Please help; Betta Fish (less than a year old) losing pigmentation

Hi. I have a beautiful blue male betta fish, lives alone in a 5 gallon tank. I do 30-40% tank changes every 7 days. I noticed on Thursday his head suddenly had lost its color in a small area. I took pictures and showed it to people at the pet store, and no one had any idea what it was (not that surprised). He doesn't have any growths, he is eating and acting himself, still as spunky as ever. I did my own research to no avail, so started treating him with Melafix, and aquarium salt. Now today (Sunday) it looks like it has spread. I read that I should have taken out the rocks in my filter, which I was unaware of, so I did that and put another dose in his water. I continued to research and just purchased API general cure, API fin & body cure, Kanaplex, and API Furan-2. They will be here on Tuesday. I have no idea where to start, or what to try first with him. I read horror stories about Neon tettra disease, and how they start out just like this, and are fine and then suffer and go down hill very quickly. I love this fish so much and it will break my heart if he dies like that. I need guidance, I want to save him in the worst way, and none of the common diseases seem to fit whats happening to him.

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do not add any medications.

API general cure contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel. Metronidazole (Flagyl) is used to treat some internal bacterial and protozoan infections and is not needed here.
Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworm in animals and fish and also kills gill flukes. This is not needed either.
The API General Cure should be returned because it is not needed here.

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API Fin & Body Cure contains salt (sodium chloride) and Doxycycline (an antibiotic).

Kanaplex (Kanamycin) and API Furan-2 are also anti-biotics.

Anti-biotics should only be used to treat known bacterial infections that have not responded to normal fish medications. Improper use or misuse of anti-biotics can lead to drug resistant bacteria that kill people, animals, birds and fish. If you can return these anti-biotic products and get a refund, then please do.

The 3 anti-biotics listed above will kill filter bacteria and bacteria living on or in the fish. I do not think you need those medications at all let alone for this issue. Please return all of the above listed medications and get a refund.

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Melafix & Pimafix are not the best medications for labyrinth fishes (Bettas & Gouramis) because it can leave an oily film on the surface, which can harm these fish.

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How long have you had the tank for?
How long have you had the fish for?

Is there a filter on the aquarium?
How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

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Test the water and post the results here. Then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Do another 75% water change and gravel clean each day for the next week or until the matter is resolved.

This could be a burn from resting against the heater, poor water quality, or a disease. However, if you have a filter on the tank and there is no ammonia or nitrite and the nitrate level is less than 20ppm, and you haven't added any new fish to the tank in the last few weeks, it is unlikely to be caused by poor water quality or a disease.

Do daily water changes and gravel cleaning and monitor the fish to see if it gets worse.

Hi, thank you. Yes I discontinued the Melafix, I posted on another forum and they told me about the harmful qualities it can have to betta's, so put the carbon filter back in and did a 50% water change in hopes of getting rid of most of the medication. I was also told I should remove my fake plants because the colors can leak into the water and cause damage?
To answer your questions,

How long have you had the tank for? about a year

How long have you had the fish for? I'll have him a year in Feb

Is there a filter on the aquarium? yes the 5 gallon tank came with a filter

How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it? Up two days ago I hadn't cleaned the filter, I was only changing the cartridges ( I know I am an idiot, hes my first betta, i hadn't realized I should be unplugging the filter and cleaning it) I took it out and ran in under filtered water (from my PUR water filter attached to my sink) until all the gunk was gone.

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH? I check the levels with each water change, and I checked them yesterday, 0 Nitrates and 0 Nitrites, Gh 30 , Kh 40 (within safe range), and PH was 7

Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change? When I do the water change I do it with a syphon and pick an area of gravel and focus on that area once a week, and than move to the next area for the next change. Every month I have been taking out a portion of the gravel and rinsing it off, and then replacing it.

Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?
I used filtered water and then add stress coat

Mariah Ruane said:

I was also told I should remove my fake plants because the colors can leak into the water and cause damage?

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If you bought the plants form a pet shop and they are meant for aquariums they will be fine and not leach colours or chemicals into the water.

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Power filters should be cleaned at least once a month and preferably more often.

If you have a TopFin or another brand of Hang on the Back (HOB) filter, you can put a sponge from an internal power filter onto the intake strainer, and a few more sponges inside the filter. This will give you more filtration and you can wash them out in a bucket of tank water.

The filter cartridges usually contain carbon and you can cut a small hole in the bottom and throw the carbon away after 1 month and then put the cartridge back in the filter. The cartridge can usually be washed out in a bucket of tank water.

If you put a few sponges in the filter, you can throw the cartridge out after 3 or 4 months or whenever it starts to fall apart. Then just leave sponges in the filter. The sponges will last for years and you will save money and have a more stable filter.

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If you get a basic model gravel cleaner (like the one in the following link), you will be able to clean the gunk out of all the gravel while you drain some of the water out of the tank. If you use a gravel cleaner each week, you can leave the gravel in the tank and never need to remove it and clean it. You simply gravel clean the substrate while water syphons out.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

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If you don't have an ammonia test kit you should invest in one because ammonia and nitrite are the 2 most common problems when it comes to fish health issues caused by poor water quality.

