Beta fish freckles

Question
I have been reading previous problems to see if anyone has had similar problem, but didn't see any. My  male beta named Xander ( got for Christmas last year) has what appears to be freckles on his fins ( they are NOT white), his fins also appear less smooth then they used to be. One of the two long fins on the side is showing the color white on the end.  Are these just normal color changes or a symptom of something bad? I also noted that he has one scale that fell off, all his other scales look fine so I assume (hope)it  was and injury not an infection. His behavior is fine, he eats swims, has no balance problems. He is alone  in a 18 gallon filtered (Aqua-Tech 10-20,3 stage filtration: dirt, waste, ammonia and nitrate)aquarium with fake  plants and bottled drinking water. I always use bottled water when adding or changing water so I don't have to worry about sitting or treating the water correctly. I do not have a heater but I usually leave the lamp on the cover on more often than not. average temp 80 degrees.

Answer
Hi Angela,
 You didn't say how often you are doing water changes.  Are you doing regular weekly partial water changes?  You should be changing about 25% of his water once a week, every week.  

 You would be much better using bottled distilled water.  Bottled drinking water actually has a whole bunch of stuff added into it (various minerals for taste).  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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