Betta with hole in head!

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

Hello all please help!!! Our betta has had multiple health problems since adopting him from petsmart including what I assumed to be columnaris AND fin rot. When adopting him he didn’t look so good. He had white cotton-like strings coming from the top of his head and after a round of full treatment for these fuzzy white tagalongs he was looking better but while his scales cleared up he became very bloated/possibly constipated? So feeding stopped for a few days and he was able to poo a few times and looked as though he had deflated. (Back to regular routine) about a month and a half passed without any issues. However after doing a water change before leaving Saturday for mother’s day weekend 2020, the spot on the top of his head came back. I didn’t have the medication or the means to quarantine him at the time and figured he would be okay until the following day when I returned with medicine. However when I came back home I was met by an extremely grizzly sight and my poor bettas head looks like it exploded!!!!!! I have a zombie fish! He was kept in his tank for the time I was gone with 2 loaches, a Japanese trapdoor snail and a dwarf frog. My bettas scales are coming off from the top of his head and I really have no idea what this is, how it happens or what to do to save my lil good boi. There are no sharp objects inside the tank or within the decorations. The two photos where he’s with the black and white rocks is what his head looked like (before treating him the first time -#oldphoto for comparison- but is also how it looked before I left) and the rest of the photos are what I returned to on Mother’s Day.

 

[CandyCane701]

Looks like columnaris again.

 

[thefishn00b]

when did you get him from the store?

 

[thefishn00b]

Looks like columnaris again.

this is how i pictured this happening they went away for the weekend while the tank was cycling and the ammonia got high so it got worse for the betta thats my OP

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

this is how i pictured this happening they went away for the weekend while the tank was cycling and the ammonia got high so it got worse for the betta thats my OP

Hello all please help!!! Our betta has had multiple health problems since adopting him from petsmart including what I assumed to be columnaris AND fin rot. When adopting him he didn’t look so good. He had white cotton-like strings coming from the top of his head and after a round of full treatment for these fuzzy white tagalongs he was looking better but while his scales cleared up he became very bloated/possibly constipated? So feeding stopped for a few days and he was able to poo a few times and looked as though he had deflated. (Back to regular routine) about a month and a half passed without any issues. However after doing a water change before leaving Saturday for mother’s day weekend 2020, the spot on the top of his head came back. I didn’t have the medication or the means to quarantine him at the time and figured he would be okay until the following day when I returned with medicine. However when I came back home I was met by an extremely grizzly sight and my poor bettas head looks like it exploded!!!!!! I have a zombie fish! He was kept in his tank for the time I was gone with 2 loaches, a Japanese trapdoor snail and a dwarf frog. My bettas scales are coming off from the top of his head and I really have no idea what this is, how it happens or what to do to save my lil good boi. There are no sharp objects inside the tank or within the decorations. The two photos where he’s with the black and white rocks is what his head looked like (before treating him the first time -#oldphoto for comparison- but is also how it looked before I left) and the rest of the photos are what I returned to on Mother’s Day.

This is probably exactly what happened as I had just done a 30% water change.
UPDATE!
I began maracyn two treatment on May 11 2020.

Update on day 2 of maracyn two treatment: the top of my bettas head has developed a cloudy substance stuck to the top of his wound.

Update on day 3 of maracyn two treatment: cloudy white growth on top of bettas head has detached itself and wound seems to be healing. Betta was able to poo and looks more deflated on day 3. Day 4 will tell us more

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

when did you get him from the store?

In December 2019. He was sickly for about half a month before he bounced out of it. And he got sick again shortly after probably because of our water parameters and possibly not kicking the sickness completely the first time around.

 

[butterflybetta]

How big is your tank? You mentioned in your aquarium details that you don’t know about the nitrogen cycle, so I’m guessing your tank isn’t cycled. Make sure to test your water to make sure the parameters are what they should be.
From the pictures it doesn’t look like columnaris. Does he have any cotton like growths on him currently?
What I would do is do 50% water changes everyday. You definitely don’t want his head to get infected.
He also still looks pretty bloated. I would fast him again for 2-3 days and then feed him daphnia. Maybe fast him for 2 days every week and feed him daphnia after those 2 days of fasting.

