Sick Betta?

Question
QUESTION: I've had my Betta for close to 3 months now and within the past few weeks I've noticed that between the top of his head and his dorsal fin his scales have turned colorless. His normal coloring is a very deep blue. I do also do a complete water change about once a week. I read somewhere that it would be white cloud...but I'm not really sure. I did buy some tablets that are all in one treatment for freshwater fish with diseases such as ick and fungus but I don't want to use them until I have a better idea what Blue has. (Original name I know :) He does seem to act normally though, always eats his food and can be quite active at times and others just resting peacefully. Thanks in advance if you can diagnose my Betta! I've never had luck with them before and I'm hoping to change that!

ANSWER: Caity,
First off, what size tank is he in? A male Betta should be in nothing less than a 2.5 gallon where a 5 gallon is better. What is his water temperature? Betta's are tropical fish and need their water to be 80 degrees at all times. Whatever the tablets are, do not use them. They do not work. You can add some aquarium salt to his water. This will help with the problem. 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt to 1 gallon of water. Make sure the salt is completely dissolved before you add it to his water or it will burn him. If his tank is too small, and he does not have a heater, he is stressed. This will cause him to lose color. Let me know if he is already in the right size home with a heater so that I can figure out what other problems he might have. If he is in a tank too small, get him the right one and you will see an improvement. We never treat with medication unless we are sure what the problem is.

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discolored betta   QUESTION: He is currently in a one gallon tank. The guy at the pet store told me they prefer small tank sizes. I'm guessing he was quite wrong. I do not have a heater for the tank either.  His water temp has been about 76-78 deg over the past few days but only because I've been leaving the light on. Before the it was in the low 70's.  Just in the few days from when I asked you my question he has lost some more coloring too. I have not used the tablets either but I did find some aquarium salt today and added some to his tank per your directions.  Also I read somewhere that Bettas like to hide, I only have one decoration in my tank, should I have more? I also snapped a picture of my Blue so you can see his discoloration.

Answer
Yes, the guy at the store was very wrong. 1 gallon is just not big enough for these guys. Also, the light being on all the time will cause other issues such as algae. He is fading in color partly because he is not in a heated tank and partly because of the color. The blue Betta's do tend to fade more than others. If you were to put him in a non filtered 5 gallon tank with a heater, you would see a huge change in him. As for the hiding, yes they do like to but in that small of a tank it would be too hard. Everything that is put with him takes up swimming room. Just make sure his water is clean and warm and get him the right house set up as soon as you can.