Color changes?

[PeaBlueJr]

Hello, I joined this website because I'm really concerned about my crowntail, Otis. At the end of winter break, I noticed that his top fin had turned to white (from his original dark blue). This had happened over night so I immediately noticed. I first thought that he may have grabbed it (he is a tail biter) and thought nothing of it, thinking that it would heal within a few days. But it's been about a week and a half now and now part of his body is white. I then thought he might be changing colors, but I'm really not sure and would like some input. Any help is gladly appreciated!

Otis lives in a filtered and heated 2.5 gallon tank. It's kept at 80 degrees. It's a fairly new tank, but he's lived in it for about a month. He still acts his normal, feisty self and is eating normally!


The first picture is from a few days ago, and the second one is from today.

[callistra]

I notice he's also very clamped. This is a sign he is stressed. His tail also has some rot.. a crowntail should have long rays in the back line the bottom ones.

More info would be helpful:http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[PeaBlueJr]

He's not usually clamped. He usually only does that when I take pictures (he's real camera shy) and his tail doesn't have fin rot, it's actually in the process of healing because he bit it off really far down. :c

Also, I haven't tested my water parameters yet. Just out of curiousity, what makes the parameters fluctuate?

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? Between 79 and 82 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes, though turned off at the moment
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 times a day, 1-2 pellets each time

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Twice a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Conditioner, a little betta fix

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? I haven't tested anything yet.

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White on the top fin, a little white on body.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Nothing has changed.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a week and a half ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Just water changes and bettafix.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No, never even had fin rot.
How old is your fish (approximately)? Not sure, I bought him from Petsmart a little over 4 months ago.

[callistra]

You add bettafix on a regular basis? I would discontinue this asap. It contains an ingredient that can coat their labrynth lung and cause them to suffocate. If you've been using it a really long time that just increases potential issues..

How long has this tank been set up with your fish in it?

I would do a series of 50% water changes over the next 2-3 days. Your water changes should always include gravel cleaning using small siphon or stir/dip method. Do you do this or just take water off the top?

Why is your tank swinging between 79-82? A good heater should keep that one stable temp and the swings are hard on bettas.

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate build with too infrequent water changes is the easiest explanation. Ammonia should be 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate <20ppm. You should also use a reliable drops kit as strips are unreliable and inaccurate. Ph swings with too soft water or too much ammonia. I wouldn't be worried about ph.

How long have you seen that white? I would be looking for an antibiotic like Kanaplex, Maracyn Plus or last resort furan 2. I would also include epsom salts predissolved at 1 tsp per gallon - 100% pure magnesium sulfate per ingredients label Predissolve and add slowly over an hour or more to avoid shock. You only need to add more salts when you do another water change, and then only add back as much as water you change. I would treat for 2 weeks. Know this will totally crash your cycle so you may want to treat in QT and feed your main tank while he's out. I would move as quickly as you possibly can.

[PeaBlueJr]

Not super regular, and I always put in like half the recommended amount. I will discontinue with it, though.

I used the stir/dip method every other change.

There are two reasons to the slight fluctuation. I live in a dorm room with absolutely no control of the temperature. There is no AC, and they only run the heating certain times a day. The tank also had an Incandescent bulb which heated up the water quite a bit. I finally just recently got a fluorescent bulb and the temperature has actually been at a steady 80 since then.

The white just appeared out of the blue about a week and a half ago. I woke up one morning and his fin was like that. It definitely wasn't like that the night before because I would have noticed something like that while feeding him.

So after doing the 50% water changes for the 2-3 days, do I go back to the 50% changes twice a week, along with adding the antibiotic and salt?

[callistra]

That's probably okay. Personally, I don't like to assume my tanks I'm not doing 100% changes on are okay and I would always own a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I'd do daily tests for a week or two and if you see no ammonia or nitrites during that time you know you're good on that water change routine.

[PeaBlueJr]

Alright. I'm actually heading over to Petsmart today anyway so I'll pick up all of what I need to cure Otis! Thank you so much for your help!