Help! Patches on Betta’s Head

[Libster410]

So today I noticed my female betta has a few patches on her head and she hasn’t had them before. I tried taking photos of it, but she kept moving so I could only get this one (pictured below). Im still pretty new to the whole betta/tropical fish keeping, but I’ve had her for over a year and a half now, and I don’t want to lose her just yet. She hasn’t been acting any differently than how she usually does (getting excited when I go up to the tank, zooming to get food, following my finger when I place it on the glass, etc), but the patches are throwing me off. What could this possibly be? Is it curable? Is there even anything wrong? What do I do? Please help me! Thank you in advanced!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

What are your water parameters? Does the spot on her head seem fuzzy? Or does it look like missing scales?

 

[Libster410]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

What are your water parameters? Does the spot on her head seem fuzzy? Or does it look like missing scales?

It seems like she’s just missing scales, but the nitrate levels are super high, and the pH is slightly more acidic than it it should be, but everything else is where it should be. Could that be what’s going on?

 

[HoldenOn]

It seems like she’s just missing scales, but the nitrate levels are super high, and the pH is slightly more acidic than it it should be, but everything else is where it should be. Could that be what’s going on?

Water change time! Go ahead and do a big one (70%) asap. Some betta experts will help you figure out the root cause though, and give you a better idea of how to tackle it

 

[PheonixKingZ]

The pH may be what’s doing it, depends on the level. What are your pH readings?

Large daily water changes will help repair missing scales in no time. Have you noticed her rubbing against anything lately?

I have to go for now, so hopefully another member can answer your questions before morning.

 

[Essjay]

Water changes are the way to go.

How often do you do water changes, and how much do you change? Do you clean the gravel at the same time?
High nitrate suggests that your water changes may not be enough, and this would also cause the pH to drop as the natural tendency of fish tanks is to become acidic but if weekly 50% water changes are dome, that keeps the pH stable.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If it has been a long time since you've done a large water change, and you've only done smaller changes occasionally, or only topped up the tank, you might need to do smaller changes over a number of days to gradually reduce nitrates and let the fish adjust before you do your first big water change. If tanks have been left a long time without much in the way of water changes, suddenly doing a 75% water change can shock and kill the fish - this is a part of old tank syndrome.

This is one reason why we recommend doing large weekly water changes to keep your tank water as close to your source water as possible, even if nitrates have remained low, because tanks tend to drift in many other ways if water changes haven't been maintained, and then when you need to do a large water change in an emergency, it's far more risky than if weekly changes had been happening.

Please let us know how often and how large are your usual water changes, so we can best advise you as to how to move forward.