What do betta fish eggs look like?

My betta fish is acting strange and his white spots do not look like ich or colmnaris - HELP!!!?

• I recently added a baby bushy nosed pleco to my 10 gallon tank with my betta which I've had for about a year. He seemed bored but healthy and I wanted to get him a tank mate. Introduced the pleco on Saturday - Monday noticed a light colored spot on my Betta's head - almost looked like he scraped one of his scales off. Today is Tuesday and I noticed a light spot next to his eye. These do not look like salt specs which people describe ich as - there are NOT a lot of them (only the 2) and they are not raised or cottony looking how columnaris is described. I bought every different fish medication I could find and am sitting here not knowing which one to pick or use. He sits at the bottom of the tank a lot lately and also just looks a dull color to me. He has red streaks throughout but he is a purple and red colored Betta so it's very hard for me to tell if it is because he's sick or just his color? Anyway they live in a 10 gallon tank, the water has consistently been at 78 degrees since I got him, filtered, heated, 0 levels for Ammonia & Nitrate - pH is about 7.4 (our tap water is this in Upstate NY - after checking with the exotic fish store in town they said they also just use the tap water and this pH is fine for the fish). I slowly raised the water to 80 degrees in the meantime hoping that would help but he just seems like something is not right! I do not want to add salt to the water if it will at all hurt the betta or the pleco. I would prefer to use a medication that is safe for both (I'm guessing this either is stress of the new pleco or something that came with the pleco) so I would also like to treat the entire tank. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

• Answer:

  It's possible he rubbed against something and the discoloration you see is a missing scale. However, what are the red streaks like? Is it a color throughout his body ir is it just on the edges of his fins or tail? Unless he has a parasite, his temp. is fine at 78. WHat you're describing soundsmore in line with a bacterial infection and bacteria love and thrive in warm water, so I'd bump the temp. back down to 78 unless you determine it is a parasite. Don't add salt, please. It is beneficial but only in amounts large enough that you'd end up killing your betta. If you're tank is cycled, then take out the carbon while treating. I'd do a 10% water change and start with an antibiotic. The best med is Kanaplex/Kanamycin. It's best for any range of infections and easiest on the fish, but it's available online only so I'd order it. In the meantime, get Jungle Fungus Eliminator or Clear. You can get it at PetCo or PetSmart. If you can't get that pick up Maracyn 1 and 2 (yes, both, since each only treat one type of infection and you need a broad-spectrum antibiotic). You can find both at PetSmart, Pet Supplies Plus and Petco. Maracyn is recommended less than the other two because it's been around a lot longer and sometimes doesn't treat current infections because it's not as potent and has been overused. Treat daily for 3 days (doing the appropriate water changes for your tank size) and retreat if necessary for another 3 days. Wait 20 minutes after the water change to add the med though, otherwise it dilutes somewhat. And on a side note: bettas can tolerate any PH level-the snag is that it has to be steady (I do NOT know if that applies to the pleco). For most people steady PH isn't an issue, but for some the water coming straight from the tap is at one PH level and after some time shifts and gets either higher or lower. It's these changes that can cause stress or illness, not the actual PH itself.