Worried again...

[Minxies]

So, like before if you guys remember, I had noticed white tips to Aoi's pelvic fins-- and found that's normal. (thank goodness) But it's like once I stopped worrying, THEN he shows other signs of problems!

However, I'm not panicking. (Not yet, anyways)

Housing
What size is your tank? 3gal
What temperature is your tank? 78degrees F
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? yes
Is your tank heated? Yes (finally got the heater)
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Nope.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon- Betta pellets, TopFin-Freeze dried blood worms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 25% water change almost every day to every two to three days. 100% water change once a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? *points above*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Top Fin water conditioner, Ammonia remover if there's ammonia in the water (I test it before I pour it into Aoi's tank especially on 1/3 water changes),
1tsp Aq.Salt (New, just put 1tsp in the last water change this passing Wednesday night. Will put 1 tsp per gallon when I do a 100% water change at the end of the week)

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: (Got the water tested yesterday- No Nitrites)
Nitrate: (Ditto)
pH: NA- petstore didn't tell me
Hardness: (ditto)
Alkalinity: (ditto)

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? There's what looks like grey spots on his head. Not likt Ich, but almost like sores..Like the scales were plucked off
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He's been darting around his tank more often when he sees me.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Tuesday--(2 days ago) I noticed the darting. Wednesday I saw one grey mark like he had a sore, today it's gotten slightly bigger. Like one or two more scales are gone. HE IS STILL EATING RAVENOUSLY! HENCE MY CONFUSION.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Been keeping a close eye on him, on his last partial water change, I took out 1gal from his 3 gal tank and with the new water I added 1tsp of API Aq.Salt.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I don't think so.
How old is your fish (approximately)? No idea. I bought him from PetSmart a couple weeks ago.

As you already read. Tuesday I noticed Aoi was darting around his tank like a madman. To a point where he actually bumped into the cylinder bubble holder in the middle of his tank and freaked out--darting around more.
To try and calm him I turned off his bubbles and filter to give him COMPLETE silence for about two hours. I also turned off his light and let the light from my desk light his tank so it was dimmer.
Then I slowly turned his filter back on after awhile when he seemed to calm down a bit... I thought it might be parasites, BUT. HE IS NOT RUBBING, and I'm not seeing any visual parasites on him. To boot, he's STILL eating with the appetite of a goldfish.

Today he still darts around his tank a little bit; but mostly it's when I come into the room and sit down by him. (he's on a table by my art desk and my computer.)
Yesterday (Tuesday-13) I noticed it looked like he had a scale missing, like he hit something in his tank and got injured. However it's a grayish color. I did a partial water change in his tank (took out 1gallon, and put in a new 1gallon) With this new gallon of water I also included 1tsp of Aq.Salt. (didn't feel comfortable putting 3tsps for 3gallons yet. I'm gonna do that for his next 100% water change on Friday)

I'll try to get a picture of him when I come home from work tonight... I'm really worried about him.
The sore marks on top of his body grew slightly since Tuesday. Like three of his scales got pulled... He's not darting like he was the other night anymore; but it still worries me...
I'm really hoping the Aq.Salt will help him heal, and get rid of any parasites that I'm not seeing...I scoured over the treatments and diseases stickies to see if I could find anything, and I also scoured google.

Any suggestions? :/

[Sakura8]

Are the marks fuzzy in any way? Or raised? Or simply like he's missing scales? Under any other circumstances I would say he had ammonia burns but you change the water on such a frequent basis that I don't see how that could be.

My only suggestion is that you stop using Top Fin water conditioner and the ammonia remover. Ammonia remover is just one extra chemical in the water that he doesn't need. Also, it doesn't actually remove the ammonia, it binds it with another agent that turns it into the less toxic ammonium. Ammonium can still be harmful if it builds up but it will take a lot more of it to reach the harmful stage than ammonia. I would instead recommend using API Stress Coat or Seachem Prime as your water conditioner. Both also neutralize ammonia by turning into ammonium but you only need the one substance, not the two you are using.

