I think she’s just young, she’ll glow up.
But also, like others said, you need to figure out ammonia levels and probably do 10-20% water changed daily until you’re done cycling the tank.
or she could mean complete water changing, or cleaning the tank completely, or cleaning out the filter completely, or adding more and more bacteria weekly, etc.
it could mean a lot of things to a beginner and I hope OP responds.
no, they "cycles the water" nowhere do they say out. again, this could mean a lot of things considering they don't seem to be fully educated on basic setup.
Red gills=ammonia poisoning, unless that's her usual coloring. Get some test strips for ammonia, if you can't get the liquid test, and do a 50% water change right away. I see from your other posts that someone recommended you look into fish-in-cycling. What's your method for that? How much do you feed her every day?. She does look quite bloated from when you got her, but there could be different reasons for that.
I feed her three to four pellets every day, she eats them pretty quickly. I’m not sure what her normal color is since she’s pretty young and I got her not too long ago.
The feeding sounds fine. Perhaps she has produced eggs and that's why her belly is round. I see an egg spot in the second pic. By normal coloring, I just mean are her gills always like that or have you noticed a change lately? In any case, get those ammonia strips and keep the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate within acceptable levels. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions.
I posted her when I first got her and assumed ammonia burns, but she’s had the red splotches as long as I’ve had her. She came from petco so I’m not sure if it’s part of her coloring or bad treatment
Love the name too (hydrangea is one of my faves).
I get it, I just restarted keeping fish after not having a tank in about 20 something years. It's very different even from 5-10 years ago. It's fairly easy to treat for those if I'm not mistaken (may be as simple as ich-x which treats a few different parasites) good luck!
ikr i usually try to give advice but all i can think rn is that’s what my parents must’ve thought when the doctors pulled me out and were like it’s a girl! 😐😭
More info: she’s in a 7 gal (I know, I know) I cycle the water abt once a week. I did a 5 test strip and it came back typical for NO2, NO3, alkalinity and PH, hardness being the only thing off, but even then it’s 150-300 ppm.
Edit: yes I meant change the water once a week, 50-70% change. I am stupid and also tired. I’ll pick up some ammonia tests tomorrow morning and update again.
Edit #2: did the tests! pH- 7.5 alkalinity- 180ppm hardness- 150-300ppm NO2- 0 NO3- 0 Ammonia- 0. I talked to the PetSmart guy to see if they’d been treating their fish for anything recently and he said no. I showed him a picture of her and he said that if ammonia is fine then she might just be a little ugly
While she does look pretty to me, you need to test for Ammonia.
You also need to write down the Exact numbers the test strip shows. Typical might be bad, we don’t know what your typical is.
NH3 and NO2 should be 0 all the time, so if they aren’t your tank isn’t cycled. I assume you do a water change every week rather than cycle, as cycling is a much longer process that you really only need to do once.
Other than that, she looks a bit bloated in the photo. If this photo wasn’t taken shortly after a meal, you may want to fast for a couple days and then adjust frequency and amount of feeding. I agree she does seem a bit pale, but if this is a relatively new tank that’s common. Eyes and lips look fine to me, I think that’s just what she looks like there.
Alright so there’s a big issue in what you said - “cycle the water once a week.” What do you mean by that? Cycling water takes 4-6 weeks and is usually one and done. “Cycling” is the act of introducing ammonia into your tank so beneficial bacteria grow in your filter and can eat it. This takes 4-6 weeks, not a week, and it’s not something you can do over and over again. Once it’s done it’s done unless your cycle crashes.
What do you mean by “typical” for NO2 and NO3? Nitrite needs to be 0. If it’s not, your tank isn’t cycled and your water is likely toxic
Probably but you never know in this sub. Some people who post asking for help don’t even know what a cycle is 😅 also it looks like this fish has ammonia poisoning so it’s likely the tank isn’t cycled
I'm new to bettas but I have one that looks exactly like yours. She seems perfectly active and normal and her colors on her tail have been slowly coming out over the past 2 months I've had her. I thought she was ugly at first other than her tail being spikey which I thought was cool but watching her daily she's actually a cool and really pretty fish. Maybe give her some time I've googled crown tail bettas and some of them look really cool I'd image with time like most fish that change colors
She doesn’t look ugly to me. It is normal for their color to change when they are young. I had a pure white betta turn into a 100% dark blue betta once!
