29 Gallon Tank Betta has something under gills

Hi everyone... unfortunately i have another issue with my betta... in my 29g. after I took her out for the picture of the tumour on her back, I've seemed to notice another problem. there seems to be something under one of her gills... it seems like a small bulge, but her other gill seems fine. could it possibly be gill flukes? ph is 7.6, ammonia:0 nitrite 0 nitrate 15, 2-3% salinity( idk if that's relevant or not)... I've been busy with cycling my 75 g and treating other fish illnesses, so I'm not really sure when this developed.... I've also noticed this in my previous betta who also lived in the same tank(it's strange because a few days after she got these semi-bulging gills, she died... i thought gill flukes didn't kill fish that easily, could this be something more serious?)... so could there be parasites in my tank? the mollies who live in there seem fine though...

 

Update: It seems to be getting worse. When I fed her and the mollies this morning, she would often go to the bottom of the tank to search the gravel for food. But a lot of the time, she would pause and stay still for a long time breathing heavily... The gills have become more bulged almost as if she was flaring all the time... I don't have access to any anti-parasite meds at the moment... are there any other methods to do this?

 

Hi F1sh,

If she has gill flukes, those can spread to other fish in the tank. I would set up some type of hospital tank for her with maybe an air stone and heater, if you have an extra. You can use a plastic tote, or any other type of clean container.

If she is having trouble breathing, having something shallow that does not require a lot of swimming on her part to get to the top for air will help a lot.

I would dose her with aquarium salt in the hospital tank, if you have some of that. The aquarium salt will help her breathe better, and parasites do not like salt. API's general cure is good for gill flukes, or Fritz Paracleanse, or even Paraguard by Seachem, for when you are able to get meds.

If you are not sure that that is what she has, then monitor her for other symptoms. If she is rubbing on decor, rocks, or the side of the tank, then that is another sign of having parasites. Excus mucus is also another sign.

If she is having other symptoms, like pale sploches on her body, loss of appetite, other lesions or body issues, or anything like that, it can be columnaris, which requires a different treatment because it is bacterial, and not a parasite.

Hope this helps!

 

Okay... i have a 10 gallon tote... i'll set it up with an aerator and heater with some aquarium salt. Thanks

 

Shes already looking better a lot more active and almost back to her playful self! I still think I'm gonna keep her in the hospital tote for the week just to make sure she fully recovers before going back into her tank. the tote is only about half full (5 gallons, which should be enough) so that she can get air more easily.

 

update: I think my betta now has ick... nothing too much to worry about yet, but it's definitely noticeable(around 7-8? white spots? )... she still eats and is extremely active like yesterday, fins still look fine, and no extremely obvious signs of agitation... i have increased the temperature to 85... increased salinity... and slightly tuned down the aerator so that she can rest more easily, will begin daily 50 % water changes to help. and if worst comes to worst i have tetra ickguard .... on a positive note gills no longer look weird and she's basically back to normal, hopefully just a tiny little setback on her recovery, nothing more(next week still looks like a good tank reintroduction time) I think I noticed the ick first yesterday, but I thought that i was seeing stuff...

 

So glad that her gills are back to normal now. I hope you can beat that ick out of existence soon!!!

 

She's back in full health... ick seems to be gone for the time being , I'm doing extra water changes to keep it that way.

 

Unfortunately, although she seemed to be fully healed from this incident, she died this morning. I don't know why. I found her at the bottom of the tank... dead, but free of any visible issues. Water parameters were fine too. . She wasn't particularly old either... maybe the tumour got to her...

 

So sorry for your loss, F1sh! SIP, little girl!!!

You did everything that you could do for her. Your actions gave her an entire extra month, which in betta time can be substantial. These fish are so mass bred, and that causes them to be genetically weak, especially if you got her from a big chain pet store or even a breeder with bad stock. And being in Canada, I know that you are limited as far as what meds you have available to you.