20 Gallon Tank Please Help! I've Noticed A Few Symptoms on my Recovering Betta -- Is This Normal?

Hey all! I currently have a betta that's on the mend from a bout of sudden lethargy, which I've posted about before here. Since then, I've increased his feedings to twice a day, and cut down on the number of freeze-dried foods he gets in favour of pellets. I've also started adding Stress Guard to his tank daily, replaced his heater, and swapped to Prime as a conditioner.

He's improved quite well -- becoming more much more active, gaining back some weight, and brightening up in colour again. However, a few things still leave me concerned.

1. He rests a lot more than he used to; prior to growing ill, he would spend most of the day swimming. However, now he spends a great deal of time resting on the floor or in his betta log -- but also grows much more active and swimmy in my (and maybe outside of my) presence at times, especially when he expects food.

This is a marked improvement from when he was more ill, as he would not have the energy to swim up to his betta log (it floats), spend all day lying on the ground, not respond at times to food, and need to take breaks during feeding to muster up the energy to swim back up again.

2. His fins are still torn, and he has a small red spot that seems to be growing. Is this fin rot? It was present when he wasn't ill in the first place -- but it's grown slightly larger since he's been ill. It can be seen here. I initially thought it was part of his natural pigment (he was completely white and transparent when I got him, then slowly turned orange, yellow, black and slightly blue -- which is also when that spot began to occur) but as his colours faded out and now are coming back in a more black, gray and white tone, that red spot has not changed at all and has grown slightly in size.

He's my first betta as an adult, and I really want to do my best for him. Any advice is deeply appreciated!

 

wile i dont know much abought diseases in bettas, i can explain the color change(idk abought the red dot but it may be it) many bettas have a marbling gean that make them change color as they age, i had a butterfly male develop beautiful choppy blue streaks in his(prier white with a blue center) tail, another got darker and grew in some green.

bettas will also rest at the bottom of the tank to take the weight off them, like how we sit down to rest our feet. it may of increased due to stress but that is why many bettas do that.

 

I think that he has become more comfortable in his surroundings. As long as he is not laying at the bottom of the tank all of the time, and he has a really good appetitie, I think that he is ok.

They are not constant swimmers. They like to explore, rest, and some are kind of lazy when they are comfortable.

Keep an eye out on that spot. I am not sure at this point what, if anything, is wrong, but if it continues to grow, post again, and include a new pic.

If you stay on top of your water changes, keep up with the parameters, and now that you are using Prime, I think things should continue to get better.

He's a sweet looking boy!!!

 

I think that he has become more comfortable in his surroundings. As long as he is not laying at the bottom of the tank all of the time, and he has a really good appetitie, I think that he is ok.

They are not constant swimmers. They like to explore, rest, and some are kind of lazy when they are comfortable.

Keep an eye out on that spot. I am not sure at this point what, if anything, is wrong, but if it continues to grow, post again, and include a new pic.

If you stay on top of your water changes, keep up with the parameters, and now that you are using Prime, I think things should continue to get better.

He's a sweet looking boy!!!

Thank you! I love and worry over him a lot, so it's really reassuring to hear he'll likely be fine! He always perks up when I walk by because he associates me with food now -- I'm not sure how often he rests when I'm not there, but he does move positions and can swim back up to his log now, so I hope that's him getting past most of the lethargy.

I'm really glad to hear that it may just be the result of growing into his space -- I've had him since he was a much smaller boy, and he was very active back then; I assume some of the reduction in activity may also be chalked up to his fins growing out and him growing in size.

wile i dont know much abought diseases in bettas, i can explain the color change(idk abought the red dot but it may be it) many bettas have a marbling gean that make them change color as they age, i had a butterfly male develop beautiful choppy blue streaks in his(prier white with a blue center) tail, another got darker and grew in some green.

bettas will also rest at the bottom of the tank to take the weight off them, like how we sit down to rest our feet. it may of increased due to stress but that is why many bettas do that.

I suspect he may have that gene! He was initially small, pale and near-transparent before growing patches of yellow, black and orange; now he's mostly black, gray, white and blue.

 

Yeah, as they get a little older, they do tend to slow down. My veiltale was all over the tank when I got him at Christmas, and now he gets excited at feeding time, and the rest of the time he is just poking around...