Betta losing color rapidly in sections

[SRC]

The black and green crowntail I bought a month ago has started turning colors for some reason.

I thought he was turning into a marble (still not sure he isn't) but everyday he loses more black and green and turns clear/white in sections.

It started off on one side of his head, then he got a spot on his side, then the spot on his head got larger, and then another spot on his other side showed up. Now a large section on his back and across both sides, including a small portion of his anal fin have turned this color as well.

There is no *hairy* or slimy texture to the sections...just a loss of color. To be honest...if you could "rub" the color off a betta..that's what these sections look like. Kinda like a painted flower pot that has been painted a long time and some of the paint has worn off.

He eats fine, blows bubble nests, has no clamped fins, has no missing scales, has no fin rot, no clouded eyes, still flares actively..does nothing out of the ordinary that I can tell (not saying he doesn't...just saying I haven't noticed anything odd lately).

Wierdest thing I've ever seen.


Here is his AB picture

Here you can see no white patches

Here is a picture 2 weeks later

Here you can see his head has turned white

Here is a picture from last week

Here you can see his head is even whiter, and there are white patches on his back and one on his side

Any idea's?

 

[Sandusky]

Is he brushing against anything? One of my friend's betta's color kinda ran off, she siad like ink. She put in salt and bettamax but he still never got his colour back. I hope yours does! He's too perdy to lose it!

Best luck!

 

[SRC]

He's in a bare beanie box. No gravel or plants..just the walls. Water is changed daily, Stress coat is used for water conditioner..and some salt.

 

[yeeviabetta]

You should get Indian almond leaf and water of the world in the beginning. That betta is from thailand.
Give you an example. i came from Malaysia and my hair is real black. After in USA, my hair color change to dark brown like I dye it. This is very normal to every asian. When they go back, their hair change back to black. Why? WATER problems. Clear?

 

[SRC]

Why would it only affect 1 out of the 6 that I have that came from Thailand though?

I've been trying to come up with a better way to explain how it looks...

and the best one I can think of is... Think back to when you were a kid..and you would pick up a butterfly..and how it looked after you had rubbed the color off it's wings. That is what he looks like. (although it doesn't really just rub off like that though)

Anyone one else have any idea's..or have one this happened too...and a reason

 

[wrs]

i had a betta who had alot of stress from trying to breed. He lost a lot of color and turned white just like yours. The white eventually turned into holes in his tail and he died.

maybe he is stressed. Decorations would make the stress level go down as he would bave places to hide, etc.

Also, is it a beanie baby box? those really arent all that big, as I remeber, maybe making his home a bit bigger would also help.

remeber, all bettas, just like people and other fish are diffrent. Maybe he needs to hide, and the others dont, or other things like that,

 

[SRC]

Well I am in the process of building a tank for them so they can have plants, a bigger space, and a pot. He can't see any other fish and isn't in direct view of anything else live, so I'm not sure what he would need to hide from. He isn't being bred either, so the only stress I can fathom is the water changes..which he doesn't really "seem" to mind those though. I will try dropping his water changes down to every other day and see how that goes.

Sorry for the quality, my lense has a film on it that I have yet to figure out how to remove ..but I snapped some more pics of him today.

 

[wrs]

do you know how old he was when you bought him? prehaps he is old.

 

[SRC]

I got him off AB a little over a month ago. The ad said he was 4 months old.

 

[Sandusky]

You mentioned indirectly that you did water changes daily? This might be your problem. Bettas cannot acclumate that quickly to the water with changes every day, i find it causes them MAJOR stress. Maybe try every third day?

EDIT: Velvet maybe?...don't they go pale/brown when the disease is comming on?
You might want to consult the breeder about this and see if you cannot get an explaination out of them, or better see if they won't give you a replacement?

 

[D Chia]

do you know how old he was when you bought him? prehaps he is old.

Wrs could be right. Some perfectly healthy-looking bettas do lose or change colour as they get older. I had bright red bettas that eventually became dull brown in their golden years (months, to be more exact). So, it's like humans getting grey hair.

