# Betta - Strange Color change UPDATE 1/3/2015



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Well that's not the normal "they're changing color with age" thing  if he's still bubble nesting and eating than its not columnaris (some people have described a symptom of it as a visibly light 'saddle' on the back).... You can try posting in the [bettafish forum's disease section], see if anyone red flags it as a symptom of something... or in the general [Betta care] section if you think its not an emergency. Lot more betta owners on that forum (since its specific for bettas) so might get more responses.
Hope he's ok.. I'd glare at him and say ""Stop that this instant! Get back to your sexy colors!" not that it would help...... How old is he now anyways (or how long have you had him)?


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I ran over to the other forum right after I posted here. So far, no response yet. 

I've had him for ten months. His body was only an inch long when I got him so I'm guessing he his between one to one and a half years old.

He doesn't seem sick, he seems pretty normal...for Waldo...the only difference is that he hasn't had roommates for awhile. He seems to peck at the Rasboras, nothing super aggressive, but sort of like he's saying keep away from me. Sort of the way we would swat at a fly. He seems pretty obsessed with his bubble nest.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

When my newest addition had stress stripes (at store ans as he was being dripped into the qt) they were nowhere near as wide as Waldo's

I actually thought he was an hm dumbo female at first because of the stripes (pectorals kept hiding egg spot area), but nope.. boy.
Can you try removing the other fish for a week or 2 and see if the stripes go away? Maybe he's just not a community fish...


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I thought about moving them. I almost feel like the color change is an emotional thing or aggression thing. It kinda sucks to have a fish with a high emotional IQ. It makes me appreciate Diablo since he just reacts at things.


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## Grah the great (Jul 3, 2013)

My sister's late crowntail betta picked up a nasty fin-rot like illness which, besides destroying the fish's fins, gave it vertical skin tone bars very similar to those your fish is dealing with...salt and a heated quarantine tank stopped the fin rot but did not do much to the bars (the fish died of lack of maintenance a few weeks later, so it might have not had time to heal much).


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

How long have you had him? 
He could have some marble betta in him and just be changing colors.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Betta132 said:


> How long have you had him?
> He could have some marble betta in him and just be changing colors.


I have had him for ten months. I estimate his age at no more than a year and a half. He was teenage size when I got him.


I wondered about marbling, but it seems strange that the white bands have such straight edges. Waldo is such a crazy fish, I wouldn't put it past him to have unusual genes.


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## Canis (Jun 4, 2014)

Looks like marbling to me, his just has a bit of pattern to it.


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## StrangeDejavu (Jun 23, 2014)

How much time passed between pictures 1 and 2? If it happened rapidly, then it's not marbling. I have a marbled betta and his color transition took several months to completely change. It looks very similar to what one of my Neons had when I first bought them. A breeder diagnosed it as False NTD, but i'm not sure if it was that or Columnaris. There was no fungus or fuzziness, just lack of pigment which rapidly changed and killed the fish in a 12 hour period. The below photo shows a difference in only 4 hours. I lost 2x Neons to this before finally treating the tank with KanaPlex, at which point all deaths and sickness stopped.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

StrangeDejavu said:


> How much time passed between pictures 1 and 2? If it happened rapidly, then it's not marbling. I have a marbled betta and his color transition took several months to completely change. It looks very similar to what one of my Neons had when I first bought them. A breeder diagnosed it as False NTD, but i'm not sure if it was that or Columnaris. There was no fungus or fuzziness, just lack of pigment which rapidly changed and killed the fish in a 12 hour period. The below photo shows a difference in only 4 hours.


Yikes. He has had this for over a week. He had it for a week before I moved him from a bowl to his tank. He colored back up when he first started to live in the tank.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

Doesn't really look like Columnaris. I would assume marbling, but I'm by no means an expert. If you really want to be sure I'd post a thread on the betta forums to get a definitive answer.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

How long did it take for him to go from all blue to this? If it was at least a handful of days, it's most likely marbling. Sometimes bettas just seem to suddenly respond to some unknown cue and change color like this if they have any marble genes. 
And I used to have a female betta who could alter the ratio of blue/green/purple to white on her head area in about five seconds. She'd do it if she wanted to show off, apparently. I still have no idea how she could do that...


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## Kehy (Feb 5, 2012)

Once I went to bed with a red betta. The next morning he was purple. Marble mutations can be fun and unexpected.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Have you added salt or and medication lately?
I've seen skin change color from salt burn.- not mixing it with water before adding it to the tank. For me it happened with khulis.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Thanks for talking me through this. I'm freaking out a little less than I was yesterday. I think we have a genuine case of marbling going on. The white is spreading and looks more solid.

