# Betta's head turned white??



## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

Hello,
This is my first time posting here and I am hoping someone can help me!

My 5yr old son came home with a betta after a day out with Grandma about 5 months ago - I knew nothing about fish care so we have been learning on the fly. I had him in the tiny little square tank that Grandma bought, but that didn't seem fair and after the reading I was doing it didn't seem very warm either, so I bought a bigger tank after about 2 weeks. 

Things have been fine for 5 months, but a few days ago I noticed his head starting to turn white on one side, and now it has progressed to his whole head, both sides. I have moved him back into the tiny bowl while I clean his tank. He is eating just fine, swimming around fine, flaring up at everything (he is fiesty!) and making bubble nests in the little tank...so he doesn't seem miserable, but what do I know about fish?!
Ok, here are the questions answered as best I can:

Housing 
What size is your tank? 3.5 gallon
What temperature is your tank? About 81 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? I don't think so...
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 Betta Buffet Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Generally give him 2 or 3 pellets twice/day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? I hadn't until now...the petstore lady said to just change the filter unless the water got dirty or stinky & it was still crystal clear.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? n/a
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I have to add water due to evaporation & then I add a betta water conditioner with the new water.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? No

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Head has gone from black to white, tail/fins look rough
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Not that I have noticed
When did you start noticing the symptoms? a few days ago, maybe 4 or 5...
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Moved it into a tiny bowl and adding BettaFix as directed by petstore.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? 5 months since we got him - no clue how old he was then.

I am trying to attach a before/after picture as well, hope that it works and it helps us get some answers! 

Thank you in advance!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

He is marbling. It's a natural color


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

Yeah that would be my opinion too. He is changing colour it happens at times.
If he is still active/eating/making nests/flaring and his fins are ok there probably is nothing wrong. I belive mine is in the process too.

Do though start to make some water changes. The filter does cope up but the tank needs at least partial water changes once/twice per week to be on the safe side.


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

Well, I am relieved to hear that it might not be as terrible as I've been imagining!
I will start doing some partial changes for sure if that is what is needed - how much should I change out at a time?

So, what about his tail & fins? They are looking pretty sad these days, and I think it has been a gradual decline but they have worsened recently, around the same time as he started turning white... It doesn't look like the pictures of fin rot that I found, but could that be it?

One last question for now - I have been fasting him for the last 1.5 days because I read that constipation might cause him to turn white, but without his belly bloating I don't think that is the problem. So I moved him back into his big tank this morning and gave him 3 pellets, which he gobbled up, and then about a minute later spit right back out. So I tried to give him 1 more, he ate it and again spit it back out a minute later. I scooped 2 of the 4 that I could find out of the tank, but why is he not eating now??


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Could be the medicine or he is tailbiting


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

> Maintenance
> How often do you perform a water change? I hadn't until now...the petstore lady said to just change the filter unless the water got dirty or stinky & it was still crystal clear.
> What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? n/a
> What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I have to add water due to evaporation & then I add a betta water conditioner with the new water.


If you haven't changed the water in ..._five months_... (pet store people are notoriously stupid when it comes to bettas..) there is going to be a massive buildup of toxins in the water - not only ammonia but all kinds of nasty. What happens then is that there's a kind of chemical process in all that concentrated poison that turns ammonia into ammonium and stops the fish from dying quickly. However, all the other gunk in the water -will- slowly weaken and eventually kill your fish.

But if you change the water suddenly, two things can happen - 1, your fish goes into shock at the new water chemistry especially if you don't acclimate him slowly. 2, tons of built up ammonium (not harmful) reverts right back to ammonia (harmful).

I don't think this fish is marbling after 5 months.. I could be wrong about that, however... and his fins look awful. Those holes are caused by ammonia, and possibly bacteria. 

I'm glad he's not in his home tank -- glad you're cleaning it out. Do the first few water changes in the small bowl very slowly - 25 % at a time. Do one of those every 15 mins for an hour (or slower/smaller amounts over a longer time, if you can), then keep the changes regular from that point. 

In a gallon bowl, you'll need to change the water 50% at least twice a week, as well as 100% once a week. That's the problem with little bowls - poisons build up quickly. In fact, to help his fins heal, he'll need really pristine water (100% every 2nd day is what I do, with advanced fin rot in my 1.5 g hosp tank, you may prefer to do daily in a 1 gallon) and some salt.

Get some rock salt, 1 teaspoon per gallon and predissolve this in conditioned water (Prime's the best water conditioner there is, imo, and great value for money) for every water change. 

No more than 10 days of that. See if his fins improve. Keep him in the small tank for all this, it'll be easier to clean regularly.

I wouldn't use any of the bettafix, melafix stuff on any of my fish, ever - there's a risk of injury to breathing organs and it's just an antiseptic with limited uses anyway. If there's a serious infection, I use salt early on, or a proper antibiotic if it's fast or advanced. 