It is also possible that the loss of the colour is genetic.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Ah geez, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. He almost for sure has "NTD" - Neon Tetra Disease. It can affect any kind of fish, and I've seen the exact same thing happen to a betta. He got the pale spots on his head first, then it spreads along the dorsal area to the entire body/fins and soon, he'll probably have receding fins and muscle loss. He's sort of "waste" away. Actually, looks like the white areas are beginning to atrophy already. Argh, I feel awful to tell you all this, because NTD is incurable. My mom's betta died from it, and I wish I been able to euthanize, because he really suffered in the end.

Here's a photo when he'd gone almost completely white.

 

[D Chia]

He eats fine, blows bubble nests, has no clamped fins, has no missing scales, has no fin rot, no clouded eyes, still flares actively..does nothing out of the ordinary that I can tell (not saying he doesn't...just saying I haven't noticed anything odd lately).

Based on the information given by SRC, it is more likely that the colour change was due to the ageing process.

Anyway, the NTD (Neon Tetra Disease) does sound awfully dreadful.

Edit: Found a link about the dreadful NTD.
http/www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/neon_tetra_disease/

 

[ral]

Very interesting (though dreadful) info Julie on the NTD. That one is not found in the popular Betta sites, but neither is there anything in the popular Betta sites that would seem to explain what is happening to SRC's betta.

D'Chia. The deterioration the Betta is going thorugh seems to be a bit too fast for it ot be the natural ageing process.

 

[SRC]

NEON TETRA DISEASE
Restlessness
Whitened areas deep into the fishes' flesh
Fish begins to lose coloration
Muscle degeneration
As cysts develop, body may become lumpy
Pink gravid spot on fish
Difficulty swimming
Spine may become curved
Secondary infections

As the disease progresses, affected muscle tissue begins to turn white, generally starting within the color band and areas along the spine. As additional muscle tissue is affected, the pale coloration expands. Damage to the muscles can cause curvature or deformation of the spine, which may cause the fish to have difficulty in swimming. It is not unusual for the body of the fish to have a lumpy appearance as the cysts deform the muscles.

This disease was originally described in Neon Tetras, but can affect many other species of fish (i.e. danios). In Neons, one of the early signs of this disease is a loss of the red colour, and difficulty swimming Note that there is a so-called "false neon disease", which is bacterial, and shows very similar symptoms.

Neon Tetra Disease is usually caused by stress due to poor water conditions, shock (dramatic change of environment), or being harassed by other fish. The disease is fatal but it will not kill them that quickly. It is a degenerative disease that goes through many phases and may take weeks before they will die, the actual amount of time depends on the general health of the fish. The disease is borne of a cyst and it will migrate to the digestive system and eventually the muscles of the infected fish.
http/www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gneon.html

Neon Tetra Disease

Caused by: infection due to the parasite Pleistophora.

Symptoms: Heavily infected fish lose color (esp. the red stripe in Neon Tetras), have curvature of the spine, fin rot, and emaciation. Tetras seem especially susceptible to this infection, although other fishes can be affected as well.

Occurrences: These parasites pass easily from fish to fish. The disease seems to be triggered by poor water conditions, and secondary infections are very common.

Treatment/Control: treat infected fish with Furan 2 or General Cure
http/www.aquariumpharm.com/disease/neondisease.html

Disease Type: sporozoan
Organism: Pleistophora hyphessobryconis

Names: Neon Tetra Disease, Pleistophora

Description: Neon Tetra disease is more common than many aquarium enthusiasts realize, and affects species beyond neon tetras. Named after the fish that it was first identified in, the disease strikes members of the tetra family most often. However, other popular families of aquarium fish are not immune.


Cichlids such as Angelfish, and Cyprinids such as Rasboras and Barbs, also fall victim to the disease. Even the common Goldfish can become infected. Interestingly enough, Cardinal tetras are resistant to the ravages of Neon Tetra disease. Caused by the sporozoan, Pleistophora hyphessobryconis, the disease is known for its rapid and high mortality rate among neons. To date there is no known cure, the only 'treatment' being the immediate removal of diseased fish to preserve the remaining fish.

