BulldogWrestler

So I "rescued" a betta from PetSmart along with one for my nieces tank.

I've noticed a couple of differences in my betta and hers.

Her Betta almost immediately flourished into a bright red with long, flowy fins and great color. He's almost completly red and looks great.

Mine is a purple/red combo, and his color doesn't seem to be coming in. He's very active in his tank, loves swimming around and gets along with the Oto and ADF in his tank very well. Everything is fine except he doesn't seem to be getting in his color very well.



There's a VERY bad pic I took of him with my cell phone this morning, but you can hopefully get the idea.

Is it due to tankmates? My niece has her Betta in with a few khulis and a shrimp.

I'm just worried I'm doing something wrong here - although my Betta seems happy - the fact that hers has colored up and mine hasn't has me worried that I'm doing something wrong.

Lucy

Our bettas sure can worry us, can't they?
What size tank? Temp? Water parameters?

BulldogWrestler

Water params are fine. 0,0, 10-15 or so. Tank size is a hair small, 3.5 gallons. Temperature of the tank is at 78 degrees, although it gets a bit hotter when we get our heat waves (which we just had).

Lucy

Could be stress....the tank isn't really big enough for the ADF and a betta. They should be in at least a 5.
Temp fluctuations aren't good for him either.

Or, nothing could be bothering him and it's his natural coloring, hard to tell in the pic.

BulldogWrestler

He's purple and red, but not a deep purple or red. There's "faded" spots along his body, although his fins are a deep, nice color.

I realize the tank is a bit small, so that could be the problem. But he hasn't gotten nippy or aggressive, and from what I understand - that's the first sign of "Betta stress"

I'll see if I can get a better picture.

Lucy

That's incorrect. It's not necessarily the first sign of stress, only could be.
A stressful betta may not be aggressive at all.....hiding could be a sign, not eating, being lethargic, or maybe in your case loss of color.

For example, a female will get horizontal stress lines, not sure if males get them.

haedra

Oh, indeed they do...Mephisto got them quite vividly during his bloated belly fiasco.

bulldog, some bettas take longer to adjust to new condtions than others. Certainly keep an eye on his color, but in my own honest opinion; the behaviour is generally a good sign of what he might be experiencing. It might sound strange, but some bettas don't adjust as well to the leap from a cup to a tank, even if it is way better than what they were in at the store. For some, change is a tough thing!

Phinny12

Sad Betta had washed out spots on the sides of his body but his fin color was normal..what there was of his fins. I think it was from being in such high levels of ammonia for such a long time.

potter

I think it will take some time to recover, possible a week if not more depending on the individual fish. Sashimi, which I had rescued was first a dull brown at the store and then when I first acclimatize him to a 5 gallon shallow water tank as he can't swim, he turn a little lighter just a little but still dull and it took him about a week to become real red on the fins, purplish and pink on the body just beautiful. Give him some time. A cave or two will help. Also, the tank might be too small if you have other tankmates in there as well.