Betta Losing Color

[FlareBettaGuy]

Okay, I normally keep my betta in warm water. But I can't always be home to change the water every few hours. The water turns from luke warm to ice cold in just a matter of hours. And it's not like my room's cold either, cause it is warm. Today, I came home, and checked on my betta, Firebolt. I turned on the observing light, and he looked VERY pale. His whole body was whitish, and so were some parts of his fins. I rushed to give it some warm water, and in a few minutes, he started getting his color back again. I'm worried. This was just for a few hours. What if I am gone for a few days? (and I will be next week) I heard that they will be okay for a few days, but the water turns from warm to COLD in hours. And when it is cold, Firebolt turns pale. Is turning pale for a long time very bad for a betta? Is it because of the cold water, or am I wrong? How do you keep the water at a constant temperature? Please help!

Also, I just got this really cool conch shell. I heard that putting shells with a betta will greatly raise the PH in the water, and burn your betta's fins. Is this true? And will washing it will hot water make a difference?

Thanks again! Me and Firebolt appreciate your help.

 

[canis_lupus]

what size tank is he in? if ur house is cold enough to turn the water ice cold can't u leave the tank light on. do u have a room that is warm or gets warm when the door is shut that u could keep him in? i keep my bettas in a room in the basement with the door shut at night and it keeps em warm. i might need to move them to the furnace room during the winter.

 

[Ron]

Get a 2 gallon heater at Wal Mart for $6. This will keep your water at a steady rate. Yes, the contant change of water temp is very very stressful on fish, even bettas. Soak the shell in water over night. See if that helps. I have shells from the ocean in my tanks, and they don't raise teh Ph, but I'm not familiar with 'conch shells'. Also, what are you feeding him? Try freeze dried blood worms. You can get these at Pet Co Petsmart...ext. For only $3. Also try to find some miquito larvae. If you live in a place where its warm right now, fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water and set it outside. Misqitoes will come and lay their eggs in teh still water. In a week or two yoy can harvest the larvea. Good Luck!
Ron

 

[cassandra]

it could be the heat and what about the food???

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

WOW! Replies? So fast?! Excellent!

Well, I live in a region of the earth where it is very hot. It's turning to winter, though. We don't have air conditioning that makes the room warm. It only makes the room cold. My bowl is around a gallon is size. I feed Firebolt pellets. Every once in a while, i'll give him some freeze-dried bloodworms. If you feed bettas bloodworms regularly, they'll get constipation. I live in an apartment, so I don't have a basement. The kitchen gets sunlight, so i'll try there for a while. Leaving the light on all day is stressful. And a waste of electricity. Firebolt prefers to sleep in the dark...

If a betta turns pale for a long time, is that bad?

 

[Cian McLiam]

I always kept my betta at 27 - 30C which is a good temp for them. I heard they keep them in unheated bowls in hotel rooms in india, where the temp can get over the mid thirties and it does them no harm. He always ate frozen or dried bloodworms, wouldnt even consider flakes!
To see a pic of my beta bowl with filter and heater concealed, see my post in Aquarium Pics.

Ken

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Yes, it is warm there. It's also warm here! I just don't get it! It's around 30 degrees Celcius, but when I put my finger in, it's cold. I have to partially change the water day and night because of this...

And, still, I await for this question to be answered....is turning pale for a long time bad for a betta? Really bad?

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I don't know about the shells, but if its realy that cold that you have to do hourly water changes, buy him a heater! bettas are tropical fish, they like there water very warm. How big of a tank do you have? smaller tanks get cold/hot a lot quicker than big tanks, so maybe you might want to buy a little bigger aquarium.

anyways, about the heater, go to your LFS (local fish store) and ask if they have any heaters for a tank of your size (which they should). a small heater is only a few dollers. but be careful, be sure not to get a to powerful heater, because if they get stuck "on" ( which happens occationaly) the can fry your fish. its better to buy 2 weak heaters then 1 powerful one.
yes, the betta turing pale means that he is stressed, and a stressed fish is not a happy/heathy fish.

 

[Cian McLiam]

It feels cold cos your body temperature is actually aroud 37C so it will allways feel colder than you do!!

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

Do heaters have water currents? I'm new to this whole heater stuff...

 

[peter101]

most heaters just hang off the back of your tank and are cyclinders made of glass. inside there is a heat coil which just heats the water..there are no currents

 

[Alien Anna]

A heater should include a thermostat which means if it gets too warm, the heater automatically switches off. This means the water is at a constant temperature. Fish are very intolerant of swings in temperature and if a betta gets too chilled he is very prone to getting fungus and ich.

 

[Moe]

I don't think it is healthy to keep adding warm water to the tank. The water won't get any colder than the room temperature. It just feels colder. I keep my tank at 78 degrees but if I put my hand in it feels cold. I'd post your question about the turning pale thing in the Betta forum you may get a better response. Good luck.