Fry -- am I sick or getting color?

[Singinghobbit]

Hey gang
My "little dude" (is likely female) is having an odd start to the new year. I originally posted worried about ick, but I'm noticing something new....

The white area I'd originally noticed under her jaw is now white.irridescent. I can clearly see the scales there, whereas I have note a brown patty forming on the rest of her body (not concerned about that, it just seems to be her color.)

Also, when she flares her gills, they appear more red then the Brent of the body, expect perhaps the lower fins, which have always been brighter than the other coloring. There is also a small white dot that reminds of the opal stone in its color/irridescent quality at the base of each side fin. Do I need to worry about these, or are they growing pains!

She's in 1 gal. Bowl, non heated. Going to get a heater and possibly larger tank soon. She's in tap water treate with kent betta bowl essential.

She eats aqueon betta food, crushed, no problem. No changes in appetite or activity level. No rubbing on her plants. All of the abovbught at the local PetCo, though I'm thinking will have to drive a little further to real aquarium store!

[Singinghobbit]

Another photo -- sorry its upside down, but you can see the gills.

[Meggie6347]

I can't tell from the pics?

However I can offer this information and hope it helps...

Try to get your hands on a heater or find some way to heat her up...especially because she is a baby..what is your water change schedule like? And especially with babies water changes are important because they release a growth stunting hormone that needs to be physically removed by you. But your tank looks pretty clean to me
Ammonia level?

If you can, I would highly recommend getting some real food...frozen works great...like frozen SBS or anything...my first baby betta that I tried to save I fed crushed up adult betta pellets and she never grew and was never healthy...now I feed all of my rescue babies things like Brine shrimp, bloodworms, SBS, etc (all frozen) and they are very healthy and growing fast

[callistra]

Fry are more sensitive than other fish. They need cleaner, warmer water and better quality food than adult bettas to thrive and even live.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[Singinghobbit]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank?room temp
Does your tank have a filter?no to the rest of section
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? pellets - 3-6 twice a day, crushed so she can get them in mouth
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?full gallon daily
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?kent betta bowl essential

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? no

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatmentsee top of thread please
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[Singinghobbit]

Maggie - looking into heater. On these cold nights, I've wrapped a heating pad around the bowl. Don't know if it make a huge difference or not.

Was thinking of trying to grow my own microorganism. What are they called again? Ie mentioned on this or another site. Do you think the tank size is sufficient for a fry at this time, or should I currently have her in something larger? First fish. I'm general a cat person. (:

[RoMay]

Picture is blurry but it looks like my betta's belly turned. It scared me at first, but I watched her closely and the water tempiture/quality to make sure nothing new popped up or it got worse. It's stayed the same and the scales look healthy as well. I'm not a betta expert just been through that 'hey my betta's belly is wierd' faze.

[Meggie6347]

That size tank should be okay for now, but if possible I would upgrade her in the future...to be honest, my babies spent their first few months with me floating in breeding nets and such inside my main tanks...and they are all doing extremely well!

That's good with the heater! I'd say that's the most important thing right now...and the heating pad is good too at night...if you can't get a heater right away (when you do, go for the adjustable heater), try to get at least a themometer so you know where you are at..because the water in the tank will be even colder than he tempurature of the room...thermometers are like 2 bucks..

Good job on maintenance! I am not sure you have to change it that much, but someone correct me if I am wrong...you could probably get away with doing an alternating 50 or 100% water change every day or every other day or so..

As for food, are you talking about microworms? You could culture your own live food, but I have found it easier when the babies are old enough (yours is) to just buy some frozen food...maybe try baby brine shrimp or spirulina brine shrimp? Your lps probably will carry it...I know pet smart and petco do


You seem to be doing a great job wanting to take care of her! You have come to the right place!

[Singinghobbit]

Yup- microforms! With that tiny mouth, I just thought it would be easier than the brine shrimp. I looked t the baby brine shrimp at the store, and they were frozen in mini cubes, so I wasn't sure how to go about that -- thaw out and only feed a portion,but a whole frozen chunk in, Ect. Rookie with flashing lights, right?

[Meggie6347]

Haha
What I do with my frozen food is Pop out a cube (or you might want to just use half a cube and put the other half back for later so you don't waste it or it doesn't become yucky....I put it into a small bowl (make sure you rinse it out well so that there is no soap residue or anything) and fill it up a bit with RO water..then I let it thaw for a minute or two..after that, I take one of those small medicine syringes and suck up some food, then feed it to the betta...you don't have to (you can just squirt it little by little into the tank as she eats it ) but my bettas like to eat it straight out of the syringe..I just get a piece of the food to the very tip of the syringe and they eat it right out of it and just keep u with the water changes so as t get unbeaten food and poop out...or you could use like a turkey baster or something and just pick up unbeaten food every time

Do you acclimate her after water changes?

Hope this helped!