Red markings or sign of a problem?

Hello all.

I got a new betta fish a week ago. She was the smallest, dullest betta at the pet store, grayish with dark stripes.

She has since begun developing some purplish color to her body, but is also getting small bold red stripes on both sides near her gills. They appear to be over the gills, not in them. She is still somewhat clamped and I couldn't get a good picture of her ventral fins, but they have bold red stripes as well, and she has little red dots on her cheeks. I think her analfin may be getting some pink or red to it as well. Does this look like a marking/color change, or a symptom of a problem?

Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
79.2 degrees

The ammonia was up a little today but I'm doing daily water changes (20-30%) with Seachem Prime; also currently adding Seachem StressGuard daily since she was so pitiful from the store. She is not super active, but is eating nicely and seems alert. She didn't seem to know where to find the food at first--I think she is pretty young. I'm not sure if her horizontal stripes are stress stripes or baby stripes but she had them when I got her.

5 gallon Marineland Portrait tank with driftwood, moss balls, amazon sword, and anubias. Also has a small air stone.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

 

That looks like a very stressed female to me. The red markings on her cheeks could be ammonia burn on her gills showing through. I'm not really seeing red anywhere else.
What size tank / any tankmates?
Are you cycling her tank with her in it? Does she have a filter?
At this point I would recommend just doing daily water changed and using prime or another conditioner that detoxifies ammonia. It doesn't seem life threatening but she does need some TLC to recover from the store.

 

That looks like a very stressed female to me. The red markings on her cheeks could be ammonia burn on her gills showing through. I'm not really seeing red anywhere else.
What size tank / any tankmates?
Are you cycling her tank with her in it? Does she have a filter?
At this point I would recommend just doing daily water changed and using prime or another conditioner that detoxifies ammonia. It doesn't seem life threatening but she does need some TLC to recover from the store.

5 gallon Marineland Portrait tank, no tank mates. I thought the tank was cycled but I'm not 100 % sure since the ammonia crept up. There is a filter, the one that came with the tank.

 

Wow... that is a very tired fish. Like fjh says, it could be ammonia burn. She’s also a little skinny, but don’t worry! A month of clean water and good food will perk her right up.

 

5 gallon Marineland Portrait tank, no tank mates. I thought the tank was cycled but I'm not 100 % sure since the ammonia crept up. There is a filter, the one that came with the tank.

How did you cycle her tank? Since theres ammonia, it means its not cycled for the bioload she is producing. It shouldn't be a big deal if you keep in top of the water changes until its cycled though. Otherwise, it looks like she will have a much better life with you

 

How did you cycle her tank? Since theres ammonia, it means its not cycled for the bioload she is producing. It shouldn't be a big deal if you keep in top of the water changes until its cycled though. Otherwise, it looks like she will have a much better life with you

I had another betta fish before her that died of dropsy. I initially started the tank with SafeStart, but it had been going for several months. I did a full water change and cleaned the tank out but left the filter with the bacteria in it. I'm wondering if I jumped the gun getting her and should have cleaned the tank out more.

I think she looks better than when I got her. Below is what she looked like the first day. It's hard to tell in the pictures but she has definitely gotten some purple color to her that she didn't have before.

 

She went through a rough patch where I wasn't sure she would make it, but she's a tough little gal and is doing better than ever. I finally got a good picture of her red markings:

 

Wow she looks a lot better, good job! I'm no expert, but the fact the red is on her ventral fins too makes me thinking it might just be her coloring.