[spazoid]

i just bought him today. he is gray on his head. is this fungus or will his color show more when he gets bigger?!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/542/img20120222200308.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/img20120222200957.jpg/

 

[spazoid]

he eats. he is playful, he follows my finger when i put it on the tank. he swims around, doesn't keep still or stay at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Chesterthebetta]

Does he rub himself on his tank like he's itchy or trying to get the grey off? I have a betta and he has a problem similar, except my betta is a dark grey so it looks more white on him, and I rescued another betta the pet shop was just letting die with the same problem as my first betta. It could be a parasite that's agitating his slime coat/scales. I barely know anything about betta, but with my little buddies Betta Revive seems to be helping. Also keeping the water warm, about 86 degrees. If you don't have a heater for your tank you could also just take a small cup of water out every 4 or 5 hours and replace it with the same amount but with hot water so the water stays warm. That's what I'm doing with my second betta. Just make sure you condition the water first. Maybe try aquarium salts if the first two things don't work?

 

[spazoid]

oh no!! he does kinda itch, he swims up and down the glass. i thought he was just getting used to his new home, i looked at other pictures of blue and red crowntails and a lot of them are a different color on their head, but he might be itching now!! i have a heater but its not adjustable, my thermometer says 80. i conditioned water and everything but i noticed it after i let his cup float for a while and let him out. i dont want him to be sick but i want to make sure im getting the right thing to make him better. its too late to go to the store for anything. should i take him back to the store and get a different one? i feel bad but i dont want him to die if i cant fix him!

 

[earthworm88]

I don't think it's fair to judge so quickly considering you only got him today. I also don't think you can really compare others' colors to your own as they all have all hues and shades of colors under the sky. I do not see any specific issues on his head, that could be his natural coloring or it could darken with time as he becomes more comfortable to his new home as he may be stressed now and his color pales a bit.

Is he your first betta? How big is his home now and what is your water change schedule for him?
ETA: the second photo link does show that your betta is under stress as his stress mark is visible, which means his overall color may be faded ie in your scenario, the top part of head may be grayish, and the belly may be even more graying or whitish. (color change may vary between fish, but the overall color is generally dull and faded if under stress)

Chesterbetta, is there a specific reason why you are keeping your water at 86F? I am a bit concerned with your way of keeping the water that warm by replacing the water every so often with hot water. This fluctuation in temperature may actually cause more stress and harm to your betta.

 

[Chesterthebetta]

I wouldn't take him back. It is treatable. Tomorrow do a water change, but take only MOST of his water out. Fish create good bacteria as well as bad and if you take it all out, you strip them of both. When you put the new water in I suggest making it warm to the touch, not hot, when you put it in. The heater shouldn't raise the temp too much, but keep it. Try betta revive tomorrow. Should only take 3 days. Follow directions on the back. I'm going for more than 3 days. I think my filter was filtering the meds too much so my poor little betta wasn't getting enough. You can use it up to 7 days. If it doesn't work try the salts. This is my first time owning a betta and I've had nothing but problems with both of them. But my first one seems happier once I took his filter out, and he eats like a pig! Just keep an eye on him. That's what my fish did (the up and down the glass thing). Its more or less on the outside of your fish in his slime coat. Please don't give up If you succeed in saving him, you'll love him even more!!!!

 

[Chesterthebetta]

P.s, I can barely tell in the pictures, but the underside of your fish's head looks white? That's what mine looks like too /: Though he favors itching the top of his head (the brownish white part)

 

[spazoid]

he is my first and the water he is in now is new from today but i added about 1 ml prime cuz the label said 5 ml for a 50 gallon. its a 5 gallon aquarium but it doesn't have a filter. i was gonna do 2 50% changes and 1 25% each week and then do 100% every 2 weeks.
i really hope he is just getting used to his home. i turned his light off, im gonna keep it off for a few days. i had it on watching him when i first put him in.

 

[spazoid]

i know i should have added .5ml but the bottle says its safe if you add more, and .5 ml looked really small!!

 

[earthworm88]

If it is 5 ml per 50 gallon, then it's 0.5ml for 5 gal. I usually use about 2-3 drops per gallon in mine. For a 5 gallon unfiltered tank, ideally you should do 50% mid week and 100% end of week just to keep his water free of unwanted chemicals.

Yes, new fish usually take up to 2 weeks to get use to their new homes, depending on the condition they were in before and their current set up. I was lucky that all mine pretty much adjusted quickly like a fish to water (no pun intended :-D) so they saved me from the worries.

Good luck with yours. Just keep the water super clean and observe for any changes for now. If he is eating, then he is probably not feeling so bad. I think he is going to color up nicely

ETA: really my senile moment! lol I forgot to add that as for the lights, they have the same sleep cycle as us. So during the day, they would prefer some light, and at night, you need to turn off the light so they can sleep. But good thinking to keep the light off for the first couple of days to let him relax a bit. After that, he should be following your sleep cycle too.

Cheers!

 

[spazoid]

ok guys, zoid's head i no longer grey, its black. he has gotten darker for sure, he's not as reflectant/glowy turquoise kinda color which is fine, but his head! it's like i can't tell that he has scales, it just looks black. he actually let me get some better pictures today. in the pictures you can see his scale color underneath, it kinda shows up white, but when i look at him its all black. not sure why the camera picks that up. but reason even more why i think something is wrong.

i also got a video of his behavior. its very poor quality and i didn't realize my phone upright films sideways for please forgive me!

he still is eating with no problems, he gets so excited when i get home and lift the little door. still active, no bottom of the tank sorta deal.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/img20120225190623.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/46/img20120225190715.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/img20120225190647.jpg/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndmeQY9hCT8&feature=youtu.be

 

[spazoid]

oh yes, i just unplugged his filter and he reminded me. once it shuts off it takes him a minute to realize it, but as soo as he does he darts over to it, stares at the heater and flares.

he used to not go near it when it was off, but every time i try to give him relaxing no current time, he does this.

my temp is currently 82, maybe he likes it even warmer? but im not sure why he would flare.

 

[FishyFishy89]

He appears to be very healthy right now. I noted some up and down swimming along the glass. Is this what he was doing when you think he was itchy? Because he isn't itching himself, this is normal behavior that fish do. If he was liberally rubbing himself then that would be itching. But hes just swimmin

Flaring is a normal activity for bettas. I used to worry about my bettas doing too much of this. But it is a normal and healthy activity for them. He maybe noted a reflection of himself, or maybe he feels the filter is going to do something to him because he suddenly became quiet, like it's gonna sneak up on him.

I don't think he would like the water temp that warm. Typically high 80s is a danger zone for me. 82F is perfect temp for them. My Spike leaves in 80F during the day/night time the temp drops only 2 degrees MAX.

 

[earthworm88]

I agree with Fishyfishy also. The photos all look normal to me. Not quite sure what you meant by white color showing up underneath scales. One of mine looks just like that when I shined a flashlight on his head (during my examination of his scales which he had scraped one off the decor - to make sure no infection was occurring). If I just look at him with my naked eyes without extra light, I would say his head is quite dark, but with light, I know it's more grayish (whereas my other one is really dark black even with extra light). So I would say may be that's just his normal coloring. From the video, he looks quite active and inquisitive to me, a good sign of a healthy fish. I suggest just continue to monitor him (hehe...like you don't already), if he is active and loves to eat, he is probably ok and loving his good home!

Good luck and happy betta keeping!

Cheers!

 

[spazoid]

ok, thanks so much! im over paranoid obviously >.<