_
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? _None_

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? _Dried bloodworms and flakes_
How often do you feed your betta fish? _Once a day but I skip a day once a week_

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? _Once a week, but I went 2 weeks without changing because I was on vacation and nobody bothered to change it for me_
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? _About 80%_
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? _Nutrafin betta+ stuff that the pet store gave me_

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? _Just tested it today for ammonia.Also I used tap water, but today I changed to water from the water jug (It's not distilled) to see if that will help any._

Ammonia: _The ammonia test strip read 3.0_
Nitrite: NA
Nitrate: NA
pH: NA
Hardness: NA
Alkalinity: NA

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? _Curling fins, silver belly and chin_
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? _He isnt as active and happy, no more bubble nests, floats around and eats less_
When did you start noticing the symptoms? _Last week_
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? _Trying to fix the water._
Does your fish have any history of being ill? _Not that I know of._
How old is your fish (approximately)? _He seems quite young, I he was given to me in october so I'm not sure when he was born_


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

definately need to change unfiltered water daily. 

That's a dangerous level of ammonia, and could be ammonia burns on your betta, i'm not really an expert on diseases.

Bloodworms should only be fed as a treat, once a week

Tap water will be fine if you're conditioning it. but you need to find a way to check the temp, and i would advise getting a heater.

Hope all that helps, hope your fish feels better


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## jakoby94 (Dec 4, 2011)

I just google imaged ammonia burns and the pictures are almost identical to what he has. I checked the tap water after conditioning and the ammonia level was 3.0 while the water from the jug was 1.0 so I'll stick with that for now. I wonder if the ammonia is making his fins curl? Thanks


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## EvilVOG (Nov 23, 2011)

wow that's scary tap water. I wouldn't drink that water if i were you.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Welcome.. okay a few things to help out..

A half a gallon (2L) is rather small.. a 1 gallon (4L) would be a little bit safer for him.

In a half a gallon you will need to be doing 2 50% _and _1 100% _per week_ as the ammonia/nitrates and such raise to a dangerous level very fast in smaller containers such as that.

Flakes are notorious for fouling up water quickly- so make sure to remove any uneaten flakes within a few minutes of feeding. Freeze Dried should only be fed once or twice a week, pre-soaking prior to feeding, also removing immediately after feeding. Pellets, live, and frozen are ideal foods.. pellets should be the staple of their diet if live/frozen isn't available. At least 2 small feedings a day is needed, as with one you will either over feed, or under feed them and not giving them the appropriate nutrition needed. I suggest picking up some pellets and feeding him 2-3 pellets per meal, twice a day.

In a container that small, keeping it at the right temp will be near impossible, and keeping it stable. Being tropical fish, bettas require temps 76 (the lowest you would want it..) and 82*, preferably 78*F (25-26*C)
You don't want temp fluctuations, as with any fish, since it can cause stress and shock- small containers such as that can't be properly heated, a heater is not idea as even in a 1 gal (4L), it can be hard to maintain proper heat. 

Sadly, the pet store employees will tell you anything to make a sale.. but those half gallons are only good for QT tanks for sick fish- not fish who require room, warmth, medium to heavy planted, etc. 

You caught this early, but if kept without at least the proper water changes he'll soon go downhill  Keep us updated on how he is doing, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. But for now, all you can do is give him clean water and hope he clears it out of his system before it turns into ammonia poisoning. Do daily 50% water changes over the next 3-5 days, then afterwards do what I mentioned above, 2 50% and 1 100% per week. Good luck to you.


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## peaches3221 (Jun 1, 2010)

the highest the ammonia should be is maybe 0.5 , I say get a 1 or 2 gal bowl, (cover it- bettas jump) a small heater and most of all BOTTLED WATER if there is that much ammonia in the tap water...


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Water conditioners should eliminate ammonia- not to mention a lot of test kits (if not all) can't tell the difference between ammonia and ammonium- which Prime will turn ammonia into ammonium, which is harmless... 
Bottled water isn't a good idea.. but using the proper water conditioner along with the proper water changes for that size should eliminate the ammonia issues without having to deny the fish of the important minerals and vitamins found only in tap water..


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## peaches3221 (Jun 1, 2010)

even treated bottled water? :/ I thought its ok as long as u add the declorinator


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Sorry for replying late, didn't see it.. bottled water doesn't have the proper nutrients/minerals that fish need, as it is removed in the filtration process. Even with bottled water you should use water conditioner, but if possible, always use tap water without a filter/softer over anything else- tap water can include well/rc water.


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## 19lola95 (Dec 24, 2014)

After his scales have turned silver, will they go back to normal? My fish's scales are starting to do the same thing. I haven't even had him a month yet either!


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