# Help - my daughter’s betta has a grey chin and white spots only on his chin



## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)

Hi
Could someone please give me suggestions on what is wrong with our fish? The fish store said it is probably Ich but the spots aren’t super white and they aren’t all over his body. See attached photo. Thank you in advance


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 4
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? No

Food:
What food brand do you use?
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Aquino Pellets and bloodworms
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 2x/day 4worms morning 4 worms 2 pellets evening

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? He is new - no water change yet
What percentage of water did you change?
What is the source of your water? Tap 
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? I’m agitation conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water _before_ the regular water change; not after one. (I will take to the fish store today and get these numbers. I used the test strips and everything looks good but I don’t have exact numbers)

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness (GH):
Alkalinity (KH): 110

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? 6 days ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Grey chin at first and now those bumps on chin
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? He might be a little more active not sure. 
Is your Betta still eating? Yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Yes with Ich medicine. I’ve treated the tank twice. 
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? Not sure 
How long have you owned your Betta? 3 weeks
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? Not sure


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)




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## Mbpoppy (Nov 3, 2019)

Hi!
What is the water conditioner? It typo'd....

Are the bloodworms frozen, or freeze-dried? If freeze-dried, those are intended to be given as treats only.

How new is new? 








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













Oldfishlady water change recommendations


Lots of different ways to successfully keep this species- Based on the experiments I have conducted over the years-I have found that water quality can be maintained by these water change schedules. This is based on feeding quality foods and not overfeeding-since most water quality...




www.bettafish.com






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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

He doesn't have Ich. The gray under his chin is natural iridescence. Are the spots raised? Are they equal on both sides or on just one side? They also appear to be natural iridescence.

Following the Forum's cycling tutorial you usually need to do two one-gallon water changes and vacuums per week. Once cycled, a four-gallon needs a one-gallon water change and vacuum once per week.

Are you feeding Aqueon and not Aquino? If so, which formula? If it's not Betta Pro you are fine. If it is Betta Pro switch to something more nutritious like one of the other two formulas or NorthFin Betta Bits.

Unless the strips showed 0 ppm Nitrites the water is not acceptable. Dipping out the water is not good as it doesn't clean the detritus from the substrate.


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)

Hi!
What is the water conditioner? It typo'd....
WATER CONDITIONER imagitarium betta water conditioner 

Are the bloodworms frozen, or freeze-dried? If freeze-dried, those are intended to be given as treats only.

yes freeze dried... should I be feeding frozen?

How new is new?
He was one week in a bowl (we got him as a gift and they put him in a bowl) and one week in 4 gallon aquarium with filter and heater.

WATER
pH 7.6
High range pH 7.4
Ammonia 1.0ppm
Nitrate NO2 .25ppm
Nitrate NO3 5ppm


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)

The spots appeared first on his right side and yes they are raised... like little bubbles. Now he has them on both sides and his chin is more grey... I’ll upload new photos now.



RussellTheShihTzu said:


> He doesn't have Ich. The gray under his chin is natural iridescence. Are the spots raised? Are they equal on both sides or on just one side? They also appear to be natural iridescence.
> 
> Following the Forum's cycling tutorial you usually need to do two one-gallon water changes and vacuums per week. Once cycled, a four-gallon needs a one-gallon water change and vacuum once per week.
> 
> ...


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)




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## Mbpoppy (Nov 3, 2019)

Lauriez said:


> should I be feeding frozen?


Thank you for clarifying .

Yes, --the freeze dried is intended for treats only. In this case I think I'd keep it easier and just feed him the pellets morning and evening, per the appropriate variety of the aqueon brand noted above. Feed the quantity advised on the container.

He needs a water change.


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

I agree with everything said above. He doesn't have ich, is just bloated. I would change out his food as well, I like Omega One Betta Buffet. To treat the bloat fast him for 3-5 days and see if it gets any better. Do you know if the tank is cycled?


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## Lauriez (Dec 1, 2020)

KekeTheBettaDoc said:


> I agree with everything said above. He doesn't have ich, is just bloated. I would change out his food as well, I like Omega One Betta Buffet. To treat the bloat fast him for 3-5 days and see if it gets any better. Do you know if the tank is cycled?


Th tank isn’t cycled. It is new. I didn’t even know what “cycled” meant until I googled it. I didn’t buy this fish, my daughter received it as a gift. When I started researching Betta fish, I found that they shouldn’t just be in a bowel so I bought the tank, filter and heater. I vacuumed the gravel and changed 50% of the water. I also purchased some salt (I read that I should add salt) but since none of you have mentioned it, I won’t. Should I test the water again now? I will order the food you recommended today and put him on a fast. I also bought some frozen bloodworms. Are those only “treats” too? Man oh man this $3 gift has cost mommy a lot of money so far... and work haha! Thank you to you all!!


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## Mbpoppy (Nov 3, 2019)

Bless your heart for coming to this site and for learning about these little guys 

You're right, hold off on the salt. The salt is suggested in addition to ich medicine to treat the water in order to kill the parasite, but he doesn't have ich. Speaking of, you may want to consider doing water changes a little more frequently than is typically advised for that size container since the ich med is in there, so that it's removed.

Do test the water, it will help to give you an idea of how things go with him and his tank (I personally think every fish and tank environment is a little different).

Frozen bloodworms are fine to feed on a regular basis.



Lauriez said:


> and put him on a fast


Some people adhere to the "fast-once-a-week" thinking, I personally don't. My boys get their pellet meals twice a day every day, with a (freeze dried) bloodworm now and then through the week plus some flakes of another food. Since your boy is dealing with a new tank plus the meds, I think I'd keep feeding him as you would normally so he has the nutrition that he needs to handle the extra stress.

Re-read through the posts above if you haven't had a chance to already, the two links I posted for you should be hlepful plus Russelltheshihtzu's advice is always excellent.

By the way you take marvelous photos! All the lights around him/on him are shut off at night so he can sleep?


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