Betta Fish,bump On Gills.

Recently noticed that my female betta fish has a small bump on the underside of her gills, she also appears to be breathing from only one side of her gills. Not sure what could be wrong. My water is perfect. Help she also lives in the divided tank with my other female who is in perfect health.


She also has been laying on the bottom of the tank like this for a short while but I attributed that to the stress of moving to the new tank

 

Is the bump you're referring to the thing slightly above her eye? Or is there a larger bump? It's also been a while since you've posted, has she left the bottom of the tank and started swimming around? Is she brand new? If not, how was she in her previous setup?

 

The bump is right between the gills (I can post better pictures,this is actually my first post)and she does swim around a little (labored)but mostly she doesn't leave the bottom I've had her for a few months now and she has been perfect in her last set up,her tank mate however is brand-new and I'm thinking illness may have spread that way

The only time she's ever been sick was in this new tank in fact I just finished treating her for constipation when I noticed the bump

 

A better picture would be great if you can get one. If she's laying more on the bottom I would suggest lowering the water level if possible, or return her to her previous setup and use it as a quarantine tank if it's still available. Is she eating normally? She looks a little skinny and may not have much energy.

 

I was definitely considering a quarantine tank and it is still available she is eating as normal and despite eating like a little piggy she always stays thin



I took this of her strange swimming pattern and you can sort of see the bump. She's not being cooperative for pictures




You can sorta see it here

 

I can see it now, thanks! It's far too high to be eggs or constipation. My next guess would be a tumor, I hope someone with more experience chimes in here.

Have you tried feeding her blood worms? They're not great nutritionally but they can help put weight on. I'm trying to put weight on my little guy and I feed him about 3 pellets in the morning and night, and 2-3 bloodworms in the afternoon to plump him up.

Until someone else with more experience can chime in, I would suggest moving her to the old tank and keep the water levels low so she doesn't have to swim so far to get air.

 

Thanks!

 

So, I've been googling stuff today. Depending on how fast the growth appeared, or is increasing, it could be bacterial. Here's a link to an article about it. Perhaps CindiL has more experience with this.

How is she today? Is she still lethargic and falling to the bottom?

 

Hi, welcome to the forum

She definitely has something going on with her swim bladder, you can tell the way she sinks so rapidly.

She is very skinny, what exactly do you feed her? how much and how often? Have you ever treated her for parasites?

Do you see her poop? What does it look like?

 

I feed her 3 pellets in the am and 2-3blood worms at night. She's started rejecting food but she did et Somthing tonight. Never sick before. Not noticed any poop yet but I can't say I've really looked for it. I will do so and let you know. All I've done so far Is quarantine her and add some salt

Also the other female is still acting healthy and normal so that's good

 

OK so she is a lot more active today however I think I finally figured out with the bump is. I went to check on her today and the spot where the bump is now appears to have a straight up worm just coming out of her gills. Not sure what to do I've seen some references telling you to remove the worm with tweezers, some saying to just treat it and leave the worm be and let it die on its own. I would also clearly need give her some sort of medication that treats parasites(I have some already as a precaution) I'll see if I can get some pictures but it really does look like a worm







This is what I. Have for treatment.

 

I couldn't see the worm itself, though I see the area. If its partly in and partly out and you can tell its alive then its most likely an anchor worm. You need to remove any with tweezers and then treat with parasite medication. You can try the All in One just not sure if its enough as using an actual parasite medicine. What are the ingredients?

Do you have access to any clove oil? A drop in a little amount of water will calm him down, its an anesthetic. Do you think you can remove it without hurting him? Sometimes if you can cup them into your hands they will calm down but its hard to say.

 

I tried to remove it but it's too small to see once she's out of the water. I'm starting her on the all-in-one but I'm starting to worry that it's too late

 

Just keep an eye on it as you don't want your other fish to also get anchor worms, that would be a nightmare. Do you have a qt tank to move her to?

 

She's already in there. I moved her once I noticed something was wrong

Going to my lfs today. I'll look at other meds. Just in case.

 

I will make a better update later with some videos and such but the site is fully healed now and she swimming so much better at the top and everything and she has so much more energy. It looks as though my little girl will make a full recovery after all thank you so much

 

That's great news! So did it end up being a worm? Or did it go away?

Did you end up using the All in One? For how long?

 

Worm and ya I used all in one. (Treatment is 5days)

 

She's seeming all better to me now, does anyone have a recommended wait time between when she appears symptom-free and when I should re-introduce her in the tank?

 

She's seeming to do much better especially in her appetite and movement as well as appearing completely healed, she readily except food the way she always used to and her weight has gone up quite a bit. Her color even looks more vibrant

 

I'll see if she'll sit still for a photo