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I think my Betta is sick. He is normally neon blue mostly and the top of his head is blackish/grey. I noticed yesterday that he seems to be less active and his blackish/grey color is turning yellowish. He is alone in a one gallon bowl in the center of my house, so he gets lots of attention that might stress him out. There is nothing in the bowl with him but some glass stones at the bottom. Any ideas?

Has he ever changed colour or does he have any white spots or bands on his fins?

It is possible it is a stress or illness thing you are seeing, but often, orange is often the head colour you get in fish that are missing the classic black cap. If your fish is a marble (grizzle, marble, butterfly, etc) then the colour change could be perfectly natural. his blue might even bleach out to white or get red splotches etc. It would be unusual, in my experience anyway, for an illness to only change his colour without changing the skin texture or causing inflammation etc.

Has the temperature changed at all? Inactivity is often brought about by cold weather, and in a 1gal bowl, the water changes temperature very quickly as there is nothing there to insulate it.

If it has been cooler, try moving him to a warmer spot in the house or covering the bowl with a polystyrene box or thick blankt before it starts getting cold at night. Warm spots to consider are tops of fridges or TVs, or you could buy a small heating pad to place under the bowl.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I think he is a Betta splendens, but I don't really know scientific names... He's always had a tiny bit of white on the end of his fins and hes got a little red too. But he has never changed color. It seems like his scales are almost getting a "foggy" yellow. I don't think the temperature has changed much inside my house but this will be his first winter when it gets here, I got him in March.

The names I mentioned are all colours of Betta splendens (most fighters you buy in pet shops are splendens ) much like you might have a tabby, tortoiseshell, black, or seal point cat. Same species, but the colour genetics do weird things to how they look. The marble gene in particular is a funny one, as the fish can change colour their whole lives. I had one once that was bought as a blotchy blue and white, and then changed to white, and then red and blue, and then to red and white flecks on white!

The orange thing does sound like a normal head colour to me, but the yellow and lethargy may not be.

When you say foggy, do you mean that the scales are duller, or that the yellow is just not bright and vibrant?



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

The yellow is definitely not iridescence it kind of like when people get jaundice. My brother thinks that it might have to do with the amount of sleep he gets. People leave the lights on in the kitchen (where he is at) when they go to bed so if I stay up late doing something I'm not aware that the lights are on. Could that do something to him?

It could make him tired which might lower his resistance to infection.

Is he having trouble breathing?
Is the yellow visible on the fins?
Does it concentrate around the edges of the scales?
Is he flicking against things or moving erratically when he does move?
Could it possibly look like he was rolled in pollen?

If yes to those, then he might have velvet. It is a skin parasite that is a yellowish colour and it goes for the easiest access places first (fins, around scales, the 'goggles' area around the eyes) so check those places specifically. If it is that, you should see clumps of tiny yellowy dots, like dust.

If you see that, quickly down to the shops to get some sort of dye-based medication. My favourites are Protozin and Multicure (the generic meth blue/mal green/formalin mixture). Anything for ick will do, so if you have any of that on hand, check the label and you are set.

I'll zip this over to the hospital section, they are oodles better with diseases.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I think its a "yes" under most of those categories especially the pollen one. Thank you, I'll get back to you after i start treating.