Mr. T is turning White... help?

[BunniesLair]

Ok.. Mr. T (my fish.. a.k.a. Fishyface) is turning white. And when I say white.. I mean the scales are losing their pigment. It IS NOT a white fuzzy growth. it even appears he has lost some scales. He was red and green.. now he is red, white, and green.

I noticed the color change on his dorsel fin first. Then it moved to his face. Now its in his body.

He is in a 2.5 gallon tank.
Filtered.
I do a 30% water change every week.

He is active! He eats! He plays hide and seek with me.
He does have a plant in the tank... dont know what kind - (Petsmart told me it was the appropriate plant for a betta.)

I did recently go on a 2 week vacation - but the friend who gave me the fish looked after him the whole time. I noticed the color change about 3 days after I got home. He was fine before that as much as I can tell.

I have looked and scoured all the threads I though might help me but I haven't found anything definitive.

I think it could be one of these 3 things..

1. Fin rot - but he still has his fins
2. water too cold
3. He's old hes just losing his color.

I took a photo and tried to attach.. i hope it loads.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[SmokeNLark]

Looks to me like you have a marble :) Finrot actually is rotting away of the fins, it's not that. water too cold won't make him turn that white, and neight will aging. It just dulls the colors.

Marbles constantly change colors. You never know what you're going to get!

Here's a really good article explaining it a bit better-
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/p...articleid=1114

[BunniesLair]

Omg! Thank you!! I am so relieved.And Thank you for the article link as well! I have not read it thoroughly yet, but based on the first few paragraphs and the photos, it does look like that is the best fit.

I did add some aquarium salt to his water and some Maracyn, in case it was fin rot or some other something. His turning is happening rather quickly and I was concerned, and thought I better be proactive than wait.

Talk about relief! Thank you again!

[SmokeNLark]

No problem :)

[Neelie]

ooohhh your in for a treat!!!! you never know what he'll look like!!!! OMG im so jealous! take pics of him changing color you'll luv to be reminded later on.

[Learn To Fly]

Yup I agree he's a marble. Lovely fish and keep us updated with his further changes lol!

[Connieconcon]

Oh! How cool!!

[scootshoot]

That's an awesome looking betta. I am so jealous!

[BunniesLair]

Nellie - What a great Idea! I will do just that! Although my photo skills are not the best, I will try to update this thread; just in case someone else has a betta changing colors and does a search about it.

How many days in between should I update with photos? weekly? Or As I notice huge changes? I really don't want to spam the forum.

[WolfLinket]

Cute! He reminds me of Christmas! Good thing he isn't sick.