Bettas do lose scales from time to time, either from injury or fights or from illness or simply natural shedding of scales. What I'm concerned about is the darting, especially the first incident when he crashed into his bubbler cylinder. I'm curious if anything may have happened that startled Aoi while you were out of the room. Otherwise, it's normal for bettas to dart a little and get excited when they see their owners. I know, I'm not helping much, am I? -__-

All I can suggest for now is aquarium salt and a watchful eye.

[Minxies]

Sakura8- I've been watching him closely. Today he darted a little; but nothing like before. I'm hoping you're right and something just spooked him. He's hiding behind his filter again which is a relief.
I'll stop with the ammonia reducer and just keep with the water changes. I'm working tomorrow until 7.
Either tomorrow, or Saturday I'll hit a petstore and look for the API Stress Coat. I'll continue with the Aq.Salt. :X

[Minxies]

Addition--- His scales don't look raised (Not like Dropsy) The marks don't look fuzzy or slimey at all. Just look like abrasions. I looked again today and they SEEM to be healing. I'll give it another few days to see if they go away completely, or what.

And you're being a HUGE help. :O Don't you dare think like that!

[Sakura8]

Based on what you're telling me, I'd say the marks are literally missing scales or abrasions as you said, that he must have rubbed up against something. If he has a habit of hiding behind his filter, it's possible he rubbed up against something under there. Aquarium salt will keep any chance of infection away. It's very good that the marks aren't fuzzy or slimy or anything else out of the ordinary.

I can only assume that something spooked him to make him dart. Perhaps he was hiding behind his filter when it made a gurgling noise and scared him into jumping and hitting his head? I know my filter will make sudden, random, and loud gurgling noises that startle me. He may have then kept up a little darting because he was both nervous and also glad to see you because you make him feel safer.

Aww, thanks for saying I'm helping you. I'll do my best.

[Minxies]

He's somewhat darting around right now as I speak (tempted to take a video of it to show you what I mean)
But it's NOTHING like the other night. He'll start swimming downwards and zigzag his way down, then swim back to the surface.


The other thing I've been watching that doesn't show he's stressed or overly sick is his fins, they're open and 'loose'. Not tightly pulled in and clamped against his body. And like I said already, he's got a BIG appetite.
I'm tempted to get some sponge and putting it behind the filter to block him out- in turn to that finding him a nice little cave to put at the bottom of his tank for him to hide in. He's able to hide behind his plants too, but I still feel bad taking away one of his only hiding spots (even if it is a bad hiding spot and I can still see his tailfins poking out hahah)

[Minxies]

P.S-- you've been a huge help to me, and this forum lol. I've read your other posts too >:3
And I appreciate it~

[Sakura8]

Maybe he's an especially active betta? He's not showing any signs of illnesses other than the darting and it doesn't sound too bad, not frantic and panicked. Bettas just like to mess with our minds, I swear. You can always get him an extra plant if you do choose to block off the filter. Maybe he can hide behind his heater then. My girl used to sleep behind hers. Same thing: her tail would be sticking out quite a bit. They're not too good at hide-n-seek, are they?

Edit: *blush* You're welcome, thank you.

[Minxies]

I hope yer right. Those abrasions worry me; but then again... His activeness is why I bought him. I watched him in his cup, and when I picked him up to look at him; he swam to the opposite end of the cup. Making me draw my face closer to look at him; As I did so he flared at me and actually CHARGED me, swimming right at my face. Spooked me so bad I nearly dropped him, lol!
I liked that spirit of his... So you might be right; he's an active betta. I just never noticed this much activity until now.

I forgot to mention I also moved his tank over a week ago... Would that have any affect? (Apart from him swimming more in excitement)
He was across the room before; but now his tank is right by me, and my computer/art desk.

[Minxies]

You know...Contemplating back over it....
The day he started to dart around, I was having a really bad day... I came home grumpy and upset (Retail work and bitchy customers does that to ya)

I'm wondering if he didn't freak out because I WAS FREAKED OUT. Seeing Aoi all panicked, it only made me freak out/upset more.... Like we mirrored back off of one another....

What do you think? :O