If you can get some ketapang leaves (Indian Almond Leaves or IAL) and darken his water with one, this will provide a natural betta-friendly antifungal and antibacterial quality to the water. They're pretty cheap for a large bag, usually, and can be bought online. 

Is that white colouration fuzzy/soft looking at all? Or is it like the rest of his scales, only pale? That will help figure out what's happening with it.


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## misty1477 (Jun 22, 2012)

@AUS.....

My Sparkle's fins look similar to the pic on the right....raggedy-looking I was under the impression he was tail-biting. But he does have a white-spot or it kinda looks like a hole through his tail....it is on both sides...hard to tell if it actually a hole or not.

Ends of his fins are whitish with some dark areas .... are his fins just growing back or is this something else???

He is in a 5 gallon tank with silk plants, a flower-ball cave (very smooth inside & out) and smooth 'gems' as substrate. No heater yet....temp okay in room since it is summer....getting one before cold weather sets in just to be on the safe side. See my profile album pics.

I siphon-vaccuum tank once a week - 50% to 75%. Use water conditioner when refilling.

What is your take on his fin issue?

Thanks in advance.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Misty - if you make your own thread for him or have one already, I'd be glad to answer there as best I can, so as not to hijack this thread.


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## misty1477 (Jun 22, 2012)

AUS....I think I have a thread already about this. This thread had a real good pic of how Sparkle kind of looks.

It was on 7-26-12. He looks different than the pics in that thread now. Looks more like the one here.


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## misty1477 (Jun 22, 2012)

Aus....it is called "what is wrong with fins?"

Sorry about the possible 'hijack' :roll:


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

Aus said:


> Is that white colouration fuzzy/soft looking at all? Or is it like the rest of his scales, only pale? That will help figure out what's happening with it.


Not fuzzy or cottony at all, just his normal scales but lacking colour...

Ok, looks like I am off to the pet store first thing tomorrow to look for some of that salt.... I assume PetSmart will have it - hopefully because it is about my only option here and ordering online usually takes forever because most things come from the US and take a while to get to Canada.

I feel terrible that I caused this by not changing the water 
I honestly had no idea. The petsmart employee said she had the same tank that I was in buying & she'd had it for 4 months so far and hadn't had to do anything more than change the filter...I assumed she knew what she was talking about. My mistake & lesson learned!

I was under the impression that he was marbling and not actually sick or in danger, so I went ahead and put him into the fresh/clean home tank again. I hope I didn't cause more problems.

No worries about hijacking, I know we are all here trying to help out sick animals!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I am surprised I didn't kill my CT after I didn't change the water in his 6 gallon for 2 months and did a 100% change


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

xShainax said:


> I am surprised I didn't kill my CT after I didn't change the water in his 6 gallon for 2 months and did a 100% change


I am hoping that because I add a few cup fulls of fresh (conditioned) water every week (due to evaporation) that maybe there was less buildup and fresh water won't be quite as much of a shock to his system... wishful thinking maybe, but I'm going with it for now!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

The worst thing that ever happened to me is changing the water 100% in my 29 gallon tank which shocked my fish and I lost 6 platies, a dwarf gourami, 8 platy fry, and a clown pleco.


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

xShainax said:


> The worst thing that ever happened to me is changing the water 100% in my 29 gallon tank which shocked my fish and I lost 6 platies, a dwarf gourami, 8 platy fry, and a clown pleco.


That's too bad 
How long did it take before they died? He's been in the new water for about 14 hours now... would it have happened already, or is it a slower process? So far he is still acting the same as always and doesn't look any different than this morning...


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

They died in a matter of hours


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

I cant believe it every time I hear something a pet store person has told someone not to change their Bettas water. Thats so crazy !!!! I hope your guy gets better soon !


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

xShainax said:


> They died in a matter of hours


Well, maybe I am in the clear then *fingers crossed* because I just checked him and I had to wake him up because he was all nestled into his plants in the dark room, but he is still alive and swimming!


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## mrszukes (Aug 4, 2012)

Perseusmom said:


> I cant believe it every time I hear something a pet store person has told someone not to change their Bettas water. Thats so crazy !!!! I hope your guy gets better soon !


Thanks, I hope so too!
I was mad when my mother in law bought the fish for my son because I have enough responsibility right now, but I have become pretty attached to him!


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I feel ya, I kept my betta in a 2 gallon bowl before I knew what they really needed


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

> Not fuzzy or cottony at all, just his normal scales but lacking colour...


Well - that is good news! Maybe he is marbling -- I'm just wary of assuming that any pale patch on a fish is 'marbling' on a solid coloured fish (or even a marbled one..) until other causes are ruled out, especially if there's other issues present. Keep an eye on him, but yes - great news that it isn't fuzzy looking.


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