Yesterday:









Today, moving up his head and becoming less translucent:









On a side note, I found this yesterday. The marble gene was discovered by a man breeding Bettas in prison. I love weird trivia:
http://www.bettysplendens.com/marble-bettas.html


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## Canis (Jun 4, 2014)

One of my marbles literally changed colors overnight. It was pretty scary, because I was looking in my sorority trying to count my girls and I saw this random little one that I didn't remember buying coming up to say hi. Turned out it was my omega female, because I did a head count and she was the only one 'missing'. Wish I had gotten pictures of the transformation, it was pretty wild.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Canis said:


> One of my marbles literally changed colors overnight. It was pretty scary, because I was looking in my sorority trying to count my girls and I saw this random little one that I didn't remember buying coming up to say hi. Turned out it was my omega female, because I did a head count and she was the only one 'missing'. Wish I had gotten pictures of the transformation, it was pretty wild.


How shocking to have your betta change so quickly! Pretty funny story, lol!

The whole marble gene randomly showing up seems like a problem with factory farming these little guys. I'm sure breeders here would not want that gene unless it was something they were specifically breeding for. Maybe the Thai breeders don't care? Found this YouTube video the other day. It reminded me of the matrix
http://youtu.be/7MfvCJ5yXUw


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

yeah, that is weird. If it was an infection, he'd died by now.

Diet can affect their color. What are you feeding it?

Beautiful color before the change.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

mistergreen said:


> yeah, that is weird. If it was an infection, he'd died by now.
> 
> Diet can affect their color. What are you feeding it?
> 
> Beautiful color before the change.


He has been getting his usual pellets and occasional frozen daphnia. But lately, he and Diablo have been stealing the flakes I feed the Rasboras. They are both foraging for wild food (scuds, snails, worms, etc). Diablo is still the same, but his fins look straighter and healthier now.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Hi Everyone, 
I thought I would post an update of Waldo's metamorphosis.

His right side:








His left side:









It's difficult to see in the photos, but some of his scales are the same gold color his fins are. He has blue dragon scales growing on the tops of his eyeballs. They are still blue and I am crossing my fingers that they stay that way.


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

White or blue he's a gorgeous fish. What kind of betta is he? His fins are so long!


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

fishyfishy101 said:


> White or blue he's a gorgeous fish. What kind of betta is he? His fins are so long!


The Thai breeders on Aquabid call him a Green Mustard Dragon. If you search for Green Mustard Dragon on YouTube, you may come across a person in Australia who is importing Waldo's relatives for sale in Australia. I hit the lottery, I found him at the local pet store. I'm not sure what you would call him now, Lol!

Waldo's fins are gorgeous. They make it hard for him to swim and he tires easily. He had been trimming his tail lately. He used to have a perfect 180 degree spread on that tail. Here are some pictures from when he was younger and his tail was shorter and not such a burden to him.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=613498&highlight=


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Looks like your mustard is turning into a platinum/white gold . I'm glad he's still alive and showing no signs of illness! Good thing you didn't give him a blue specific themed name right? ^^


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

AquaAurora said:


> Looks like your mustard is turning into a platinum/white gold . I'm glad he's still alive and showing no signs of illness! Good thing you didn't give him a blue specific themed name right? ^^


Absolutely! It would suck to have to change his name.

He is still Waldo. I fed them peas for dinner (there was an unfortunate auto feeder malfunction in Diablo's tank over the weekend, he ate way too much and needs some, er ... assistance). Waldo missed the three micro chunks of pea I gave him. 10 minutes later he slurped them off of the gravel and then proceeded to wrap his body around the plants looking for scraps. He is uprooting all of the S. Repens in his tank. Absolutely normal healthy Waldo behaviour.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I really should have posted an updated photo of Waldo last week. He almost made it to pure white. He is starting to marble back to blue on his body. The scales over the tops of his eyes where white, they are starting to be blue again.


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## Canis (Jun 4, 2014)

Such a strange little marble, lol.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

He's going back to blue? Odd. Ah well- marbles are odd. Keep us updated! I, for one, want to see if he keeps cycling between blue and white. 

Anyone know what triggers marbles to change? I've heard of people who have an adult betta for years before it changes.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Betta132 said:


> He's going back to blue? Odd. Ah well- marbles are odd. Keep us updated! I, for one, want to see if he keeps cycling between blue and white.
> 
> Anyone know what triggers marbles to change? I've heard of people who have an adult betta for years before it changes.


This article doesn't say why it happens, but I liked the article http://www.bettysplendens.com/the-ever-changing-marble.html


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Wow I've never seen a fish change like that.
I have a marble female who went from blue/ white to all blue - but these are total color changes.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I have a female betta who was almost pure white when I got her. She had transparent, blue-tinted fins, and a few small flecks of purple. Now she has three times as many flecks, they're larger, her body is slowly turning orange, her fins are turquoise, the fin bases are purple/black, and she's still changing. This isn't just coloring up from being in a betta cup, she's actively making new patterns.


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## Nuthatch (Jun 18, 2014)

Betta123 - Do you have any pictures that we can see? She sounds amazing!


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Lol he can't make up his mind if he wants to be white or blue.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

AquaAurora said:


> Lol he can't make up his mind if he wants to be white or blue.


It's Murphy's law. Remember I told you on your moss and grass post that I would update these photos when He finished turning white? I jinxed it and now he is marbling again, lol!


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Nuthatch said:


> Betta123 - Do you have any pictures that we can see? She sounds amazing!


