I had been given this betta fish about 3-4 weeks ago, and am noticing that his color is slowly turning darker- is this normal? I’m new to betta care and can’t find anything on google.
(Extra info: The pictures are in chronological order, the tank is a 5 gal, he has a nerite snail buddy but there’s been no fights that I know of, the tank is almost fully live planted, and the only water issue I’m finding is the pH level is a tad bit high- 7.4)
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1ffka8m
Posted by Specific_Boat_1010
3 Comments
Yes, this is normal. Your betta, like many bettas, appears to have the marble gene which causes random color changes throughout their lives. He’s super handsome!
Edit because I forgot to comment on your pH – a pH of 7.4 is no need to worry about. It’s more important for it to be stable. Fluctuations in pH can actually stress out your fish.
He has a filter, and I made sure he wasn’t being thrown around in the water by it, or sucked into the actual filtration entrance; the temperature fluctuates during the day due to my location (love desert weather), but the lowest it goes is 78 at night when I turn off the lights, I’ve done 33% water changes per week, and I will say I do overfeed him a little, four shrimp pellets in the morning and a small amount of frozen bloodworms (like, three to four)
Love his mustache btw!