New betta with silver scales under head

[mochadoubletall]

Hello,

I was hoping someone might have some information for me. I just got this betta today (sorry he isn't named yet) from the local pet store, so I don't have a lot of information about him yet. I didn't want to put him in the larger tank (with a screen of course) as I don't like the look of the silver scales on his face. I don't want to expose my other betta, Babe-a the Betta to anything now that we have him healthy. We got Babe-a from the same pet store a couple of weeks ago. He was a pale pink/blue and didn't look well at all. I now have him in a ten gallon tank and his colors have brightened up, he flares now, and makes bubble nests. I am glad he is now happy and looking a lot healthier. However, the silver scales on this one just don't look right to me. I put him in a one gallon tank for now as I don't want him in with Babe-a yet. Has anyone seen this before? I am hoping clean water will help this one out a lot too. Any thoughts?

[Kim]

To me it looks to be his coloration. He'll probably color up a bit more and unclamp his fins once he's comfortable and heated. What temp is the tank you have him in now? If the tank is heated, it'd be wise to keep him in there for a few weeks for quarantine. Sometimes things don't show up right away, but your new betta could be carrying something that could be transmitted to your healthy betta. I learned the hard way to always quarantine new fish, and now I won't put a new fish in my tank no matter what unless it has been quarantined for a few weeks.

[mochadoubletall]

Thank you for your response.

His tank is at 75 degrees. I don't have a heater in there yet because he is in my office which is really warm. I am watching the temp though and it if drops I will go get another heater, although I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to put a heater in a one gallon tank.

He seemed to let out a lot of gas a couple of minutes ago, and now he seems more energetic and curious. Can they get too much air in their tummies?

[yamahog3187]

The colors just look like "His Color" Keep him in quarantine for at least a week and do water changes! If you have him in a gallon container, 1-2 50% water changes a week should do him a lot of good. Feed a good quality food and you should have a very happy fish.

[FishGirl]

He looks skinny, but I agree that the silver looks like his coloring. I think he'll be a really handsome boy once he eats regularly and has room to swim! Glad he has you to take care of him. Post another pic (before and after) in a few weeks, after he's doing better.