Clear Spots On Fins - Sick Or Not?

[laurasbetta]

I am "babysitting" my daughter's betta because she is away at school and the dorm was not the best place (too hot, too cool, wierd eating times, etc.) for him. He is in a 1 gallon tank that is kept very clean and at a temp between 74 and 78 degrees. He is a dark blue betta (almost black) and lately I have noticed that his upper and lower fins are beginning to get transparent spots. These spots are in the middle of the fin, not on the edges like fin rot.

I have been told (by "experts") that it is everything from fading with age (he's 1 year old + his age before purchase) to a bacterial infection that requires furazone. He really has no symptoms of being unhealthy - he eats well, blows a bubble nest, swims well, flares at his reflection (or me, sometimes) and he always swims happily to the front of the tank to greet me when I walk into the room - nothing abnormal.

Any help would be appreciated! Should I use the furazone (and where do I get it) or should I use a product like Betta fix or Mela fix to start with?

I'm not even sure there is a problem so I'm hesitant to just start treating him with medication!

 

[Jaded12]

Are there actually holes in his fins? or just patches of fading color? How big are the areas? Any way of getting a picture?

 

[laurasbetta]

Are there actually holes in his fins? or just patches of fading color? How big are the areas? Any way of getting a picture?

No holes, just small clear patches that are probably not going to show on a photo. One other thing - his small side fins have been almost totally clear since he was new. I'm wondering if this isn't just genetics?

 

[Jaded12]

If he seems fine then it very well could just be his color patterning

 

[laurasbetta]

If he seems fine then it very well could just be his color patterning

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on him for any changes in behavior.

 

[WILDER]

Are they tiny little bubbles on the fish as sometimes then can indicate a whitespot outbrreak.

 

[laurasbetta]

Actually I checked him out with a flashlight and the spots on his fins look more like a powder blue color. The scales on top of his body are also starting to turn this same color (he is normally very dark blue.) They only look transparent when lighted from above or behind (I guess you would call the translucent.)

Does this give anyone an idea?

 

[Jaded12]

still sounds like hes just changing color, some bettas coloring will fade as they get older, maybe thats whats going on.

 

[davidnso]

ya sounds like its just coloration to me, my betta does it all the time. he is the color of your betta as well...sometimes he is very dark, and sometimes it seems he turns into the color of bright turquoise green

 

[iasg]

Not sure whether I am hijacking this thread but our blue crown tail shows also changes in coloration. There are clearly clear patterns showing up in his dorsal fin. It is NOT ich, I know ich all too well from another tank where ich killed a couple of fish while I was on a business trip.

His pronged tail starts to show more... at first I thought fin rot (tank was cycled, water parameters are ok) where from, but it doesn't look likle fin root either. In the aforementioned ich incident the water had gone bad and I had severe cases, so what else? Then I wondered whether the zebra danios are nipping... but certainly not causing discoloration.

The betta is from petsmart... one of those disgraceful cups. Next time I know where to get one, but now he is here, for better or worse.

 

[laurasbetta]

ya sounds like its just coloration to me, my betta does it all the time. he is the color of your betta as well...sometimes he is very dark, and sometimes it seems he turns into the color of bright turquoise green

Have you got any idea why they do this? I tnink it's either from age or because we were using a desk light to keep his tank temp up and he was missing out on light/dark cycles.

Anyway, I've found a small 25W submersible heater with thermostat so his tank temp will be very stable and he can go back to the light/dark cycle. I'll keep you posted if it changes.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i've been wondering the same thing. when i got shadow, he was almost all pink with just a few purple spots on him. now he has alot more purple. good question .

 

[Jaded12]

Its called marbling... the marbling gene is very unpreddictable, and I can gaurentee that most fish (especially lfs fish) carry a marbling geno somewhere in them.

 

[laurasbetta]

Its called marbling... the marbling gene is very unpreddictable, and I can gaurentee that most fish (especially lfs fish) carry a marbling geno somewhere in them.

Sorry but I'm still learning, but what is and lfs fish?

BTW My daughter and I did a full water change and installed a Hydor Theo 25W submersible heater. It fit well in a corner and for the past several hours has been keeping his tank a cozy 75 - 76 degrees. It took Wally a little bit to get used to this "intruder" in his tank, but now he seems fascinated with it and keeps exploring it. I've read reviews on this heater complaining that the temperature on the dial is not accurate. It's true that this one seems to be about 2 degrees cooler than the dial, but I would hope you would monitor your aquarium with an accurate thermometer whenever adding a new heater anyway. I don't care what the dial says as long as the water temp is kept stable! Now he can go back to those light & dark cycles!

 

[iasg]

Its called marbling... the marbling gene is very unpreddictable, and I can gaurentee that most fish (especially lfs fish) carry a marbling geno somewhere in them.

Sorry but I'm still learning, but what is and lfs fish?

lfs means local fish store... there is also lps = local pet store.

Not sure I understood the marbling gene, something which causes discoloration? Would that not show all the time? I am (and I think laurasbetta also) talking about partial discoloration occuring suddenly