# Red Spots on Betta's Body



## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

Hello everyone, I'm going to start by answering the following questions: 

*Housing:*
How many gallons is your tank? 5 gallons 
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What temperature is your tank? 76-77 F
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? Aqueon betta food, sometimes frozen brine shrimp, and occasionally some treats from the betta dial a treat (dried blood worms, mysis, and daphnia) 
Do you feed flakes or pellets? Pellets that I soak beforehand 
Freeze-dried? sometimes brine shrimp 
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? Once a day- 3 pellets soaked in water so that they are soft or same amount of food of the other items I listed above. 

*Maintenance:
Before* your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Once a week 
What percentage of water did you change? 20-30%
What is the source of your water? Sink 
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? dip out water 
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? Seachem's Prime when adding new water, and API stress zyme when adding new water as well. 

*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.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 2-3 ppm 
pH: roughly 7 
Hardness (GH): not sure
Alkalinity (KH): not sure 

*Symptoms and Treatment:*
When did you first notice the symptoms? roughly 2-3 weeks ago 
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? The red dots on the top of his head have gotten slightly bigger recently 
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? It has not changed at all. 
Is your Betta still eating? Yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? I have not, no 
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No 
How long have you owned your Betta? 2-3 months 
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? He definitely did not have all of his scales on his body, specifically by his head but majority of them have grown back nicely. 

I noticed two small red dots near his head about a week or two ago but his behaviour has not changed at all. He is still eating perfectly fine and has two huge bubble nests that he constantly is working on. I feel as if the dots have gotten bigger but other than their physical appearance, he has shown no other symptoms. I had a live plant that was dying that I recently replaced but his dots appeared way before I made this update. I also recently added that house to his tank which you can see below but I haven't really seen him show any signs of stress. I had to sand the house because it was rough but I let it soak in warm water for an hour or two to get the debris off before adding it into the tank. I have no clue what could be wrong with him... It doesn't look like a typical betta fish disease. 







(Here's a picture of Snape for reference)
You can see his scales are still missing a little at the top of his head but the darker spots are the red spots- they're a little hard to see.


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## MABetta (Jan 10, 2021)

Hard to tell from just one angle, but from my experience fish change color either top to bottom or bottom to top. Could he have the marble gene and this is just a "new" color coming in? Net injury?


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## Asbofish (Sep 25, 2020)

Marble gene is really pervasive now, if no other symptoms other than a colour change it's usually safe to assume it's just that. If any other symptoms develop or you can get a photo of the new colour change from another angle or under more direct lighting pls add tho so we can be sure. But for now I don't think you need worry too much.


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## MABetta (Jan 10, 2021)

Asbofish said:


> Marble gene is really pervasive now, if no other symptoms other than a colour change it's usually safe to assume it's just that. If any other symptoms develop or you can get a photo of the new colour change from another angle or under more direct lighting pls add tho so we can be sure. But for now I don't think you need worry too much.


"Pervasive" sounds like such a "harsh" word for us marble gene lovers!


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## BettaloverSara (Oct 15, 2020)

It doesn’t look like marbling to me, looks like he scraped himself on something.

just a note, if you don’t vacuum the substrate you will eventually get a build up of detritus in your substrate that will start to cause you issues. I’d recommend getting a syphon.


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## Asbofish (Sep 25, 2020)

MABetta said:


> "Pervasive" sounds like such a "harsh" word for us marble gene lovers!



Haha I know, I have a lovely marble boy too but I was working towards "prevalent" and had a brain fart so that's the P-word-for-widespread I got stuck on.


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

BettaloverSara said:


> It doesn’t look like marbling to me, looks like he scraped himself on something.
> 
> just a note, if you don’t vacuum the substrate you will eventually get a build up of detritus in your substrate that will start to cause you issues. I’d recommend getting a syphon.


I do own a gravel vacuum but last time I used it it completely uprooted all of my plants and I wasn't even able to suck up that much of the stuff that sits on the bottom of the tank because I found it extremely difficult to use. I very recently saved 70% of the water and removed my fish so that I could clean the substrate. I set aside about 40-50% of the pebbles so that the good bacteria could remain on them and rinsed the other half off. I know this is not an ideal way to clean the tank but I'm very hesitant to use the gravel vacuum again. If you have any other suggestions I'm down to try anything!


