[LuckyBlue]

Is is sometimes normal for a betta to turn pale when moving to a new envrironment.....

I picked up Ember today.. a beautiful orange/blue vt betta.. he looked in great color in the petstore tank... in the car he hardly had any color at all

He is currently floating in the bag in his new home.. he has some color now but nothing like before...

common? will it come back?

Here's a pic of his new home and the poor thing is staring at me through the plastic bag......

Thanks.

 

[MollyJean]

betta often pale when stressed, like when being moved a lot or introduced to a new environment. Give him a day or two to settle in and he should start coloring up in no time. It's also common for betta to refuse food in the first day or two, so if he's one of those, don't worry right away. Just keep an eye on him, learn his habits and give him time to get settled. And post a better picture when he's set up, I wanna seeeee!

 

[EvilVOG]

Not sure how common it is, but most of the red colored fry of my spawn have the ability to white out when stressed. Even their fins can turn from red to clear. It does turn back, and the one that i shipped that has been received took a couple days to turn back.

And everything else Molly said.

 

[LuckyBlue]

Thanks... I won't worry so much then... he just ate a freeze dried worm while still in his bag...

 

[MollyJean]

It's good he's eating! Remember blood worms are sometimes foods.

 

[Katy]

Aww he's cute, he will likely definitely color back up in that beautiful home. Mine pale out when they are stressed, especially during water changes.

Just curious, I couldn't see a heater in your pic. Saw the thermometer. If you don't have one I would definitely try to provide a heated environment for him. Have fun with your new friend!

 

[LuckyBlue]

Heater is being hidden behind the big plant....

This betta was from a small aquarium store with just the owner working there. He said he only feeds them bloodworms.... so, I figured I'd feed him that for a couple days until I'm sure he has settled in and then change him to the pellets... don't want to stress him with too many changes all at the same time.

Can't wait to see if he has colored up tomorrow....

 

[MollyJean]

Just bloodworms? Yeah, not what most people around here would recommend, I think. If you're going to feed him bloodworms, I would go with frozen, as freeze dried can cause tummy problems. It sounds like you have a solid plan, sneak a pellet in there and see how he reacts. Once he's on the pellets, a bloodworm snack is fine once a week or so.

One more thing you might want to keep in mind.. pet stores, even the little ones, tend to have much better lighting then our homes and fish tank lights. He might color up but look a bit different then he did in the store just because your lights aren't the same.

 

[LuckyBlue]

My other bettas eat pellets... and bloodworms as a snack.

I thought about the lights in the store first,, but he was so light that I was sure their lights couldn't make that much difference.....

After I let him loose in the tank he went everywhere checking everything out... yeah!

 

[Olympia]

He'll colour back up. My boy used to go white in the face, and his fins would turn brownish clear every time I cupped him. Now he's in a cycled tank so we don't have that problem. Claustrophobic betta lol.

 

[MollyJean]

Bettabettabetta has never gone pale, he doesn't seem to mind being moved for changes. Heck, I think he enjoys it. But when I had angels, just the slightest change and they would loose their markings and go limp. Some fish handle stress better then others. >.<

 

[Aus]

Cleo is bright red - and goes transparent-level pale when cupped for water changes. She just hates that cup soooo much.

Within 30 seconds of being back in her tank, she's red again. :roll:

 

[frazier71]

Post pics of him when he gets let out on the bag and my hades in the cup was full color and in the car pale with big horizontal stripes. After a day his colors came back!

 

[TakoLuLu]

I had the opposite issue once! I bought what I thought was a very light colored fish, but he was just that stressed out in the store! When got settled in at home he was very dark (his head almost black!) The name Ghost no longer really fit, but it had already stuck, lol