Betta Fish Turning Colors

[genlovesmusic09]

Hello,

I am very worried about my betta fish. I've owned five bettas and this has never happened. He was fine until 2 days ago and I noticed he was more brown than red and now he is more yellow. He is living in the same tank and in the same place he has been for a couple of months now (the last time I changed the water was less than a month ago, I thought about changing it now to help him but I'm not sure if that is a good idea.)

here are some pictures:

what he usually looks like:

what he looks like now:

 

[loraxchick]

does the lighter area have a different texture to what it was when it was red? if not, just a chameleon fish! some bettas change colors as they get older and it can be quite dramatic. just want to make sure that it isnt something sinister, like bacterial infection or slime disorder.
cheers

 

[Big_eyes]

You say you haven't changed water for a month..........is there a filter in that tank? Or a heater?

 

[loraxchick]

You say you haven't changed water for a month..........is there a filter in that tank? Or a heater?

missed that part..good call!

 

[silverrabbit]

That tank looks very small - and I agree with above in that I don't see a heater and filter?? If you haven't changed your water in nearly a month, filter or not you'll either be having serious ammonia or nitrate issues in that tank

 

[Assaye]

Is the tank filtered and heated? How often do you normally do water changes? Have you tested for ammonia or nitrites and if so, what are the readings?

Your betta's fins are also very clamped. They should be more spread out and attractive than they are. What do you feed? Is he eating well? How much does he move around? Will he follow your finger across the glass or at least show an interest in it?

Dramatic colour changes are often caused by sickness, which in turn is often caused by poor water quality. Poor water quality is when the pH is far too high or low for the species kept, when the hardness is too high or low for the species kept, when the temperature is too hight or low, when there are very high levels of nitrates, when the mineral content in the water is depleated, when there are toxic substances in the water (air freshener residue, etc) and most crucially, when there are detectable levels of ammonia and nitrite in the tank.

Bettas need temps of between 25 and 28 C (77-82 F) and clean water (no toxins, ammonia or nitrites). They are not too fussy about hardness and pH as long as they are acclimatised carefully to any hardness or pH level that is not similar to where they were born/grew up.

Even in a filtered tank you need to do weekly water changes. If your tank is unfiltered you need to do daily water changes and at least two 100% water changes a week as well as smaller daily ones.

Have a read of the stuff in this link - there is a lot of it but it's all pretty essential for successful fish keeping.

Let us know how you get on.