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

How big is your tank? You mentioned in your aquarium details that you don’t know about the nitrogen cycle, so I’m guessing your tank isn’t cycled. Make sure to test your water to make sure the parameters are what they should be.
From the pictures it doesn’t look like columnaris. Does he have any cotton like growths on him currently?
What I would do is do 50% water changes everyday. You definitely don’t want his head to get infected.
He also still looks pretty bloated. I would fast him again for 2-3 days and then feed him daphnia. Maybe fast him for 2 days every week and feed him daphnia after those 2 days of fasting.

Tank size is 10g but he’s currently in a 1 gal quarantine tank being treated with maracyn two. He is Currently on day 3 of treatment. Day 1 looked like an open wound shown in the photos. Day 2 he developed the white cotton growth atop his head on the open wound. Day three the cotton cloud has detached itself and spot seems to be healing but I will upload a photo when I can No water changes while medicating correct?

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

Hello all please help!!! Our betta has had multiple health problems since adopting him from petsmart including what I assumed to be columnaris AND fin rot. When adopting him he didn’t look so good. He had white cotton-like strings coming from the top of his head and after a round of full treatment for these fuzzy white tagalongs he was looking better but while his scales cleared up he became very bloated/possibly constipated? So feeding stopped for a few days and he was able to poo a few times and looked as though he had deflated. (Back to regular routine) about a month and a half passed without any issues. However after doing a water change before leaving Saturday for mother’s day weekend 2020, the spot on the top of his head came back. I didn’t have the medication or the means to quarantine him at the time and figured he would be okay until the following day when I returned with medicine. However when I came back home I was met by an extremely grizzly sight and my poor bettas head looks like it exploded!!!!!! I have a zombie fish! He was kept in his tank for the time I was gone with 2 loaches, a Japanese trapdoor snail and a dwarf frog. My bettas scales are coming off from the top of his head and I really have no idea what this is, how it happens or what to do to save my lil good boi. There are no sharp objects inside the tank or within the decorations. The two photos where he’s with the black and white rocks is what his head looked like (before treating him the first time -#oldphoto for comparison- but is also how it looked before I left) and the rest of the photos are what I returned to on Mother’s Day.

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons

How long has the tank been running? May makes 5 months

Does it have a filter? Yes, a 10 gal topfin filter

Does it have a heater? Yes.

What is the water temperature? 79-80

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) khuli loach, golden dojo loach, African dwarf frog, Japanese trap door snail and a betta fish

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly

How much of the water do you change? 30-50%

What do you use to treat your water? Top fin water conditioner

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Both substrate and water.

*Parameters - Unknown. Waiting for freshwater test kit to arrive in mail with new substrate and larger tank. (Ik this makes diagnosing my issue much more difficult) I’m doing the best I can with what I have at the moment.

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? I was instructed to use pristine natural organic waste management and wait a few days before introducing fish? I have no idea if that was accurate?

What do you use to test the water? Nothing to test the water with yet. Awaiting mail arrival

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Twice daily morning and night

How much do you feed your fish? Recommended amount of 3 pellets for betta and or 3-4 bloodworms for each critter. Sinking alge wafers are cut in half and put into the tank for the loaches (I should have gotten minis)

What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega one bloodworms and topfin betta pellets.

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Frozen blood worms

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? I’ve had the betta since December 2019. I’ve had the loaches since the start of April and the ADF & Japanese trap door snail since the middle of April. (All other fish/inverts were quarantined for a week before adding into my main tank. No issues to report with other inhabitants)

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? end of December-Jan. Betta was treated with Maracyn two and imagitarium parasite remedy and his health improved. I noticed it came back on 5/10/20

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? White cotton like/stringy growths on top of head and front of body. Swollen/bloated/constipated stomach

Have you started any treatment for the illness? Yes, began treatment with maracyn two.

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Yes. Fin rot and columnarus looking growths. But he got better and clear scaled before declining once more a month after recovering

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Lethargic, chills at the bottom of the tank. twitchy, swollen, and his colors are not as vibrant.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. The top of my bettas head swelled with a string of white coming out the top of the head. I wasn’t able to monitor for a full 24 hours and returned to see his scales and whole top of his head missing. He still swam around and greeted us and ate some bloodworms after being put in his quarantine tank. Although he’s eating he’s acting very lethargic and his scales are falling off his head as he swims. His stomach has swelled again during his sickness. I began maracyn two treatment on May 11 2020.

Update on day 2 of maracyn two treatment: the top of my bettas head has developed a cloudy substance stuck to the top of his wound.