If you have been replacing the filter cartridge, you might have had ammonia problems after you replace the cartridge. The cartridge and other filter materials will have colonies of beneficial filter bacteria living on them and when you replace the cartridge you remove most of the bacteria and the filter will have to develop more bacteria to keep the water clean. While this beneficial bacteria is growing you can have ammonia build up in the water, which can harm the fish.

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Now you have cleaned the filter I would invest in a basic model gravel cleaner and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week. See how the fish looks after that. If he gets worse during that time post another picture of him asap.

Thank you so much, I thought the test strips I had tested for all harmful stuff but it doesnt test for ammonia, but I will pick up and ammonia test kit after work today, I have a gravel hose like that I use to clean his tank, I just didn't know the correct term. I was just nervous I was cleaning his tank too often and causing too much stress to him

I used filtered water and then add stress coat

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Please give more details on this filtered water, how exactly is it filtered? This could be a problem.

Stress coat is rubbish and thats where it belongs.

NickAu said:

Please give more details on this filtered water, how exactly is it filtered? This could be a problem.

Stress coat is rubbish and thats where it belongs.

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By filtered I mean I have a PUR water filter on my sink and I get the water from that then condition it with Stresscoat, I did research on stress coat and didn’t see anything wrong with it online? I didn’t know it wasnt good. BTW I tested the ammonia and it was 0.

I ended up taking out one decoration from the tank that had some rough edges just in case he was rubbing against it. I also replaced my artificial plants for real ones for the same reason. I’ve been doing a 50% tank change everyday since I saw the issue. Added more aquarium salt and raised the temp in the tank. Hopefully he gets better it does Look like its spread more over his head which makes me think it is an infection of some sort. I ordered kenaplex for fungal and bacteria I think I’m going to try.

If the kenaplex is Seachem KanaPlex and contains Kanamycin, it does not treat fungus. It is an anti-biotic that only affects bacteria and will wipe out the beneficial filter bacteria. If you use this stuff you should monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank for the next month after using it.

Personally, I prefer a liquid broad spectrum medication that treats bacteria, fungus and protozoans. These don't normally affect the filter bacteria.

Whichever way you go to treat him, clean the tank up first to remove as much gunk as possible. The cleaner the tank the more effective any medication will be.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Colin_T said:

If the kenaplex is Seachem KanaPlex and contains Kanamycin, it does not treat fungus

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It is but it says It’s for treating fungus and bacteria

Yes I noticed they were advertising the product as treats fungus and bacteria on their website, and I have sent them an email asking them why?
They are potentially using false or misleading advertising on this product.

Basically anti-biotics kill bacteria and do not affect viruses, fungus or anything that isn't a bacteria.

Anti fungal agents kill fungus but don't affect bacteria, viruses or protozoans.

There are chemicals that kill bacteria and fungus (eg: Methylene Blue), but that is not considered a true anti-biotic, unlike Kanamycin, Penicillin, Tetracycline and Doxycycline, which are anti-biotics that were designed to treat bacterial infections in people.

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I don't think the fish has a fungal infection so if you want to try the Kanaplex then do so but clean the tank before using it and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels.

Thank you for your guidance.

He’s looking worse. Still acting fine, I have no idea what’s going on with him. I did the water changes checked the ammonia, GH, KH, PH, everything is fine. I have no idea what’s happening to my poor buddy.

It's not fungus and doesn't look like a protozoan infection so it's either natural colouration (eg: the fish is changing colour) but that's not normal, or it might be a bacterial infection, although it doesn't look like a bacterial infection.

My first choice of medication would be a broad spectrum fish medication but since you have the Kanaplex, you could try that. I think the medication is overkill and not necessarily the best choice but it you don't have any broad spectrum medications then you can try using it.

Colin_T said:

It's not fungus and doesn't look like a protozoan infection so it's either natural colouration (eg: the fish is changing colour) but that's not normal, or it might be a bacterial infection, although it doesn't look like a bacterial infection.

My first choice of medication would be a broad spectrum fish medication but since you have the Kanaplex, you could try that. I think the medication is overkill and not necessarily the best choice but it you don't have any broad spectrum medications then you can try using it.

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Thank you so much for responding and taking the time to help me. This is my first betta and I tried my best to do everything right by him but now I feel like I've failed him. I'm so overwhelmed. I tried to buy everything he needs and I feel like i cant even do that right.

Anyway, I cant dwell on that, I'm just gonna try and fix my mistakes/ignorance and how for the best. What's your go to broad spectrum fish medication? I was told not to use bettafix or melafix or anything with the word fix in it. I feel like all the information contradicts itself. Do you think the Furan-2 would be better in the mean time? its for bacterial infections.


Also, I was also told to try doing an 100% water change to get rid of everything. But i was hesitant to get rid of the good bacteria, but obviously there could be something hurting him.