My Betta is losing his color?

Question

My beta is losing his color in his face area? Why is this? His color seems good throughout his body area. He's blowing bubbles and seems happy. I just got him though. He may be stressed out?

Answer 1

Bettas lose their vibrance when they're stressed out or sick. Chances are since you just brought this one home, he's probably stressed out.. either from the poor conditions of the pet store, or the change in enviroment, or the stress of the actual move from store to home, or what have you.

Check these things to minimize stress:

• placement of the tank - avoid high traffic areas (I.E.- a lot of movement outside of the tank), at least for now. When he's more comfortable, he'll appreciate active surroundings.

• warm enough water (the water should be between 75 and 80 degrees.. measure this with an aquarium thermometer please.) If you find that it's too cold, invest in a small water heater.

• regular feeding. 2 or 3 pellets in the morning, and 2 in the evening. Every so often he can have a freeze-dried bloodworm (betta candy!) in place of his evening meal. Fast him for one da once every two weeks or so to make sure he doesn't get constipated from too much food (also don't feed too many bloodworms.. they can make him constipated too!)

• water - You should treat tap water that you use in the tank with a few drops of water conditioner (like AquaSafe) to neutralize chlorine (which is bad for fish).. but do this BEFORE you put Mr. Fish in! Also, a tiny pinch of aquarium salt (no table salt, please!) added to his water will help minimize stress. Aquarium salt for freshwater fish is kind of like when you take a epsom salt bath.. it's very relaxing, isn't it? And using aquarium salt in your tanks will deter bacterial and fungal growth. So it's just an all-around good thing.

Hope these pointers help! Mr. Betta should perk up in a few days if he's not put under any more stress. One of my betta's head was very pale when I brought him home also, and now his head is a very deep ruby red!

Good luck!

EDIT: I just thought of one more thing!! Give him a place to hide in his tank that he can retreat to should he feel threatened. This can be in the form of a silk (not plastic! They tear their poor fins!) plants, real plants (may be a little too much to tackle at first), small terra cotta pots or cups turned on their sides, little castles, etc. etc. etc.

Answer 2

Betta's lose color because of stress in a new environment. They take a few days to adjust to there new cage. Try a toy of fake plant to make him feel better. He may also be an older Betta. Do you know how old he was when you bought him? Just keep feeding him and like i said try a fake plant or a fish toy that he can hide behind to make him feel safe.

Answer 3

It's probably just stress. Mine practically bleaches white whenever I take him out of the bowl to clean it, but he goes back to normal after a while. Make sure to feed your fish just enough color-enhancing food that he will finish it all, change his water and clean his bowl once a week, condition his water with chlorine removers, and make sure his water isn't too warm. Don't keep him anywhere that he might be getting direct sun, and if it's too hot for you to be comfortable in your house, then it's too hot for the fish, too. Put an ice cube in a zip top sandwich bag and float it in his water to cool him off. Do this every few hours as the ice cube melts to sustain a constant temperature.

Answer 4

yes, he may be stressed out. Sometimes its a good idea to let water sit out before buying the fish (for @ least 24 hours) in the sun no doubt. to evaporate certain minerals that are in the water; and harmful to fish, at high levels.

or using a water conditioner from any pet store. that and good pellets should keep it happy. don't forget sunlight. very inportant for certain fish to receive some good lighting. but since you just bought it.. just make sure clean water a little bit of food. give your betta some time to adjust and a little TLC

Answer 5

I have bettas, and they do that - is it going white??

I had a fish I called ghost face, cause this would happen to it

it lived a healthy life

Answer 6

THere are color enhancing betta foods you can buy. They may or may not work to bring more color to your betta.

Answer 7

they will change colors depending on there condition......believe it or not he is blowing bubbles because he is looking for a mate, but you cant put a female in our he will mate with it and then kill her. Isn't nature cruel?

Answer 8

i guy at work had one, he said it was losing color because it was too cold in the office for it. I don't know if that was true or not though.

Answer 9

Drop some LSD and look again. You will see many colors.

Answer 10

I don't know whats wrong with your fish but I had a black gold fish and he turn gold.