[madelinemagdalene]

Question:
Hello! I woke up this morning, and my deep blue/green alien betta was completely white and pink with just a little bit of color in the fins. He went back to normal within 30 minutes of me seeing him this way, and now, hours later, is still acting normally with full color. Pictures are included at the end. There are no signs of injury, and I do not believe I see any discoloration or weird spots now that he is fully blue again. I have never seen anything like this before. What could have caused this? If severe stress, how can I prevent this from happening again?

Other relevant information:

• Tank descriptions: 10 gallons and has a heater, filter, and airstone. There is driftwood, dragon stone, and many live plants (anubias, java ferns, floating plants, grasses, etc.). Only tankmates are snails (3 nerites, 1 pond). He also has two hides/tunnels, one a few inches below water line for rest and one a few inches below that. No recent changes, nothing recently added, and nothing off or malfunctioning that I can tell after inspecting.
• Parameters: 78-80 degrees (minor fluctuations with room temp), pH is 7.2-7.6, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 10-20ppm (hard to tell the shade of orange, but not above 20). I tested today with the API test kit following seeing him go pale, but water parameters are tested weekly and always have been in this range.
• Maintenance: weekly 1/4-1/3 water changes with a siphon and gravel vac where I can due to rocks and plants. Water is conditioned and temperature matched before being replaced.
• He had ich a few weeks ago and responded well to treatment in his home tank with Ich-X. No signs of BB die-off, ich return, or other issues. He had daily 1/3-1/2 water changes during this time and was treated for 7 total days.
• Is fed Fluval Bug Bites or Ultra Fresh Betta Pro pellets 2/x a day. Regularly replace 1 meal a day with insects such as mosquito larvae, daphnia, and occasionally blood worms.
• Supplements include Koika BAC M and Dr. Tim's First Defense 1-3 times a week. I use Thrive liquid plant fertilizer 2-3 times a week.

Pictures of Fiyero, the betta:

• 1st and 2nd pictures are from a few days ago with normal coloring. 3rd pic is when he was pale/white/pink this morning. 4th pic is about an hour after this scare when he was back to normal colors. The thumbnail below is struggling on my end, so you may need to click the link to see my updated images:
• <

  http://imgur.com/a/rzHuRL3

  >

Please let me know if you need to know anything more. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[betta4ever!]

I wouldn't really worry. Wilds tend to change color depending on their mood. They do tend to get paler when they're stressed, when the lights go on and off and quite a few other reasons. And your boy looks really healthy and happy! Quite beautiful, too