# betta looks dirty?



## venakhol (Oct 10, 2013)

My new betta is looking slightly dirty and now occassionally rubs up against a rock I just got him. I'm concerned about whether or not I'm doing enough for him since he doesn't seem to be improving and whether or not I should buy more medicine for him, since he had a 5 day course of betta revive but doesn't seem to be doing much better (if so, what kind?).


Housing 
What size is your tank? 3 Gal
What temperature is your tank? 82 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes, gentle
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes, gentle
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? aqueon betta food, tetra dried bloodworms every other day
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 3x a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Tetra Bettasafe

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? Yes. If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia- 0-0.25, can't get it down to 0
pH- 8.0, I read that leaving that alone is ok
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 0

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? dark spot on head slightly larger, fins look dirty but edges are translucent/fin rot is healing
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Has started gently rubbing against a rock
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A day ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, 25-50% water change daily, focusing on gravel to remove ammonia
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, is recovering from fin rot
How old is your fish (approximately)? His body is about an inch and a half long, so I think 6months?


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Can you post a picture? I don't understand what you mean by "dirty".


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## venakhol (Oct 10, 2013)

pictures- sorry about the quality

I'm referring to the greyish-brown coloring on the middle of his fins and the dark grey on his head. The one with him swimming away is showing the fin rot that's going away.

When I got him his colors were much more muted than they are now and he had a small black spot on his head but now it seems like it's spreading. I think I'm keeping the ammonia below 0.25 ppm and there were no gold flecks with the flashlight test, and the discolored spots do not look raised or cottony. 

Thank you for being willing to help me out.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Can you get a clearer shot of the small black spot?


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## venakhol (Oct 10, 2013)

sorry for the slow response, I finally managed a few pictures. it's worse now than it was before. it used to just be a gray-greenish tint to his fins and one spot on his head around a single black spot but now it's spreading and the black spots are everywhere. I've been doing a 50% water change twice every day since it stresses him out too much if i take him out for an 100% change. 

I put coppersafe in his water, the lowest dose recommended on the label, since I read that was the least dangerous medicine and it covered both parasites and fungus.

For the picture with a diagram
A- All those spots are new (to my knowledge)
B- His fin rot is coming back, it was almost completely gone a few days ago
C- His gill covers were black when i got him, but i'm wondering if that's something i should have mentioned before
D- The green-grey color spot on his head. his head was mostly blackish-blue before
E- the original black spot
F- the farthest spread black spot on his head

The ammonia levels in my tank are now consistently below 0.25 ppm and everything else is literally ideal.


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## venakhol (Oct 10, 2013)

also- I had to put him in a cup to get pictures since he's still really fast, so the only behavioral difference is he's a little more shy and he rubs a lot.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh those are wild spots, totally normal and fine. However the rubbing isn't.


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## venakhol (Oct 10, 2013)

So do you think the spots are just his natural color coming back? 

I tried to look up what betta flashing/rubbing looks like and could only find different species darting to rub pretty roughly against gravel/glass/etc, but that's not what he's doing. he drifts over to the rock i got him and sort of grazes against it as he's swimming past. its narrow through there but he could very easily not touch the sides. is that actually worrisome or am i being overprotective?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I'd have to see a video of him doing it to see if it's flashing or not. Sometimes they're just quirky.

It actually looks like he's stressed out which is apparent in his color loss. So when he loses color, you'll see the black spots more, when he gain's it you wont see them as much. It's very normal to have, not all Betta's have them of course but many do from their wild ancestors


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