Female Betta With White "threads", And Other Questions

[keithp]

Hi, i've kept male bettas before, but recently got my first female betta, at least im 99% sure it's female and not a short finned male. I'm trying my best to keep my fish in tip top shape. I've had it for a week, and it's being kept in a 1 1/2 gallon bowl (covered) with a light and small plant. I change the water once a week. The PH is 6.8 or 7.0 always, and the temp is 74 F right now. I add half a teaspoon aquarium salt each water change, and 1 drop Aquarisol.

My betta's fins and tail appear to have thin white strands appear and then go away. The betta has a great appetite and is pooing normally. She swims fine and doesnt gasp for air. I got her at Walmart, so I dont know if she lost fins and could be possibly regrowing them, all I know is she hasnt lost any fin, and I dont see any rot or tail splitting.

I feed her once a day what she can eat in 2 minutes, she has a varied diet of frozen bloodworms, freeze dried bloodworms and brine shrimp (as treats) and hikari betta pellets. I dont feed her on Friday, I do this so her digestive system gets a break and can "clean" itself out, she wont starve.

I also would like to know if she is really a she or a short finned (or immature) male. Also, what type of breed is she, and what would you call the color i've never seen this color in a female?

look at Top fin

look at bottom fin and tail

regular picture

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Just for starters, if the bowl isn't filtered then once a week water changes is nowhere near enough! Is it US or UK gallons?

Raise the temp too.....about 78/79 would be better.

 

[keithp]

It's US gallons.

 

[ibbledibble]

i totally agree with what bronzecat said, but also, i wouldn't feed her as much as she can eat in 2 minutes! bettas are little piggies and will overstuff them selves if you let them. i usually feed about 3 betta pellets twice a day, and live or frozen food about once or twice a week. be especially careful with the freeze dried bloodworm, as they can swell up inside the betta and cause constipation, and swim bladder problems, especially if they have eaten a lot
though the 1 day a week fast is a good idea

 

[keithp]

I might also add before I feed my betta, she must "work" for her meal. I hold a toothpick in the water, and she will actively chase it around the tank. I do that for 30 seconds, then feed her lets say 1 frozen blooworm. In all she'll eat 2-3 betta pellets, or 4-5 individual bloodworms.

 

[modaz]

with no filter and not enough water changes this is gunna be the reason why she has this white strands, its the fine film that sometimes covers the surface, its harmless for short periods, i get it with some of mine who arent with filters and what i do is empty out most of the water and then swish my finger around in the water slowly so that i dont freak them out, this makes the white stuff fall off and then I just add fresh water, this happens to mine if i miss 2 days water changes when having time off work.

it does look female to me atm and she is a green and red crowntail

 

[Redsky]

I might also add before I feed my betta, she must "work" for her meal. I hold a toothpick in the water, and she will actively chase it around the tank. I do that for 30 seconds, then feed her lets say 1 frozen blooworm. In all she'll eat 2-3 betta pellets, or 4-5 individual bloodworms.

haha prob knows its feeding time if she follows the stick around, bettas are great !!

 

[azulfire24]

if ur us are u near a walmart?
wisper sells a very nice filter/ air bubbler, of a sort. its the tineyest wisper, the one that gets the < small> recplacement filters
its for under 5 gals. suction cups inside the tank with a very quiet air bubbler that gets pluged in, all items needed are included, well except the filter but i dont usually use the receplacement cartridges, i put some porcline bits in the bottom, a section of bio sponge then some filer floss on top,, makes a very nice gental flow, just enough to aggitate the flow of surface water and keeps away the white slime. without blowing the fish all over the tank. and under 15 bucks. well probally less than that maby 10?
she is a pretty green ct female by the looks of her, nice find.

 

[keithp]

I know this is going to sound stupid, but there is no white film on the tank surface, she had this right after a water change. I have a newt in another tank and I know all about that white film, there is none in her tank though.

I'm guessing her fins are growing and mabye that is the protective slime coming off as the fins grow. Her fins look a little longer than when I first got her, you can see in the photos her fin under her belly is not the same length all around, when I got her it was the same length. Perhaps at Walmart it was damaged from bad water or rough handling during shipping?

Wow a Green and Red Double Ray Crowntail, green bettas even here are rare to find, along with it being a female crowntail, but to have both in 1 fish (and got her for $2 U.S. dollars (for cheap in other words)) is amazing she was dull colored at walmart so I didnt get her for color actually.

 

[keithp]

The white strands seem to be going away, and in those areas her fins look longer, and the white actually gets more color every day, I think she was just healing!

 

[Phoenixbaby]

those white strands are not from healing

if i were u id do a water change every other day in a tank that small, bad water quality from not changing such a small volume of water often, can and will cause health problems

 

[keithp]

I got new pics of her, her fins look great, I dont think it was worms but her fins fixing themselves, or she would look have looked worse this week since I did no treatment but the regular water changes. Her color also got more vibrant in just that one week.

Before

After (notice not 1 white thread)

 

[ibbledibble]

personally i would be concerned about velvet (has just occurred to me). i have seen fish with velvet exhibit slimy strands on their fins, and she looks very gold speckled in the new pics, while that could be just her colouration, it could also easily be velvet manifesting. have you tried shining a torch on her? are the gold speckles very noticeable when you do this?

as several people have said, you DO NOT get slimy strands coming off as a part of fin regrowth. many of us have cared for fin damaged bettas and this is simply not the way it happens

 

[keithp]

On the red areas of the tail it looks slightly gold, but again, I have no idea if mabye it's just coloring? If I add medicine to kill velvet and she doesnt have velvet, that could kill her too. I dont know what to do im just not an expert on diseases to make a choice if it is velvet, it's much easier on dark colored bettas to see which she is not.

Is there a kit to test for velvet present in the water? Could a pet store worker diagnose her, I can bring her in.

 

[ibbledibble]

treating for velvet if she doesn't have it won't kill her!? it may stress her out a little, but why would you think it will kill her if she doesn't have it?

in the photo's it looks like much more than just her tail has gold speckle on it! shine a torch on her, pay particular attention to her gills, not sure if you could test the water for it, and as for a pet store worker, most of them know less than nothing and would be no help (obviously there are occasional exceptions to this)

personally i would treat her anyway, in fact i have done this myself previously, with a betta with what turned out to be gold type colouring, she didn't have it, but it didn't hurt her (or any of the other girls in with her) to treat for it, and i would rather treat and eliminate the possibility, than lose her to an extremely infectious disease.