Is my betta sick?

[ajayyelamanchi]

Hi everyone,

My boy Joey is in the picture. He is a multi-color CrownTail. It's been 10 days since I brought him home. He had red color under his gills then. Even now his gills seem to be in the same condition. I was reading about Betta disease and I came across something called gill inflammation. I am not sure if he is suffering from this disorder. Also his head was not too grey when I got him. Now his head is getting darker and darker (brownish-black). Is it some kind of infection or is it a part of his growth process? He is smaller than most of the bettas I saw at the store. I am not sure how old he is.

He used to eat protein pellets during the first week (he always ate very less, like 2 pellets if I put 5) after which I fed him some freeze-dried bloodworms once. Since then he is eating only those bloodworms. He no longer eats the pellets I usually feed him. Instead he takes one in and then spits it out.

I really not sure if something is wrong with him. Please help me.

[Magdalaine]

His head darkening actually sounds like a good thing. Both of my boys are dark-bodied VTs and when I first got them their heads were a much lighter grey colour and you could see their heads were a bit mottled with other colours. In general, if Joey's head is getting a bit darker, it might be that he's less stressed (bettas tend to get almost grey-white when stressed!). As to the reddened gills, if he's in a small container (under 2.5gal) you should be doing partial water changes just about every day and if you aren't, the reddened gills could be due to ammonia build-up.

And one of boys was a picky eater too once I gave him his treat food. Just offer him the pellets as usual and if he doesn't eat them, fish them back out. Eventually he will get hungry enough and eat. Also, what kind of pellets are you feeding him? Picky eaters generally will eat Wardley's or Hikari.

Good luck with your new boy!

[ajayyelamanchi]

I am feeding him Warley High Protein pellets. It's sometimes very funny. I just feel like he is a kid refusing to eat.

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

Welcome to the forum!!! New bettas need time to get comfortable and sometimes they won't eat for weeks. Just keep feeding him the pellets and he will eventually figure out that it's food. Sometimes they can change color a little, mine have gotten more vibrant.

[AngelicScars]

Hikari betta bio gold is the only thing my picky eaters would eat. I would give those a try. Also, they can go along time without eat. If you keep giving them the pellets, they will eventually eat them.
A bloodworm diet only isn't healthy in the long run.
Good luck!

[ajayyelamanchi]

Also, his flares used to be blue and red but now they are gray-black. Does this mean something?

[Romad]

What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph)? The red inflamed gills are typical of ammonia poisoning.

If you don't have a test kit, the best one is API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It's a little more expensive than some others but it is the most accurate and it will last you a very long time. I bought mine at least 6 mos. ago and I test 6 tanks weekly. I'm still using the original kit.

Good luck.

[ajayyelamanchi]

So will it cure if I could reduce the ammonia content in the water? Or do I have to use any medications? Thank you.

[dramaqueen]

Frequent water changes will decrease the ammonia in the water.

[ajayyelamanchi]

Thanks Dramaqueen. I put Joey in another 1.5 gallon tank which has a filter. In 1 hour the dark (brown-black) color on his head were gone. I didn't understand if it was good or if it is bad because now his head is pale-pink. And I see that his entire body has become pale-pink. But now he is playing well (flaring at his own reflection), swimming from corner to corner. Also today he ate 2 of the 4 pellets I fed him.