The disease cycle begins when parasitic spores enter the fish after it consumes infected material, such as the bodies of dead fish, or live food such as tubifex, which may serve as intermediate hosts.
Once in the intestinal tract, the newly hatched embryos burrow through the intestinal wall and produce cysts within the muscle tissue. Muscles bearing the cysts begin to die, and the necrotic tissue becomes pale, eventually turning white in color.


Symptoms:

Restlessness
Fish begins to lose coloration
As cysts develop, body may become lumpy
Fish has difficulty swimming
In advanced cases spine may become curved
Secondary infections such as fin rot and bloating

During the initial stages, the only symptom may be restlessness, particularly at night. Often the first thing an owner will notice is that the affected fish no longer school with the others. Eventually swimming becomes more erratic, and it becomes quite obvious that the fish is not well.

As the disease progresses, affected muscle tissue begins to turn white, generally starting within the color band and areas along the spine. As additional muscle tissue is affected, the pale coloration expands. Damage to the muscles can cause curvature or deformation of the spine, which may cause the fish to have difficulty in swimming. It is not unusual for the body of the fish to have a lumpy appearance as the cysts deform the muscles.

Rotting of the fins, especially the caudal fin, is not uncommon. However, this is due to secondary infection rather than a direct result of the disease itself. Bloating is another secondary infection.

Treatment:
None, separate or euthanize diseased fish
http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm

Symptoms
This disease was originally described in Neon Tetras, but can affect many other species of fish. In Neons, one of the early signs of this disease is a loss of the red colour, and difficulty swimming Note that there is a so-called "false neon disease", which is bacterial, and shows very similar symptoms. It is impossible for the home aquarist to determine for certain the difference between NTD and false NTD on the basis of visible symptoms alone, without laboratory backup. This disease has also been confused with Columnaris.

False NTD: The loss of the blue colour and pale skin patches.

Causes
The disease is caused by a microsporidian parasite. The disease is most likely to be passed on from newly acquired fish, which have not been quarantined.

Possible cures
These parasites are very resistant to medications, and there are no proven effective treatments. Some anti-parasite medications claim to treat this disease, but there effectiveness is debatable. Some apparent 'cures' may have been the result of successful treatment of false-NTD. The best course of action is to isolate sick fish quickly, and maintain good water quality to reduce the chances of more fish succumbing to the disease. The use of a diatom filter, which can reduce the number of free parasites in the water, may help.
http/www.erdingtonaquatics.com/treatment/treatment5.html

All of these descriptions are confusing and overlap each other..some contradiciting the other. I'm really confused now.

Well he isn't restless, actually he's quite placid most of the time (until feeding time or when he see's me close to his box). Which is not uncommon for any of my fish..they are all very tame and docile (until they see each other that is, of course).

You can't tell from the pics (I wish I had a good camera, or atleast could figure out how to get the gunk off my lens so it would take more defined pictures again) but the area's look whiter from an angle, if you view them from straight on they aren't as white..but like the color has just washed off the scales. The white doesnt really look "deep" but more like "skin deep".

He's still just as "thick" and muscular as he ever was, just turning this different color in patches.

There are no lumps or cycsts that I can see..and I've netted him and felt of his skin and it's very smooth.

He has no difficulty swimming.

His spine is straight as an arrow.

And there is no fit rot or any other type symptoms occurring (yet, not saying they won't).

Do you think mine is a bacterial thing, the false Neon Disease maybe?
I'm not saying this is not what he has, but of course I certainly hope it is not..as I really like him alot.

What would be something I could try treating for a bacterial infection with? I don't think I have any med's for that. I have melafix, bettamax, aquarisol, and tetracycline tablets.

He hasn't eaten any tubifex and the only live foods he eats..I have raised. So I'm having a hard time understanding where this woudl have come from...seeing how his water is changed daily...and no one else is giving off symptoms like this.

GAH!