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

Here are some other photos I took of his red spots. I don't think it's marble related because they look pretty red and he doesn't have any of that red coloring anywhere else on his body. 

































I also changed the light to try and really show the redness of them. They're not bumpy or lumpy at all. I would say they could be from the new toy I put in there but he had smaller red dots in the same spot on his head before I added the new house.


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## MABetta (Jan 10, 2021)

Can you tell me his colors?


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## Asbofish (Sep 25, 2020)

HOUDINItheBETTA said:


> Here are some other photos I took of his red spots. I don't think it's marble related because they look pretty red and he doesn't have any of that red coloring anywhere else on his body.
> I also changed the light to try and really show the redness of them. They're not bumpy or lumpy at all. I would say they could be from the new toy I put in there but he had smaller red dots in the same spot on his head before I added the new house.


Ah yes I see it now, the red hue was a bit washed out on the original photo so I wasn't sure, but I do think that could be a a scrape now judging from the other pics. Keep an eye on it to be sure.


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## SoCalBetta (Apr 15, 2019)

Could it be he is scraping those areas coming out of a decor hole? Unless you notice it anywhere else on his body, it could be he goes into and out of decoration holes and just tends to scrap the top of his head and top body area. Just a thought. 

I forgot to hit the post reply button earlier. Or this would of been first reply.


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

MABetta said:


> Can you tell me his colors?


Yes! His main body color is a dark purple and the lighter color on the top is a light purply-pink. He hasn't changed colors since I've had him but the scales on the top of his head have slowly been growing back in since I purchased him from a petstore (I know, not ideal).


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

SoCalBetta said:


> Could it be he is scraping those areas coming out of a decor hole? Unless you notice it anywhere else on his body, it could be he goes into and out of decoration holes and just tends to scrap the top of his head and top body area. Just a thought.
> 
> I forgot to hit the post reply button earlier. Or this would of been first reply.


Haha no worries! I mentioned before that I spent a while sanding down all of the rough edges, especially the tops and bottoms of the holes he can swim in and out of. I sanded the entire outside of the house and tried to even sand the inside if there were any rough points. I wonder if that is still an issue though even though I ran my fingers over everything and it felt pretty smooth to me. Even though I just put in that house I feel like it's part of the problem... Do I take it out?


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Use a pair of hose or fine mesh on the decor. If they snag then he can scrape himself on them.


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

Hello friends! I'm reviving this post because despite removing the huge decor I added his red spot on his back has increased in size. There is nothing sharp in his tank and I don't know if it's his coloring or if it's something else. His behavior is totally normal but to me it doesn't look right; it looks more like a bloody red rather than a pink or purple that is already on his body. Here is a picture below: 







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I feel like if it was just scale regrowth it would be situated by now because I've had him for quite a few months. Originally the spot on his head was like a bald patch. I know it's hard to tell with this lighting but the patch above his head is a red color that is nowhere else on his body. I have some Bettafix I could add to his tank if you guys think that would be helpful. All of the water parameters are the same. It doesn't look like any typical betta disease so I'm just confused and a little worried.


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## Kat50 (Dec 22, 2020)

He does look like he is scraping his back on something since it has a line from his head to his dorsal. I would add either IAL or rooibos tea to the tank to help prevent infection if it is a scrape.


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## HOUDINItheBETTA (Sep 8, 2020)

Kat50 said:


> He does look like he is scraping his back on something since it has a line from his head to his dorsal. I would add either IAL or rooibos tea to the tank to help prevent infection if it is a scrape.


I also thought that but he had no scales from the top of his head to his dorsal when I bought him. I have seen some regrowth but it’s the red patch near his head that makes me nervous. I had almond leaf extract from petco that I put in when I do water changes but should i also boil a leaf and add that water too? I don’t have any Rooibos tea but I could pick some up tomorrow.


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## Seqathe (Apr 17, 2021)

HOUDINItheBETTA said:


> should i also boil a leaf and add that water too?


I would personally add the leaf, in fact you can keep IAL in their tanks at all times as it is beneficial to them 

What is that thing below him in the picture? Is that part of a decoration? I've only ever added one piece of decoration to my tanks and I sanded it for well over an hour. Still, even though I could not feel anything with my finger, there was a snag on it when I ran a piece of panty hose over it. Sometimes it can be hard to feel it with a bare finger. I read above that you said you removed his décor but I wasn't sure if anything was left behind that could cause scraping.


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