LiuZhangYu

I just bought a new fish a few days ago and it appears to have a white/gray face. Is it ich or is it normal for a new fish? What should I do?

armadillo

Hello LiuZhangYu. Welcome to FishLore!

I think we'd need a little more information about your fish, starting with: what sort of a fish is it?

An advance answer would be that some fungal infections can cause whitish discoloration of parts of the fish. Ich is really little white grains, not a full area. They look like grains of white sand or salt on your fish.

COBettaCouple

also, if you can post a picture, that would help us out.

LiuZhangYu

Oh, Sry. It's a Betta Splenden and I don't think I can include photos, my camera broke a few days ago. Anyway, it's gills seem to get thicker and also looked like it has a few missing scales.

COBettaCouple

bettas can have 'masks' where the face area is a different color, watch and see if there's any changes in coloring.. you might treat the water with liquid vitamins and slime coat enhancer to help the scales heal up.

LiuZhangYu

ok. Thx but it now has a horizontal strip on the gill covers and it looks infected...

COBettaCouple

are there any white worm-like things around the gills? do the gills look inflammed or enlarged? does the betta breathe real fast or slow?

LiuZhangYu

It breathes slowly and at a steady rate. It does not have white worms around it either, There seems to be a black tissue coming out of the gills and it has red eyes too.

COBettaCouple

That might be normal for him.. it's hard for me to say if anything is wrong.. nothing sounds like any sickness. does he eat and swim around?

LiuZhangYu

Yes. It does eat and swim around. Maybe you were right about the 'mask' thing.

COBettaCouple

that would be good. i guess just watch him and give him all the care and attention that Bettas love and consider him a healthy fish.