Update on day 3 of maracyn two treatment: cloudy white growth on top of bettas head has detached itself and wound seems to be healing. Betta was able to poo and looks more deflated on day 3.

 

[butterflybetta]

Tank size is 10g but he’s currently in a 1 gal quarantine tank being treated with maracyn two. He is Currently on day 3 of treatment. Day 1 looked like an open wound shown in the photos. Day 2 he developed the white cotton growth atop his head on the open wound. Day three the cotton cloud has detached itself and spot seems to be healing but I will upload a photo when I can No water changes while medicating correct?

Oh okay, thank you for clarifying. I’m not an expert, but it goes seems like the medication is helping him. I would keep medicating him the way your already are and once your done with the treatment and ready to put him back into his main tank, make sure the water is really clean and it has stable parameters.

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons

How long has the tank been running? May makes 5 months

Does it have a filter? Yes, a 10 gal topfin filter

Does it have a heater? Yes.

What is the water temperature? 79-80

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) khuli loach, golden dojo loach, African dwarf frog, Japanese trap door snail and a betta fish

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly

How much of the water do you change? 30-50%

What do you use to treat your water? Top fin water conditioner

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Both substrate and water.

*Parameters - Unknown. Waiting for freshwater test kit to arrive in mail with new substrate and larger tank. (Ik this makes diagnosing my issue much more difficult) I’m doing the best I can with what I have at the moment.

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? I was instructed to use pristine natural organic waste management and wait a few days before introducing fish? I have no idea if that was accurate?

What do you use to test the water? Nothing to test the water with yet. Awaiting mail arrival

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Twice daily morning and night

How much do you feed your fish? Recommended amount of 3 pellets for betta and or 3-4 bloodworms for each critter. Sinking alge wafers are cut in half and put into the tank for the loaches (I should have gotten minis)

What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega one bloodworms and topfin betta pellets.

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Frozen blood worms

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? I’ve had the betta since December 2019. I’ve had the loaches since the start of April and the ADF & Japanese trap door snail since the middle of April. (All other fish/inverts were quarantined for a week before adding into my main tank. No issues to report with other inhabitants)

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? end of December-Jan. Betta was treated with Maracyn two and imagitarium parasite remedy and his health improved. I noticed it came back on 5/10/20

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? White cotton like/stringy growths on top of head and front of body. Swollen/bloated/constipated stomach

Have you started any treatment for the illness? Yes, began treatment with maracyn two.

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Yes. Fin rot and columnarus looking growths. But he got better and clear scaled before declining once more a month after recovering

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Lethargic, chills at the bottom of the tank. twitchy, swollen, and his colors are not as vibrant.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. The top of my bettas head swelled with a string of white coming out the top of the head. I wasn’t able to monitor for a full 24 hours and returned to see his scales and whole top of his head missing. He still swam around and greeted us and ate some bloodworms after being put in his quarantine tank. Although he’s eating he’s acting very lethargic and his scales are falling off his head as he swims. His stomach has swelled again during his sickness. I began maracyn two treatment on May 11 2020.

Update on day 2 of maracyn two treatment: the top of my bettas head has developed a cloudy substance stuck to the top of his wound.

Update on day 3 of maracyn two treatment: cloudy white growth on top of bettas head has detached itself and wound seems to be healing. Betta was able to poo and looks more deflated on day 3.

Another thing that would help is if you got Seachem Prime instead of topfin water conditioner and since he still looks pretty bloated, I would lay off the blood worms. Blood worms are pretty much like junk food for bettas.

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

Okay I’ll look into Seachem Prime! I’ll stop feeding bloodworms until he deflates and substitute it with daphnia after fasting. Thanks so much I appreciate it!

 

[ThiqFishAquarium98]

Oh okay, thank you for clarifying. I’m not an expert, but it goes seems like the medication is helping him. I would keep medicating him the way your already are and once your done with the treatment and ready to put him back into his main tank, make sure the water is really clean and it has stable parameters.


Another thing that would help is if you got Seachem Prime instead of topfin water conditioner and since he still looks pretty bloated, I would lay off the blood worms. Blood worms are pretty much like junk food for bettas.

Okay I’ll look into Seachem Prime! I’ll stop feeding bloodworms until he deflates and substitute it with daphnia after fasting. Thanks so much I appreciate it!