White Streaks on Betta

[jaywings19]

I'm very concerned about my first betta (Dexter). Over the past few weeks, he has stopped eating regularly (just follows his floating food around) and his color and fins are becoming faded/frail.

His whole body is purple with some red in the fins. Just today I noticed that he has two parallel white streaks along his body on both sides.

I'm at a loss here. My water quality is "normal" and his cory tankmates are doing just fine.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
pH = 6.8

I'm going to take a water sample to Petco and ask them to check it for me too... in case I'm doing something wrong?

This is very depressing because he's my laid-back betta and my first... so I want to get him well.

I'm not familiar with many diseases and their symptoms, but it doesn't seem to be ich or fin rot.

Any thoughts on what else I can do?

 

[wuvmybetta]

hmmm, I hope someone has some ideas as to what it could be, I'm at a loss
But I can understand your concern, oldest bettas are the most special (shhhh just don't let the others know)
here's a link with some diseases listed, see if you can match it up with anything

 

[wuvmybetta]

ooops the link may help


http/watershed3.tripod.com/diseases.html#dropsy

 

[wuvmybetta]

and another


http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

 

[jaywings19]

Thanks for the link... I'm reading it now.

He might have had the white streaks before (in the right lighting), but they've definitely become more prominent.

Plus, he's not that "old" from my perspective... I just brought him home from Petco in July. Though, he could've been "on the shelf" for a long time. I just don't know.

One thing I forgot to mention is that he doesn't swim around much anymore. He just stays behind the water filter (avoiding the current) and staring at his reflection on the surface.

 

[wuvmybetta]

check out the 2nd link also, I've read that petshop bettas are usually about a year old by the time they finally get a home,but I don't think that's the case in your situation...mine's well over 2 and still kickin' so surely it must be something else ..
ya think the cories are driving him crazy?
my oldest hated my clowns because they were so active, that was my main reason for removing him from the community, he started developing cloudy eyes and laying around just as you described, it all cleared up and he's like a puppy again after I isolated him

 

[jaywings19]

check out the 2nd link also, I've read that petshop bettas are usually about a year old by the time they finally get a home,but I don't think that's the case in your situation...mine's well over 2 and still kickin' so surely it must be something else ..
ya think the cories are driving him crazy?
my oldest hated my clowns because they were so active, that was my main reason for removing him from the community, he started developing cloudy eyes and laying around just as you described, it all cleared up and he's like a puppy again after I isolated him

I don't think the corys are bothering him. I just brought the corys home 2 weeks ago and Dex was acting like this before that.

Glad you mentioned isolation... my other betta is a very active bugger. He's in his own 2.5 gallon acrylic tank (no filter). I'm tempted to pick up another tank like that and move Dex into it for a while to observe him. I'm sure the current in his tank bothers him somewhat, but it surely wasn't this drastic the first 8 weeks I had him.

This may be a dumb question, but what does cloudy eye look like? Dex has a brownish/redish tint in his eyes with black pupil.

 

[wuvmybetta]

almost like a haze over the eyeball, it's pretty noticable though

 

[jaywings19]

almost like a haze over the eyeball, it's pretty noticable though

So basically you wouldn't see the pupil? Just a cloudy eyeball? If so, then he doesn't have that. I can clearly see his black pupil... the area surrounding the pupil is a brownish/redish shade.

 

[wuvmybetta]

clear eyes are a good sign

keep an eye on him and make sure he feels special, I think bettas have a hard time when it comes to "sharing" their people with other fish, maybe he's just down in the dumps or something ( I still wonder about the stripes/streaks though )


is he eating at all?

 

[Kossy]

Yes most bettas live up to 2 - 2.5 years however mine died recently of old age but lived to 3.5 years. So I don't really think its age.

 

[jaywings19]

is he eating at all?

Very rarely at feeding time does he actually eat food. First, I usually have to persuade him to come to the front. Second, he watches me place the food... then just follows underneath staring at it as the tank current moves it around. He hardly ever takes a bite.

When I first got him, he would munch away as I placed food in the tank... exactly what my other betta does in the unfiltered tank. I'm sure he must be eating something when I'm not around because I don't know if he'd have survived this many weeks without any food... though he has lost color, fin size, and energy.

Thoughts as to whether I should get another 2.5 gallon unfiltered and place him in there alone? I'm going to Petco to get his water quality checked today, so I can pick it up then. Good idea or just leave him in his 1st home?

 

[fuman_chica]

If you have the money to get another tank, I'd do it. If it helps, money well spent. If not, you can always get another betta to put in it.


But a word of advice....don't buy any more fish, or animals, from PetCo. They are really bad about taking care of them, and a lot of there fish and animals have diseases that go untreated because the employees aren't trained to recognise them, and those that are trained, don't care. Try to find another pet store....

 

[wuvmybetta]

I agree about petco& other large chain stores animal treatment, it is pathetic BUT....it's not the bettas fault . I buy ALL of my tropical fish from my excellent home grown lfs , but ALL of my bettas came from disgusting chain places. My lfs takes excellent care of their bettas so I don't feel obligated to buy there , (ok I did get one guy there but he was just toooo cute, and then the owner gave my daughter a betta once so to be truthful we do have a couple from there) but all the others are refugees & the picture of health

jaywings...1st off.....maybe it's the current, bettas tend to be lazy graceful swimmers, maybe fighting the current is too much for him & he's exhausted, remember.....he hasn't had this much exercise in his life! Maybe it's wearing him out & starting to show , but it seems like he'd be hungry if that was the case
Have you tried offering him frozen bloodworms? Hikari makes some that will last a lifetime , you'll just need to defrost the tiniest of chunks in a shot glass, then offer him a worm, I use my finger and let half of the worm dangle in the water so they think it's the real deal , no one's ever turned them down. They'll be over by the tropical fish in a huge refrigerator at Petco (or a small fish shop if you find one)
go with the unfiltered 2.5 ,maybe he'll be happier

 

[jaywings19]

Well, here's the deal. . .

Went to Petco today and bought another 2.5 unfiltered acrylic tank with lid. Had them check the water quality in Dex's tank. The only thing they said was that the pH was too low (6.5), which is strange because I got 6.8-7.0 on my test kit at home.

Anyway, I didn't take any chances... I did a massive water change (75%) and changed the filter cartridge when I got home.

So far, he seems to be more active since the water change. He's come to the front of the tank. Still haven't gotten him to eat in my presence yet. Perhaps I'll go back this week and get some of the frozen stuff you recommended.

I'm going to leave Dex where he is for further observation. I really don't want to "downgrade" him to an unfiltered tank unless absolutely necessary.

By the way, I agree with Wuv... it's not the betta's fault that Petco treats them so poorly... which is the exact reason why I choose to adopt them from Petco. A co-worker of mine told me about an incredible LFS further away... but he was truly right about that shop! From now on, I'm only going to get my fish from that store... actually, I picked up Dex's three cory tankmates from there two weeks ago.