# betta changing colour



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

my little betta seems to be changing colour, hes now got red stripes on his fins and im pretty sure a bit of red in his 'beard'. is this normal? or was it he was just really stressed in the fish shop to show his proper colours?


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## chipmunk1210 (Jul 3, 2012)

Could be either answer actually. Alot of bettas don't show their true colors in the petstores due to stress. They tend to be a lot paler or could actually be a total different color at the petstore and then when put into optimal conditions really start to show how pretty they can be.  There are plenty of bettas that are "marbles". They have the potential to change colors their whole lives. Some have very drastic color changes. I happen to love marbles and have quite a few. I have one who started out very clear(cellophane) and is now a dark copper/purple color.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

wow i never knew some could do that!!! ill watch him cose to see if it keeps happening. i hope his steel blue fins dont change tho, hes so pretty!


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## Puppylove (Jun 10, 2012)

I bought a teal betta from the pet store. Completely teal. Now he has no teal and is red/ purple. Looks like a different fish!


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

thats really amazing! im going to do a bit of reading on it, find out why.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

My son bought a crowntail(his money my purchase) for himself, I gave him a 5g acrylic tank with heater and filter, water is [email protected] degrees but today when I came home from work I noticed he isnt the same fish we picked out(walmart rescue, 20 cups the only live one left) he is eating very well, swims very well, no laziness but the top of his body is turning a goldish color. I am almost certain this isnt normal or stress but correlates with the changing colors.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I believe what you are seeing is red wash. Many of the blues will have this. Theres a red gene in blues which will go away at an early age and come back later in life. Many breeders have started to add other genes which counter acts the red wash in order to get pure blues. Most breeders will sell the ones with the red wash and keep the pure blues to work on.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Mines a fungus, being treated now with a secret recipe, not even 24 hours and there is MARKED improvement.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

majerah1 said:


> I believe what you are seeing is red wash. Many of the blues will have this. Theres a red gene in blues which will go away at an early age and come back later in life. Many breeders have started to add other genes which counter acts the red wash in order to get pure blues. Most breeders will sell the ones with the red wash and keep the pure blues to work on.


that doesnt surprise me, he was only cheap from chain fish store but i love him all the same!!

will he continue to change? his pelvic fins are totally bright red now (with the little white band) but the rest of his fins are still just streaked with red. poor thing looks like some ones tried to ty-dye him!!!


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