Ammonia burns..?

[Alcemistnv]

So for the longest time, I was told/belived Buddha had ammonia burns on his fins because of the red tint. But, the color has been going in and out lately. It gets more noticeable before I do a water change, which would be when the tank has 2 day old water in it. But then it "goes away" a little after the tank is cleaned. Is the red being affected by the ammonia, or something in the tank?

And HOW do I test the ammonia? I currently have one water test strip, but it doesn't test for ammonia ><

Also, Buddha's fins aren't fully healing from the fin rot. It's been quite awhile and although his fin tear is almost healed, the edge of his caudal and anal fins are still dark/ cellophane.


What size is your tank? 2 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 77 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none


Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? every other day or every 3 days

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100% or 50% if I do one change after another

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner and AQ salt

Water parameters are perfect except the hardness in which the water is REALLY soft.

Thanks! :)

[Pataflafla]

How long have you been doing the aquarium salt. It shouldn't be used for longer than 10 days at a time since long term use usually ends up damaging the kidneys.

also, does he seem stressed when you change the water? He could just be paling up from stress, causing the red to stand out more and then regaining his more natural colors afterwards.

If you could get a picture of the redness though, that would help out in determining.

If you're using aquarium salt to treat though, it's best to do 100% daily changes while it is being used.

[Alcemistnv]

Oh dear, I didn't know that about the AQ salt. He definitely won't have any for the next change then.

Here is a picture of it.


I can't get a good picture of him now because he's being obnoxious, but the red is faded and you can definitely see the blue a lot better. His ventrals are still red though.

[Pataflafla]

That's common coloring for blue bettas. the ventral fins are usually bright red with some red along the anal fin.

Red and blue tend to be the strongest color layers in bettas, so either of then are usually dominant.

He looks pretty healthy. I don't really see any issues with him. He probably just gets a little stressed with the water changes. Once he gets used to them he should calm down a little. Another way to do changes without removing him from the tank is to get a small hose and start suction through it to remove the water. you can do the same to put water in the tank as well.

some bettas stress more when they are taken out of the tank for a change than others, so you'll just have to figure out if he's one of those bettas or not.

[Alcemistnv]

You just made my day, thank you :)

This entire time I thought that I was hurting him somehow because I don't often see bettas of his coloring. Thank you so much :)

[Perseusmom]

He is so pretty and looks great ! The suction or gravel cleaner is a wonderful idea I have one for my 5 gallon and I would not trade it for anything and it was only like 8 dollars at my LPS. Perseus loves waters changes and I dont have to take him out of the tank if I need to do a big water change I just leave him in with enough water to swim in, he always wants to hang around the clear tube that comes with the suction hose that you clean your gravel with and when I pour the refill water in he loves to play in it by getting close enough that it swiirls him around...lol Its the cutest thing !