# Mr. T is turning White... help?



## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

Ok.. Mr. T (my fish.. a.k.a. Fishyface) is turning white. And when I say white.. I mean the scales are losing their pigment. It IS NOT a white fuzzy growth. it even appears he has lost some scales. He was red and green.. now he is red, white, and green.

I noticed the color change on his dorsel fin first. Then it moved to his face. Now its in his body.

He is in a 2.5 gallon tank. 
Filtered.
I do a 30% water change every week.

He is active! He eats! He plays hide and seek with me. 
He does have a plant in the tank... dont know what kind - (Petsmart told me it was the appropriate plant for a betta.)

I did recently go on a 2 week vacation - but the friend who gave me the fish looked after him the whole time. I noticed the color change about 3 days after I got home. He was fine before that as much as I can tell. 

I have looked and scoured all the threads I though might help me but I haven't found anything definitive. 

I think it could be one of these 3 things.. 

1. Fin rot - but he still has his fins
2. water too cold 
3. He's old hes just losing his color.

I took a photo and tried to attach.. i hope it loads. 

Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## SmokeNLark (Jul 22, 2010)

Looks to me like you have a marble  Finrot actually is rotting away of the fins, it's not that. water too cold won't make him turn that white, and neight will aging. It just dulls the colors.

Marbles constantly change colors. You never know what you're going to get!

Here's a really good article explaining it a bit better- 
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=1114


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

Omg! Thank you!! I am so relieved.And Thank you for the article link as well! I have not read it thoroughly yet, but based on the first few paragraphs and the photos, it does look like that is the best fit.

I did add some aquarium salt to his water and some Maracyn, in case it was fin rot or some other something. His turning is happening rather quickly and I was concerned, and thought I better be proactive than wait. 

Talk about relief! Thank you again!


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## SmokeNLark (Jul 22, 2010)

No problem


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

ooohhh your in for a treat!!!! you never know what he'll look like!!!! OMG im so jealous! take pics of him changing color  you'll luv to be reminded later on.


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## Learn To Fly (May 15, 2010)

Yup I agree he's a marble. Lovely fish and keep us updated with his further changes lol!


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## Connieconcon (Nov 15, 2010)

Oh! How cool!!


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

That's an awesome looking betta. I am so jealous!


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

Nellie - What a great Idea! I will do just that! Although my photo skills are not the best, I will try to update this thread; just in case someone else has a betta changing colors and does a search about it.

How many days in between should I update with photos? weekly? Or As I notice huge changes? I really don't want to spam the forum.


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## WolfLinket (Nov 15, 2010)

Cute! He reminds me of Christmas! Good thing he isn't sick.


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

Seriously! Me too! 

BUT
I was panic'ing over what could be causing it; thinking it was Fin rot, old age...death soon, something DIRE.

Now.. (several hours later, time to digest, calm down, think clearly) I am like, cool! He's going to be a constant surprise, woo! Sorta like Nellie said.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

BunniesLair said:


> Nellie - What a great Idea! I will do just that! Although my photo skills are not the best, I will try to update this thread; just in case someone else has a betta changing colors and does a search about it.
> 
> How many days in between should I update with photos? weekly? Or As I notice huge changes? I really don't want to spam the forum.


Just update pics if you notice drastic changes. Put the pics on this same thread so it keeps the spam at a minimum.


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## Learn To Fly (May 15, 2010)

I agree ^^

I love marbles! I have one myself, except he went from marbled to solid, and even though he's pretty the way he is now I sort of like how he was better...


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## DazzleKitty (Nov 9, 2010)

I never even knew about these marble bettas until this thread! A big scared for you ended up being a really good thing in the end! I bet you're going to have a lot of fun seeing what colors he'll change into. What a cool fish you've got!


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

well, he could change over night! it could take a few days or weeks too. you just never know!  you could wake up one morn and have a totally different fish! its so darn cool! never gets boring lol.
id say take a pic when you hear yourself say; 
"whoa, wheres the darn camera!....lol"


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

That is such an AWESOME betta! Marbles are so fun to have.


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## WolfLinket (Nov 15, 2010)

BunniesLair said:


> Seriously! Me too!
> 
> BUT
> I was panic'ing over what could be causing it; thinking it was Fin rot, old age...death soon, something DIRE.
> ...


That's awesome! And just in time too, its almost December! :-D


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

I wanted to update the first post with new photos... so you can see the changes.. but the edit button is gone and i cant edit the first post..


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

^^^ wow! he really is changing fast on you! 
isnt it so much fun watching!? keep us posted!


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## LikeDiscoSuperfly (Oct 18, 2010)

Wow, he is changng quickly! So FUN!
He is really different. <3


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

What is interesting is that when I first noticed the change; his whole dorsal fin was white. Now, there is color coming back to the dorsal fin at the front of the base of the fin, where it had been white Thursday last week. I didn't really check the fin specifically until today when I was comparing photos I took.

Also as of today, his whole face both sides is white ..or pigmentless, where as last Thursday it was on one side.

His eyes, the right eye still has a small ring of pigment you can just barely make out in my horrid photos.. but the left eye has no pigment ring at all. 

Good news is he is still quite active and has a healthy appetite.


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## FuulieQ (Jan 10, 2010)

Good, how cool! You've got a chameleon-fish.


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

*Update 11-24*

It's just been 2 days since the last photo.. but I think this is a huge change..


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Just something I'd share...100% true:

A breeder shipped a white betta with blue spots to a show....it got there SOLID BLUE! Remember shipping takes 1-3 days so that was fast!

Nice boy you got there!


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

MrVampire181 said:


> A breeder shipped a white betta with blue spots to a show....it got there SOLID BLUE!


OMG that made me laugh :lol: thats why i love marbles lol


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## WolfLinket (Nov 15, 2010)

BunniesLair said:


> It's just been 2 days since the last photo.. but I think this is a huge change..


Aw, he looks a bit messy with all that color but he looks really nice.


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

Wolf - Completely agree... part of me misses the old color,the other part cant wait to see what he will be.. the last part thinks.. not very attractive stage right now.

His lips and one eye are now black.. I wonder if hes going that direction...


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

You'll never know...that's why we love marbles!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Marble bettas are like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get. lol


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> Marble bettas are like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get. lol


 MMM Tasty...well the chocolate not the bettas


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

lol!!!


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## BunniesLair (Jul 20, 2010)

*Updated Photos*

Ok Mr. T aka FishyFace has some new photos. 11-29-2010

Almost all his green on his body is gone now. He has a bit remaining on by his tail. His fins are losing colors in stripes. Rather odd to me. 

It looks to me like his lips are turning black, and around his gills are turning dark too. I couldn't get a photo of him. He likes to dart around and moves too fast for me. So I apologize about the lousy photo quality.


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## NikiandBeyond (Nov 26, 2010)

He has a very nice mustache! If he gets a beard too, he'll be very much like Mr. T! :brow:


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

I love Marbles! So crazy!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

He's very pretty!!


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## WolfLinket (Nov 15, 2010)

BunniesLair said:


> Ok Mr. T aka FishyFace has some new photos. 11-29-2010
> 
> Almost all his green on his body is gone now. He has a bit remaining on by his tail. His fins are losing colors in stripes. Rather odd to me.
> 
> It looks to me like his lips are turning black, and around his gills are turning dark too. I couldn't get a photo of him. He likes to dart around and moves too fast for me. So I apologize about the lousy photo quality.


Cool he's looking better! He looks like he'll be a dragon betta or a *combodian (Sorry for bad spelling)
*


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