Is my fish sick or just changing color?

[coraluxe]

HELP, I'm getting a bit worried about my fin_tank. Had him for a year now, and he's been doing awesome. But this past week, I've noticed this weird white scale color change on his head, and it's spreading fast - now it's patchy on his side, top fin, and even his tail. His tail used to be dark blue with dark red tips, but now it's mostly orangey red with a bit of dark blue. And his head patch is changing color too - sometimes it looks purplish, other times orangy, I guess depending on the lighting.

But here's the thing, his behavior's totally normal - he's still energetic, swims around the whole tank like usual, and eats normally. He even gets all flared up when I take too many pictures of him. Water parameters are all normal, and the temp's at 78. I'm wondering, is this just a mid-life color change after a year, or is something wrong? The 2nd pic's from 2 days ago, and the first one's from today.

[coltin]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

First things first, I'd recommend giving the inside of the glass a good wipe down with a clean fish sponge. This will get rid of the biofilm that's built up, which can harbor all sorts of nasty stuff like bacteria, fungus, and protozoans.

In terms of water changes, I'd do a 75% change every day for the next week, and make sure to gravel clean the substrate each time. This will really help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your fish a cleaner environment to recover in. Just remember to dechlorinate any new water before adding it to the tank.

If you haven't cleaned your filter in the last couple of weeks, now's a good time to do it - just be sure to wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water, and re-use them. If your filter's less than 6 weeks old, though, it's best to leave it alone for now. You can tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn. Cleaning the filter will help get rid of any built-up gunk and keep the water cleaner.

Also, try increasing the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank to maximize the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Let's see how your fish does over the next week. If things improve, it might just be a color change - but if it gets worse, it could be a sign of a disease like a bacterial infection. The daily water changes should help reduce any diseases in the water.

If you could post another picture in a week's time - or sooner if things take a turn for the worse - that'd be great. And if your fish stops eating or starts doing stringy white poop, be sure to post an update right away.

[coraluxe]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

First things first, I'd recommend giving the inside of the glass a good wipe down with a clean fish sponge. This will get rid of the biofilm that's built up, which can harbor all sorts of nasty stuff like bacteria, fungus, and protozoans.

In terms of water changes, I'd do a 75% change every day for the next week, and make sure to gravel clean the substrate each time. This will really help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your fish a cleaner environment to recover in. Just remember to dechlorinate any new water before adding it to the tank.

If you haven't cleaned your filter in the last couple of weeks, now's a good time to do it - just be sure to wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water, and re-use them. If your filter's less than 6 weeks old, though, it's best to leave it alone for now. You can tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn. Cleaning the filter will help get rid of any built-up gunk and keep the water cleaner.

Also, try increasing the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank to maximize the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Let's see how your fish does over the next week. If things improve, it might just be a color change - but if it gets worse, it could be a sign of a disease like a bacterial infection. The daily water changes should help reduce any diseases in the water.

If you could post another picture in a week's time - or sooner if things take a turn for the worse - that'd be great. And if your fish stops eating or starts doing stringy white poop, be sure to post an update right away.

I'm getting really worried, he's changing color so fast and it's not looking good. I did a 50% water change today, and my filter's only a month old, so I'm hoping that helps. He's still eating and behaving normally, swimming around, exploring his plants and SpongeBob cave, and interacting with me a lot - he still comes up to me as soon as I call him. But the color change is really concerning me, I just want to make sure he's okay.

[coltin]

There are diseases, usually bacterial infections, that can cause sudden colour changes like that - cream, white or grey patches. However, some Bettas have a marble gene that causes them to change colour too. Daily water changes for a week should help reduce any disease organisms in the water, then it's just a matter of monitoring him.

If he keeps eating and acting normally, and doesn't go off his food, it's probably just a colour change and nothing to worry about. But if he stops eating or does a stringy white poop, that's a concern.

For now, just do daily water changes and gravel cleaning. As your filter is still new, don't worry about cleaning it yet. Just monitor him over the next week or two. As long as he keeps acting normal and eating well, there's nothing to worry about.

[coraluxe]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

First things first, I'd recommend giving the inside of the glass a good wipe down with a clean fish sponge. This will get rid of the biofilm that's built up, which can harbor all sorts of nasty stuff like bacteria, fungus, and protozoans.

In terms of water changes, I'd do a 75% change every day for the next week, and make sure to gravel clean the substrate each time. This will really help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and give your fish a cleaner environment to recover in. Just remember to dechlorinate any new water before adding it to the tank.

If you haven't cleaned your filter in the last couple of weeks, now's a good time to do it - just be sure to wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water, and re-use them. If your filter's less than 6 weeks old, though, it's best to leave it alone for now. You can tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden or lawn. Cleaning the filter will help get rid of any built-up gunk and keep the water cleaner.

Also, try increasing the surface turbulence and aeration in the tank to maximize the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Let's see how your fish does over the next week. If things improve, it might just be a color change - but if it gets worse, it could be a sign of a disease like a bacterial infection. The daily water changes should help reduce any diseases in the water.

If you could post another picture in a week's time - or sooner if things take a turn for the worse - that'd be great. And if your fish stops eating or starts doing stringy white poop, be sure to post an update right away.

Thanks for the help, I'm just worried about the quick color change, it seems so sudden. I did a 50% water change already and my filter's about a month old, so I'll keep an eye on him. He's still eating and acting normal, swimming around and interacting with me like usual. I just hope it's just a color change and not something wrong with him.