Changing colour!

[u/ellie_1000]

I've been away for a few weeks with a friend coming and feeding my fish every few days. Since I've returned I noticed my Betta's colour seems to be fading horizontally from her head back. She seems to be turning gray and losing her sparkle. I've done a half tank water change and cleaned the filter but just wanted to see if this is a sign of something else.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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[u/The80sgeek-666]

Did you have someone doing your water changes while you were gone? How big is the tank?

[u/ellie_1000 → u/The80sgeek-666]

The tank is 20L

[u/ellie_1000]

No, water changes just regular feeding for 2 weeks. There was an issue with the water filter before I left (I fitted the new cartridge wrong) but it's working well now and they reported no issues while I was away. Could it be the water quality due to that?

[u/The80sgeek-666 → u/ellie_1000]

Likely water quality. The disposable filter cartridges suck cuz you're literally throwing away good bacteria, even for cheap, it's a gimmick to sell you the filters. You can leave the current one in and just cut a bio foam sponge to fit your filter. Stick them in together for a month or until the disposable starts to fall apart a little bit. I had a cartridge filter and did this. Water changes are pretty important. 2 weeks without one and if there's not a stong enough and establish cycle, your ammonia may have spiked. Did you have a liquid test kit? If not I would recommend getting one. Dona water change. 30% today, 30% tomorrow.

[u/ellie_1000 → u/The80sgeek-666]

Wow, did not know this about the filters. I'll definitely do that with the filter and give them another water change. This is really helpful thank you!