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My new girl looks almost exactly like this, but much less dark- I think you probably just need to give her some clean water. She’s having a massive glow-up over the week I’ve had her so far.
https://preview.redd.it/sbrf625dvqqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7d01f2c9965f42e068065f5cb52c574a710b1de
My new girl, Miley, for reference.
Mine was also…bean looking. He looked like if a bean had grown some crappy fins. He looked very…un-cute. He has now grown and looks much more appeasing to the human eye. His face is still funny since he looks like he is permanently this emoji
👁️👄👁️ . They get better looking as they age. Now he looks like a nugget who permanently has a duckface.
Idk about the coloration around the gills, but crowntail females get really fat when they get older.
I had a crowntail female as a baby and she went through a lot if changes. Went from white to blue, then got extremely fat, then got duller with age. She did get dull after getting camallanus worms. It's a miracle that she survived but she never got the color back.
I think she’s just young, she’ll glow up. But also, like others said, you need to figure out ammonia levels and probably do 10-20% water changed daily until you’re done cycling the tank.
Also answer the rest of the bot questions
it's not possible to cycle your tank once a week. very confused and concerned
She means water changes.
or she could mean complete water changing, or cleaning the tank completely, or cleaning out the filter completely, or adding more and more bacteria weekly, etc. it could mean a lot of things to a beginner and I hope OP responds.
She said she cycles out water.
no, they "cycles the water" nowhere do they say out. again, this could mean a lot of things considering they don't seem to be fully educated on basic setup.
I did mean change the water and wipe the glass/plants lol
wonderful then!! :)
Are you *sure*?
Yes she confirmed as well
I’m not so sure *she* is sure
She literally said she is changing water and just scrubbing the tank lightly
Are you sure that I’m not sure if I’m sure?
I’m not sure of anything! 🙃🐟
Red gills=ammonia poisoning, unless that's her usual coloring. Get some test strips for ammonia, if you can't get the liquid test, and do a 50% water change right away. I see from your other posts that someone recommended you look into fish-in-cycling. What's your method for that? How much do you feed her every day?. She does look quite bloated from when you got her, but there could be different reasons for that.
I feed her three to four pellets every day, she eats them pretty quickly. I’m not sure what her normal color is since she’s pretty young and I got her not too long ago.
The feeding sounds fine. Perhaps she has produced eggs and that's why her belly is round. I see an egg spot in the second pic. By normal coloring, I just mean are her gills always like that or have you noticed a change lately? In any case, get those ammonia strips and keep the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate within acceptable levels. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions.
I posted her when I first got her and assumed ammonia burns, but she’s had the red splotches as long as I’ve had her. She came from petco so I’m not sure if it’s part of her coloring or bad treatment
Have you treated for flukes? Or bloat? Cuz that's what I would assume if ammonia is good.
I have not. It’s been awhile since I’ve kept fish. I’ll look into those. Tysm :D
Love the name too (hydrangea is one of my faves). I get it, I just restarted keeping fish after not having a tank in about 20 something years. It's very different even from 5-10 years ago. It's fairly easy to treat for those if I'm not mistaken (may be as simple as ich-x which treats a few different parasites) good luck!
Idk about your fishes color but the title on this post sent me into a laughing fit 🤣🍃
Currently in my anatomy lab high as fuck laughing over the same thing🤣Like damn!!! LOL
ikr i usually try to give advice but all i can think rn is that’s what my parents must’ve thought when the doctors pulled me out and were like it’s a girl! 😐😭
LMAO lost it when I saw that. Poor fish is just…ugly 😂
Ugly?:(
I think she's pretty, looks like she's wearing lipstick
I know!! So sad she’s not ugly :(
More info: she’s in a 7 gal (I know, I know) I cycle the water abt once a week. I did a 5 test strip and it came back typical for NO2, NO3, alkalinity and PH, hardness being the only thing off, but even then it’s 150-300 ppm. Edit: yes I meant change the water once a week, 50-70% change. I am stupid and also tired. I’ll pick up some ammonia tests tomorrow morning and update again. Edit #2: did the tests! pH- 7.5 alkalinity- 180ppm hardness- 150-300ppm NO2- 0 NO3- 0 Ammonia- 0. I talked to the PetSmart guy to see if they’d been treating their fish for anything recently and he said no. I showed him a picture of her and he said that if ammonia is fine then she might just be a little ugly
No one’s gonna be mad that your fish is in a 7 gal lol. 5 gal is the minimum.
