10 Gallon Tank Help! Betta fish greying and tattered fins.

[Caffee]

Ive noticed over the past few weeks that my betta, bear, has been greying more and more and his fins look more tattered than usual (hes a fin biter). His activity is slightly down, but overall behavior wise has been pretty normal and eats good.
One thing ive notices twice now that scares me is this white fuzzy patch that has appeared on his head and gone away twice now. I dont know what it is, but it stays for about a day or two then disappears. Im worried this may be ich.
if anyone has any ideas please help me out

water parameters
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: looks between 0ppm and 5.0ppm

 

[BigManAquatics]

The grey seems more a coloration kind of thing. Tattered fins, well, if you don't know what triggers the biting, best you can do is keep the water clean to keep the bites getting infected and turning to fin rot. Don't know what that white spot is, but it is too big and irregular to be an ich spot.

 

[Caffee]

The grey seems more a coloration kind of thing. Tattered fins, well, if you don't know what triggers the biting, best you can do is keep the water clean to keep the bites getting infected and turning to fin rot. Don't know what that white spot is, but it is too big and irregular to be an ich spot.

The greying on his chin has definitely slowly increased over time, so i think the fact it suddenly got way more grey in the matter of a week may be due to some kind of stress. As for the fuzz, i think it may be fungal?? I thought he just has something stuck to his face, but it keeps coming back. Your right though, i thought maybe ich because of the fact it kept coming back then disappearing, but ik ich looks like salt kinda. You think indian almond leaves might be a good start to help any stress or fungal issues? I tried a bacteria treatment already and it did nothing.

 

[BigManAquatics]

The leaves probably won't do much for a fungal thing, but should have other benefits, like maybe helping the fins a bit and maybe with some stress too. Most bettas i have had have had their chins turn grey, no matter the fish's color.

 

[Caffee]

The leaves probably won't do much for a fungal thing, but should have other benefits, like maybe helping the fins a bit and maybe with some stress too. Most bettas i have had have had their chins turn grey, no matter the fish's color.

Really?? I read that they could help with bacterial and fungal too…but probably because of the stress relief and immune support properties. I think i’ll try them first and see if anything improves.

 

[FoldedCheese]

IALs don't help bacterial or fungal infections. The tannic acid released by the decomposing leaves is super weak and ineffective. You'd be better off trying a low dose of aquarium salt and WCs imo. I've treated fungal infections successfully in the past using aquarium salt and it's not as stressful as hardcore medications.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Hi,

Sweet looking boy!

You could also do some small water changes for a while to see if that helps, too. I know that when I have problems, I do a 10 to 20% change every other day, and the clean water alone helps a lot.

Hope this helps!

 

[Caffee]

IALs don't help bacterial or fungal infections. The tannic acid released by the decomposing leaves is super weak and ineffective. You'd be better off trying a low dose of aquarium salt and WCs imo. I've treated fungal infections successfully in the past using aquarium salt and it's not as stressful as hardcore medications.

The only thing i worry about jumping into that is that im not even sure if it is a fungal thing. I dont want to add something to the water if its not the right thing to do if you catch what i mean.

Hi,

Sweet looking boy!

You could also do some small water changes for a while to see if that helps, too. I know that when I have problems, I do a 10 to 20% change every other day, and the clean water alone helps a lot.

Hope this helps!

I’ll try this! Thank you for your help

 

[FoldedCheese]

The only thing i worry about jumping into that is that im not even sure if it is a fungal thing. I dont want to add something to the water if its not the right thing to do if you catch what i mean.

I’ll try this! Thank you for your help

That's reasonable. Usually white fuzzy spots are fungal and salt can also help with fin rot. If increased WCs doesn't help then salt is an option. Good luck.

 

[Caffee]

That's reasonable. Usually white fuzzy spots are fungal and salt can also help with fin rot. If increased WCs doesn't help then salt is an option. Good luck.

Will be my next option! Thank you for your help