Betta fish has swollen gills

[BettaFishObsessed]

i have a betta fish in a 10 gal tank with some very small ember tetras and snails, they never bother each other and the water is usually good (i dont know exact parameters right now, im testing tomorrow). My betta is always swimming around and active, but two weeks ago i noticed that under his head where his gills meet he had a lump. I did some googling and it didnt seem like there was much I could do about it, and he was acting fine and eating, so I left it. It started decreasing and then disappeared about a half a week ago, so I assumed it was nothing. But as it was almost gone, he started hiding in the back of the tank near the surface more and not swimming around.
Now, starting a few days ago, his gills seem inflamed and red, and every time he eats they flare out fully, which he didnt do before. The edges of his gills also seem a little darker, but that could be the lighting. He is still hiding behind the heater all the time, except for when he’s eating.
He still has an appetite, but is having trouble eating, when I fed him today he kept trying to eat the pellets but a couple times coughed them out and couldn’t chew, and flared his gills and just seemed like it hurt (if that makes sense?). He was still able to eat close to his normal amount of food, it just took him longer and more effort.
He also seems a little skinnier, but again that could be the angle I was seeing him, or from not being able to eat quite the same.
I haven’t been able to get a photo yet, but I will try to soon. Does anyone know what this could be, or how I can help him? Could it be parasites of some kind? He’s one of my favorite fish, I’m hoping he’ll be alright!

 

[A201]

A lump that suddenly appears then abruptly disappears possibly indicates a virus.
If that's the case there's really nothing that can be done other than to hopefully keep the Betta eating & maintain a clean environment. There's a good chance the immune system will suppress the virus.

 

[BettaFishObsessed]

A lump that suddenly appears then abruptly disappears possibly indicates a virus.
If that's the case there's really nothing that can be done other than to hopefully keep the Betta eating & maintain a clean environment. There's a good chance the immune system will suppress the virus.

Alright, thank you! Is there anything I could give him to help with symptoms or boost his immune system or something or just clean water and wait?

 

[fishywoo]

Alright, thank you! Is there anything I could give him to help with symptoms or boost his immune system or something or just clean water and wait?

If you can get Indian almond leaves it helps build their immune system. Hope he'll make it through!

 

[Fishfur]

If you can get Indian almond leaves it helps build their immune system. Hope he'll make it through!

It would be nice if IAL (Terminalia catappa is the proper name of the tree) could build their immune systems, but in truth, nothing does that specifically.

If fish immunity is anything like ours, probiotics might do something useful (if we had them for fish), since it seems that a robustly healthy & varied gut biome can contribute to better immunity. But getting the right species of gut bacteria into any gut alive and then having them reproduce and thrive is an entirely different problem.

IAL and other leaves add tannins and assorted other compounds which are known to be beneficial, and can provide food resources for fry, and being acidic, affect pH.

IAL also have some proven antibiotic effects but the studies done all used extracts of the leaves and not simply leaves in the tank. Extracts are a lot more potent than just a a couple of leaves but it’s true that the fighting fish people in Thailand have long used IAL for their fish who fight.

Antimicrobial activity of Terminalia catappa brown leaf extracts against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853

There is an interesting article on the following site that discusses some of the compounds and their potential benefits but even it mentions the use of extracts where studies have been done.

More than you care to know about Catappa Leaves...

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Garlic will help boost his immune system. You can soak his food in garlic juice (just cut up a bit of garlic and soak it in water for a while and then soak his food in that water). It is also used to entice picky eaters to eat.

If you want a food that is already laced with garlic, you can try New Life Spectrum Thera +A. Just be mindful of the pellet size that you get.

 

[Fishfur]

Garlic will help boost his immune system. You can soak his food in garlic juice (just cut up a bit of garlic and soak it in water for a while and then soak his food in that water). It is also used to entice picky eaters to eat.

If you want a food that is already laced with garlic, you can try New Life Spectrum Thera +A. Just be mindful of the pellet size that you get.

It would be so nice if boosting immunity was that easy but for fish, garlic is primarily used to enhance the palatability of food, particularly medicated food and as an appetite stimulant.

For humans, one has to eat garlic every day to get any immunity benefit and most of that comes from the sulfur in it and it apparently helps us absorb zinc better. We need zinc for the immune system to function properly.

For fish, simply adding garlic juice to food occasionally isn’t going to boost immunity but if helps get a fish to eat it’s absolutely worth using.

 

[BettaFishObsessed]

In the past few day he hasn’t gotten any worse. He has clean water and I haven’t medicated with anything yet, he is still eating and he does have tannins in the water, although someone said that doesn’t make a huge difference. I finally got some photos, seeing it change anyone’s opinion on it? I’m thinking of medicating with a general medication if he gets worse or doesn’t improve this week, just to be safe. Does anyone have a second opinion on that?
Also: I don’t remember if I mentioned it in the first post or if I just said he is near the surface, but he is also gasping a little, but that’s to be expected with gill issues.