I do. The first pic is from about a week after I got her, when she was all colored up but hadn't started changing yet. The second pic is from about ten minutes ago. 
Previously, she'd gone solid whitish-orange on her body, but it wasn't a nice shade of orange. I don't have any pictures of that stage, not really. Looks like she's going back to cellophane on her tail/butt area. She was slightly cellophane when I got her, but this is more transparent. And that's not just glare on her back, it's stayed white despite the orange along her sides. The light did contribute slightly to this picture... she's partially transparent, so the light kind of soaks through her when she's up near the top. She isn't banana-yellow, more like a really light orange/white.
No, she didn't get bigger. She's just closer to the glass this time. 
Her gills were really black along the insides for about a week or so.. freaked me out a bit at first, because I couldn't tell if the black was new coloration or some kind of infection. Turns out it was just color.
Little thing is hard to photograph, I had to take about a dozen pictures in rapid succession and look through them for a good one or two. 
The odd ripples/wrinkles in her fins are due to my emerald eye rasboras. They grew to full size and got ultra-hyper because they needed more space than one might think with such little fish. They tore her fins up before I got them out, and her fins grew back a little bit wrinkled. She's got a few forked veins in there, too. 
Pretty sure the next step is dark blue/purple fins. Not sure what's going on with her body.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Hi Everyone,
I hope you all had a Happy Holiday season. I really love how Waldo looks right now, so I thought it would be a good time to update.

Here's how he looked when he was in the middle of going white:









Here he is on his way to what may be blue again:









Here are some fun pictures I got this morning while he was being a ham:


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 22, 2013)

How's this for change? Betta belongs to an IBC (International Betta Congress) member from Hawaii. Her betta appropriately named "Zombie"


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Wow! Zombie is so cool! I love picture number two.

It makes you wonder how many fish are "contaminated" with the marble gene now. Wouldn't this be a flaw in a show Betta? I guess the IBC might never know since a Betta at show is a snap shot of how the fish looks at any given time....


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## Oceangirl (Feb 5, 2013)

I just figured out I have a marble betta too. He was black and white at the store. I swear it! I drooled over him for a solid 30 days, then I had to have him. Now his body is dragonscale blue, his tail is still black and white. He lived in a 55G with cories, but he was booted to a 5.5 gallon, with 2 mystery snails. Now he is blue.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Oceangirl said:


> I just figured out I have a marble betta too. He was black and white at the store. I swear it! I drooled over him for a solid 30 days, then I had to have him. Now his body is dragonscale blue, his tail is still black and white. He lived in a 55G with cories, but he was booted to a 5.5 gallon, with 2 mystery snails. Now he is blue.


It's almost like you can't count on what the fish will look like. I guess it would be ok if a person knew ahead of time. I'm pretty thankful Waldo has such a goofy loveable personality. It makes the identity change ok because it is still him...only different.

Your fish is still so pretty, but, I know what you mean. It's hard to decide on a certain kind of Betta. Love the way he looks, spend time deciding to adopt him and then he ends up being another Betta in a way.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

There's a type of betta that's called a koi betta. They start really pale and develop various patches of blue, red, orange, or similar colors. Eventually they look like splotchy koi from above. Pretty cool. It's a type of halfway-corralled marble, I think, one where you at least know what colors they'll have.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Betta132 said:


> There's a type of betta that's called a koi betta. They start really pale and develop various patches of blue, red, orange, or similar colors. Eventually they look like splotchy koi from above. Pretty cool. It's a type of halfway-corralled marble, I think, one where you at least know what colors they'll have.


I was looking at Koi Bettas on Aquabid after reading the article on marbling I posted earlier on this thread. I was seriously wondering about those particular fish. Do you think they continue looking like a Koi or do they randomly marble into something else?


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## Kntry (Dec 26, 2013)

Since you can only have 1 Betta to a tank, you're waking up to a different Betta every so often! LOL


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Kntry said:


> Since you can only have 1 Betta to a tank, you're waking up to a different Betta every so often! LOL


Lol!! It's like cheating on Waldo without bringing another Betta into our relationship. :hihi:


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

^^That's funny!^^
What a great thread and beautiful fish,which ever one he is today!
Kind makes me think I would be disappointed if I got a betta that didn't change color.
He is fantastic!


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Varmint said:


> I was looking at Koi Bettas on Aquabid after reading the article on marbling I posted earlier on this thread. I was seriously wondering about those particular fish. Do you think they continue looking like a Koi or do they randomly marble into something else?


I think the koi bettas stay looking koi-ish. At the very least, they should keep the colors and the splotchy design, so you'll just have various different koi bettas now and then.


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

Betta132 said:


> I think the koi bettas stay looking koi-ish. At the very least, they should keep the colors and the splotchy design, so you'll just have various different koi bettas now and then.


That would be awesome if they generally stayed the same. If they did keep marbling then stabilizing the color/pattern would be a good breeding project. Hmmmmm....I think I might need to start reading up on this....


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Sorry to dredge this up but I'm curious if Waldo stopped color swinging and settled on his new look?


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