[FlyingCuttlefish]

So yesterday I adopted a new betta, after taking a bit of a break from fishkeeping, and got this cutie from Petsmart. I didn't notice it until he was placed in the tank and under proper lighting but... His gills have this scary looking dark border along the edges, and a tiny bit sticks out when they're tucked in.

I read up a bit on it and found that it's possibly the ammonia content being waaay too high and burning his gills, which is not surprising since he was in a cup for who-knows-how-long. Right now he's in a five gallon tank with a current ammonia content of 0.25ppm. The only thing my prior research couldn't tell me was that if there was anything I could do for him. I'm thinking about adding in some epsom salts into the water, but would that make it worse? He's still lively, happy, and enjoying his new digs, but is there anything I can do right now to make him more comfortable at least?

 

[lilnaugrim]

lol, it's just his natural coloring! Many Bettas have different colored beards! Mine in my avatar, his has orange spots and then its surrounded by blue which is surrounded by black! It's all normal!

Yes the ammonia is high but those aren't his gills. The gills are the red part that is inside the slot there where the beard folds out. They are naturally red but ammonia burns are even more red and usually swollen more. If you really want to treat him then use a Methylene Blue bath. Epsom salt won't do anything for ammonia burns. But he's a healthy fish so in reality, you don't need to treat him at all; just keep his water nice and clean ^_^

 

[taquitos]

My guy has almost an all black beard (and he's mostly white and blue). It's just his natural coloration.

He looks pretty healthy imo. Seconding keeping the water nice and clean

 

[givemethatfish]

That is an awesome picture, taquitos. Nice shot.

 

[FlyingCuttlefish]

Oh whew, I was so worried but this is fantastic news! <3 Thank you all so much!