new betta fish with black dust spots

Question

ferdie   just brought home a new betta and not sure if he has velvet or if it's just his coloring. can you help? he's acting very healthy but most of the bettas in the store were sick, so i know he was in bad conditions...couldn't get a good pic of him, but here's the best one i could manage ... it seems to be having trouble uploading so i hope it works. thank you so much!
ferdie's mom

Answer
Ferdies's Mom,

Blue Betta's do tend to get the black coloring. Stress will do it as well. In the picture it looks like he might be in a bowl or a vase. If he is, he has to be removed from it and placed in the right home. The absolute minimum size tank is 2.5 gallons where 5 gallons is best. Also, he is tropical and needs his water to be at 80 degrees at all times. That means he has to have a heater. In the bowls and vases, there is no way to heat the water. If he does not get a heater, you will see him start to deteriorate and get sick. If you add the heater, you might even see the black start going away and the blue come back vibrantly. I do not see any velvet on him at this time.