Fighter going white

Question
The last siamese fighter I had started turning white under his mouth and then died not long after.  The fighter I have now has started turning the same.  I've had him for about 1 month now and got him along with a few blue neons, a silver shark and an albino shark that are all doing fine.  He seems happy enough and he still comes up for a stroke when I put my hand in!  I really don't want to lose him.  What can I do?

Answer
Hi Marina;

Poor guy. He probably has a bacterial or fungal infection. Take a look at the descriptions of the diseases and pictures at the following web site links to match the problem he has. There are treatment options listed there too.

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
http://www.siamsbestbettas.com/diseases.html
http://www.fishjunkies.com/health.php
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/page.asp?articleid=719

You may want to separate him to a hospital tank for treatment. It isn't a good idea to treat fish that aren't sick, and sick fish need to have peace and quiet to heal anyway. For a hospital tank all you need is a bare tank of about 5 gallons or more, a heater, an air pump hooked to an air stone and lights. No gravel, no filter and no decorations. Change 25% to 50% of the water every other day and it should stay clean enough for him to heal. Use the medication chosen as directed on it's package. The reason for no filtration is that it absorbs medicine, which is another good reason not to treat in the main tank. Five gallons and more is needed because it is next to impossible to find a heater suitable for a smaller one.

Watch for fin-nipping in the future too. Sharks are not good tankmates for bettas because of their long beautiful finnage. Just too tempting for sharks. If your tank is big enough it may not be an issue right away. Freshwater "sharks" (which are actually in the barb family) get to 6 to 12 inches long depending on the variety. They are pretty slow growers so you may have some time yet, depending on the tank size. Places for Mr. Betta to hide at the top in is helpful. Floating plants are good for this. Here also is a link to a list of different sharks and how big they get;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/list.aspx?term=shark

Your albino is probably a redtailed or rainbow, just red-eyed and colorless.

I hope Mr. Betta feels better soon and they all keep doing well.......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins