My Betta has lost his color! Help!

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I posted and that's because my fish have been perfectly healthy. But that is not the case now. Last night while feeding my fish, I noticed that Mars (my red betta) was a little pale near his face but he was still a deep red all over. I just finished cleaning out both his and Neptune's tanks. I usually take the fish out to clean the tank because it's only 3 gallons and I feel it's too stressful for them to be in there while I do so. I clean their tanks, not an entire tear down, and I add the chems like usual and usually leave the tanks sit for about an hour or two. Both bettas remain in their small "holding tanks" until then. Anywho, when I was taking Mars back to the living room in his little tank and I held him up in the light he has lost his color! His fins are still a nice red but his entire body and just a tad bit into the fins, there is practically no red at all. He's almost a soft very pale cream or peach color. What did I do?! What happened to my little guy??? Neptune is perfectly fine and healthy, I don't understand what happened. They are on the mantle of the fireplace, obviously it's not on. lol. They are both far apart from each other so there is no stress from them seeing each other. For those of you who know my bettas already, they were initially in my room but with the warmer weather, I needed to move them out as it gets pretty cold in my room with the fan on. Their temps are always the same at about 74 degrees. I feed them every night. Recently though I've only been feeding them one type of food instead of a variety like I used too. It's not shrimp brine or blood worms though. Could feeding be an issue? Mars also looks to be a little bloated? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! I don't want him to die. :'(

I just checked on Mars and his color has come back. It's not as beautiful and vibrant as it was before but it seems to be slowly coming back. I wonder if it was stress from moving him from his tank?? I've done this way of cleaning since I bought them and I've had them for about 2 months I believe and he has always kept is deep red color. This is the first time this has happened.

 

I have heard that bettas gain and lose their color very quickly when reacting to stress.

 

If Mars looks a little bloated, i'd recommend feeding him a few pellet-sized pieces of a frozen pea, thawed and peeled. Then a fast for day, then another day of pea dinners and another day of fasting.. see how his stomach looks then.

 

I feed my betta a special Betta food that enhances their color, plus regular fish food crisps. I alternate the two. I too take my little betta out of his little one gallon tank when I clean it and so far he hasn't been so stressed that he lost any color.

 

my sisters red betta Calamarrie doe that too... he gets REALLY wihte in the face then red everywhere else. I thought it could be because he old. but idk. Miles

this is a pic of calamarrie - you can see his head ad face are much whiter than the rest f his body... Miley -

 

this is a pic of calamarrie - you can see his head ad face are much whiter than the rest f his body... Miley -

calamarrie has a mask, like our red double-tail combtail Mickey. It's a pretty feature that we love.

 

its not like that all the time though......... what's up with that??? Miley

 

A lot of Bettas will occasionally change color for no apparent reason.

 

this is a pic of calamarrie - you can see his head ad face are much whiter than the rest f his body... Miley -

calamarrie has a mask, like our red double-tail combtail Mickey. It's a pretty feature that we love.

This must be what our latest baby boy has! I've also noticed that it fluctuates a bit in colour intensity. No less than three mornings I've woken up, freaked out, and almost diagnosed the little guy with some kind of fungus before realizing that he was absolutely fine ... but then I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my fish!

 

This must be what our latest baby boy has! I've also noticed that it fluctuates a bit in colour intensity. No less than three mornings I've woken up, freaked out, and almost diagnosed the little guy with some kind of fungus before realizing that he was absolutely fine ... but then I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my fish!

aren't most of us?

 

This must be what our latest baby boy has! I've also noticed that it fluctuates a bit in colour intensity. No less than three mornings I've woken up, freaked out, and almost diagnosed the little guy with some kind of fungus before realizing that he was absolutely fine ... but then I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my fish!

aren't most of us?

Aren't ALL of us is more like it ("us" being Betta owners). ;D

 

This must be what our latest baby boy has! I've also noticed that it fluctuates a bit in colour intensity. No less than three mornings I've woken up, freaked out, and almost diagnosed the little guy with some kind of fungus before realizing that he was absolutely fine ... but then I'm a bit of a hypochondriac about my fish!

aren't most of us?

Aren't ALL of us is more like it ("us" being Betta owners). ;D

LOL.. true, true.. :

 

LOL~!!!!!! ifreak out about my bettas all the time!!! they are always just fine though but scare me!!! like I will look in Oscars tank for him andwont see him so I say "Oscar??" and he comes up from behind his seaweed plant like a little minI jaws!! lol its so cute!! Miley

 

LOL~!!!!!! ifreak out about my bettas all the time!!! they are always just fine though but scare me!!! like I will look in Oscars tank for him andwont see him so I say "Oscar??" and he comes up from behind his seaweed plant like a little minI jaws!! lol its so cute!! Miley

Maybe that's his idea of playing hide & seek with you.

 

Wow, it's been a while since I posted and all of your responses were nice to read over. Thank you once again FLBettaCouple as you provided me with a nice little piece of information in that I now know my Mars has a mask. Thanks everyone else for your replies!! I cleaned their tanks today and Mars kept his color this time. Neptune and he are doing great and love their homes so all is well on the home front!

 

Wow, it's been a while since I posted and all of your responses were nice to read over. Thank you once again FLBettaCouple as you provided me with a nice little piece of information in that I now know my Mars has a mask. Thanks everyone else for your replies!! I cleaned their tanks today and Mars kept his color this time. Neptune and he are doing great and love their homes so all is well on the home front!

yw & glad to hear that they're both doing great. ;D