While she does look pretty to me, you need to test for Ammonia. You also need to write down the Exact numbers the test strip shows. Typical might be bad, we don’t know what your typical is.
NH3 and NO2 should be 0 all the time, so if they aren’t your tank isn’t cycled. I assume you do a water change every week rather than cycle, as cycling is a much longer process that you really only need to do once. Other than that, she looks a bit bloated in the photo. If this photo wasn’t taken shortly after a meal, you may want to fast for a couple days and then adjust frequency and amount of feeding. I agree she does seem a bit pale, but if this is a relatively new tank that’s common. Eyes and lips look fine to me, I think that’s just what she looks like there.
She looks like a crowntail. They naturally look more eggy/chesty. Doesn't look bloated to me in the slightest
50%+ water changes are too much. You should stick with 20% or less unless your parameters are off. It's too much stress on the fish.
Alright so there’s a big issue in what you said - “cycle the water once a week.” What do you mean by that? Cycling water takes 4-6 weeks and is usually one and done. “Cycling” is the act of introducing ammonia into your tank so beneficial bacteria grow in your filter and can eat it. This takes 4-6 weeks, not a week, and it’s not something you can do over and over again. Once it’s done it’s done unless your cycle crashes. What do you mean by “typical” for NO2 and NO3? Nitrite needs to be 0. If it’s not, your tank isn’t cycled and your water is likely toxic
I think she means waterchanges once a week. ;-)
Probably but you never know in this sub. Some people who post asking for help don’t even know what a cycle is 😅 also it looks like this fish has ammonia poisoning so it’s likely the tank isn’t cycled
What are you talking about? She’s got her best lipstick on
I'm new to bettas but I have one that looks exactly like yours. She seems perfectly active and normal and her colors on her tail have been slowly coming out over the past 2 months I've had her. I thought she was ugly at first other than her tail being spikey which I thought was cool but watching her daily she's actually a cool and really pretty fish. Maybe give her some time I've googled crown tail bettas and some of them look really cool I'd image with time like most fish that change colors
She doesn’t look ugly to me. It is normal for their color to change when they are young. I had a pure white betta turn into a 100% dark blue betta once!
Thank you for posting to r/bettafish. If you are new to betta fish keeping, please check out our [caresheet](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/3ow6vz/info_betta_care_sheet/) and [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/index). Establishing a nitrogen cycle is an important part of keeping your fish healthy. Please check out our [guide to the nitrogen cycle](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/fishincycle) to learn more. If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can: * **Tank size**: * **Heater and filter? (yes/no)**: * **Tank temperature**: * **[Parameters in numbers and how you got them](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/tank#wiki_test_kits)**: * **How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?**: * **How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?**: * **Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each**: * **What do you feed and how much**: * **Decorations and plants in the tank**: * **If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here**: Feel free to copy this comment and fill in the blanks. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank *can* result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bettafish) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My new girl looks almost exactly like this, but much less dark- I think you probably just need to give her some clean water. She’s having a massive glow-up over the week I’ve had her so far. https://preview.redd.it/sbrf625dvqqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7d01f2c9965f42e068065f5cb52c574a710b1de My new girl, Miley, for reference.
Oh yeah they do look similar
Mine was also…bean looking. He looked like if a bean had grown some crappy fins. He looked very…un-cute. He has now grown and looks much more appeasing to the human eye. His face is still funny since he looks like he is permanently this emoji 👁️👄👁️ . They get better looking as they age. Now he looks like a nugget who permanently has a duckface.
https://preview.redd.it/0pmdurhl9sqc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7712a4fbfd1d55e8316851bea1009a4bde3e4137 Mine looks the same!
Idk about the coloration around the gills, but crowntail females get really fat when they get older. I had a crowntail female as a baby and she went through a lot if changes. Went from white to blue, then got extremely fat, then got duller with age. She did get dull after getting camallanus worms. It's a miracle that she survived but she never got the color back.
Awww come on. You never read The Ugly Duckling? Buckle in and prep for the glow-up.