My daughter who is 8, used her birthday money to buy an aquarium and betta. She ended up buying 2 females and for the first couple of weeks, things were great. Then the blue betta stopped eating much and about 2 weeks later, she died. Our red betta (the one I am writing about) still seems very active and eats well. No changes in behavior. But a few weeks ago, we noticed that she had a white spot on her head (see pics). We assumed it was a fungus and treated it as such (twice) but the white spot continues to slowly grow. It is smooth and seems to have scales so it doesn't look like the pics I have seen of a fungus. Overall, her color has also faded quite a bit. We started adding aquarium salt about a week ago with our water changes. My daugher is very worried about her fish, but I can't find any ailment that seems to match what is happening with the little thing. Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe we should have started with goldfish - we are very new to aquariums and raising fish.
Housing
What size is your tank? 2 gallon
What temperature is your tank? about 72 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes, but we have turned it off - seems to keep the fish from being able to swim???
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None - we had a second female betta that quit eating and died about a month ago...
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Top Fin Color Enhancing Betta bits
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, but we realized she is probably fat so will go to once a day
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
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? Aquarium salt (we just started adding this about a week ago) and Jungle brand Start Right
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia: N/A
Nitrite:N/A
Nitrate:N/A
pH:N/A
Hardness:N/A
Alkalinity: N/A
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? She has a white spot that has started on the top of her head/neck area (do fish have necks - LOL?) It's not fuzzy or cottony - looks like the rest of her scales but without color. Overall, her color is fading too. She was a much darker red when be bought her (only about 2 1/2 months ago)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Nope, she has lots of energy and eats like a pig
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about 3-4 weeks ago - white spot keeps getting larger despite treatment for a variety of ailments (ich, velvet, fungus)
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Have done 2 rounds of treatment with Jungle brand Lifeguard - no noticable change
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Bought her 2 1/2 months ago but who knows how old she is... Got her from PetSmart.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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. The white patch is completely smooth - looks just like the rest of her scales but the color is gone and it is slowly, but noticably expanding in size. I can't find any illnesses that seem to match it but somehow my daughter thinks I am an expert in all things (because she isn't a teenager yet!) so she is sure I can figure this out. I'm still open to the theory that we just have a weird fish!
