# Betta slowly turning white and pink... marbling or sick?



## TheTrojanBetta (Jul 4, 2013)

Over the past month or two, one of my bettas, Rigsby, has slowly been turning bright white, with a few pink spots within the white area. It started small at the base of his dorsal fin, has now covered most of that area and is spreading onto his body. There is also a small white area now on his stomach. I made a thread previously because I thought there was a fungus issue, but after treating for fungus the few small fuzzies clinging to his tail disappeared, and there have been no further issues with anything fuzzy or fungus-like that I can tell. There was no effect on the white area, which has continued to spread. I'm not sure anymore if this is an infection, whether bacterial or fungal or something else, or if he could possibly be marbling. If anyone has an opinion on which it might be I would appreciate your help, thank you!

Housing
What size is your tank? *2.5 gallons.*
What temperature is your tank? *78 degrees.*
Does your tank have a filter? *No.*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? *No.*
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? *Omega One pellets, frozen brine shrimp.*
How often do you feed your betta fish? *Twice a day, 5-6 days a week.* 

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? *Twice a week.*
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? *50% one change, 100% another.* 
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?* Seachem Prime and Stress Coat +. *

Water Parameters:
*Don’t have a testing kit.*

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *His dorsal fin has been turning a bright white, with a few light pink spots as well. It’s not fuzzy, the scales that have been affected aren’t raised; the color of his fins is just changing.* *His fins aren't deteriorating or anything like that either.*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? *Not at all; he is still his same old self, active and eating and very personable.*
When did you start noticing the symptoms? *The past month or so, but he’s only really started to turn white in the past couple of weeks.*
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? *I treated for a small fungus issue, which I also thought the color was coming from, with Triple Sulfa and Jungle Fungus Clear. Before that I had also used some aquarium salt. He is no longer being treated with anything.*
Does your fish have any history of being ill? *He was pretty unhealthy when I first got him but has been perfectly healthy ever since.*
How old is your fish (approximately)? *If I had to guess I would say somewhere between one and two years.*

Here's Rigsby before any of his color changed.
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And then a few pictures from today. Again it's not fuzzy or anything, it seems to be the actual color of his fins changing.
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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

I would say that is marbling as he looks healthy to me.


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## Stormageddon (Apr 25, 2014)

I am in no way an expert in these matters, however last night I posted a thread about the EXACT same issue and have been confidently told it's marbling as well. I have some pic's here if you're interested as it looks exactly the same as what is happening for your fish - http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=387474


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## TheTrojanBetta (Jul 4, 2013)

Thank you both so much for your responses, you've helped to ease my mind a little bit. 

Stormageddon, that does look and sound really similar, we've even had the two of them for about the same amount of time before having this crop up. Thanks for linking me to your thread! Like you said, it's the dark to light transformation that kind of alarmed me more than it might have otherwise, along with the fact that I've had him for almost seven months and I've never once seen him change color before, besides when I first got him. He did have some white and other colors on him, he wasn't very blue at all at first. I thought it was just him coloring up but if he is a marble maybe that's at least partially what it was!
I don't know if they'll help confirm anything but here are some of my earliest pictures of Rigsby and how his colors changed in the first couple of months I had him:
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## Stormageddon (Apr 25, 2014)

Wow, look at those pic's! There is some hard core colour changing going on there! He really developed into a gorgeous blue didn't he! 

I don't know if you saw the link to Seki's thread (if not here it is: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=360713&page=3) but this is what really cemented for me that Captain America wasn't dying. I am still keeping a pretty close eye on him, which he is loving, but based on my extremely limited knowledge of betta fish I would guess yours is probably marbling too


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## TheTrojanBetta (Jul 4, 2013)

Thank you so much for your input, I really do appreciate it! Knowing that others have had the same thing happen and it was just marbling is very reassuring. Like you said, I think I'll continue to keep a close eye on him, but until proven otherwise maybe I can go ahead and say he's a marble and not worry quite so much.  
Captain America is very pretty by the way! It'll be fun to watch how he changes!


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## Stormageddon (Apr 25, 2014)

You're more than welcome, so glad I could actually help  

I really love Rigsby's white crowntail fin along his back, makes him look like a punk rocker, LoL. I hope Rigsby continues to keep you as entertained as Captain America is keeping me (his dorsal fin is turning blue again now and he now has a white goatee and sideburns).


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## TheTrojanBetta (Jul 4, 2013)

A white goatee?! Haha, that is awesome! I'll have to keep up with Captain America's marbling process.

Thank you!  I think you hit the nail on the head with that one- he's trying to express his inner punk! XD It will definitely be interesting to watch him change, I'll have to take lots of pictures and maybe make a thread to help me keep them organized. 

Thanks again for your help! I was so worried about him, because I never would have thought he was a marble, but the threads you linked and your own experience have helped me see that it is indeed possible. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!


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## Stormageddon (Apr 25, 2014)

No problems at all, really all thanks should go to lilnaugrim as really without her I would still be freaking out over Captain America's white patches, haha. And I would be very interested to keep following the exploits of Rigby The Punk so if you do start your own thread to keep track of his changes please link it here so I can follow the posts


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