betta turning colors?

[luvsheidi]

hi! so, i have a veiltail betta. his name is Darth Vader and i have had him for about a month. when i first got him i had him in a one gallon tank. i did research and realized that was not big enough for him, so i bought a five gallon tank with a filter, heater, and smooth decorations. i did 50% water changes and gradually made my way down to 25% water changes once a week. i noticed his fins were shreading and so i did some reaserch. i knew it wasnt the decorations because they were safe. i found out he had fin rot. i bought some treatment called BettaFix. after two days i could see the difference. i also noticed that he has been turning back to his original color (red and blue.) is this good? i was just wondering because im new to this whole thing. also, could you give me some tips on taking care of a betta? thanks so much!

[majesticstorm]

If he's turning back to his original color, that's good. However, I recommend that you don't use Bettafix or anything that ends in the word -fix because there's an ingredient in there that can damage their labyrinth organ, and we don't want that. Some other fish medication would be better, such as Seachem Kanaplex.

You should go back to changing the water 50% once a week. It's recommended in OldFishLady's water change recommendations (sticky in this section of the forum). http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758

What brand of fish food are you feeding him? Don't forget to fast him once a week! :)

But overall, it seems like you're doing a pretty good job. Good luck with your boy!

[luvsheidi]

oh i wouldnt want anything to happen to him! i will look up on that medication. and thank you for informing me i will do that now. i am feeding him Top Fin's freeze-dried bloodworms. i feed him a pinch a day in the morning time. and i didnt know you had to fast him once a week, but i will now. thanks.

[Juditko]

I'm new, too, but from what I read here most of the veterans seem to recommend a pellet for the daily food and the bloodworms as a once a week treat. My betta really likes the New Life Spectrum food.

Don't take my word for it; you can probably do a search on "bloodworms" on the threads/posts here and find the relevant posts I've seen.

I went for the 2.5 gallon tank due to space. I think the five is a better idea and probably less trouble overall. I've got my eye on a beautiful 16 gallon bow front kit; maybe someday when the kiddo is older...

Glad you're enjoying your fish. Aren't they just neat?!

[OrangeAugust]

Is your tank cycled? If not, you have to change the water a lot more than 25% a week. Before my 5 gallon was cycled, I changed 50% of the water every other day until it was cycled. That could be why he got finrot. You should get a water testing kit to test the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.