The Amazing (Exasperating) Color-Changing Betta

[Cyberra]

She's definitely turning pale again. Not sure what color she's going to turn this time.



That's also her bad eye. From watching the way she swims I'm of the impression that her left eye doesn't work too well; she doesn't see things very well on that side, and she swims tilted to the right so she can use her right eye. It's good that her tankmate is so docile, or her fins would be in ribbons by now.

[tate8]

That is a cool Betta!

[Cyberra]

She's the first betta I have ever seen who changes color like this. It's a very slow process, but still visible as patches of color appear and disappear. The change seems to start at her front end and veeeeeeeeeeery slowly move down to her tail, judging from the way she went from brown to white, and then from white to purple

[MuckyFish]

I think you need to breed this one and see what the offspring do...

[Cyberra]

I think you need to breed this one and see what the offspring do...

That would involve getting her to cooperate, and pick out which male she likes. Then try to get him to cooperate

[Cyberra]

New pics! Got her from both sides this time. You can see the line of purple sneaking back toward her tailfin, and even pushing through her dorsal fin, which was never purple before.

You can also see the cloudiness of her left eye. Can fish get cataracts?

[Tiari]

I'm not sure how to go about telling you this, as the coolness factor of the color changing is high..... but striping and mottling of dark colors on a Betta's body is an indicator of extreme stress.

These "stress stripe" areas can be Horizontal or not, or mottled and can mean a host of different things. Some female Betta show such stripes in a certain coming and going pattern and darkness when ready to breed.

You can look up "Betta stress stripes" on a search engine and if you click images you will see hosts of different stress stripe patterns.

Betta also change color depending on stress and environment. Paling or loss of color is NEVER a good sign, and can be an indicator something is awry with this fish. Betta are not chameleon, and generally don't change color except for becoming more vibrant in optimal conditions. Always assume color changes are a warning signal of the fishes well being.

[Cyberra]

I've been keeping a close eye on her since she started changing color. Even when she had her own, clean and quiet tank for months, the changing never stopped. Echo seems to be doing fine, except for the loss of vision on her left side, but I'm still keeping an eye on her.

If the color-changing is stress, maybe it's because she's blind on one side. I don't know, and she's not telling

[ameliaaahx]

If the color-changing is stress, maybe it's because she's blind on one side. I don't know, and she's not telling

I think this is probably dead-on. Poor wee dot.

It is very cool though... I don't know why but she reminds me of the Mermaid Barbie I had when I was a kid which changed from blue to purple to pink when you put it under different temperature water.

[Cyberra]

Her half-blindness aside, Echo is doing very well. She's acting just like a normal betta, just with a tendency to run into things when swimming at speed. She's also the dominant female of the 10-gallon.