Strange White Dot On Betta

HI everyone!

I have a lovely betta, Fin, I bought back in early May from Petco. He's in a 2.5 gallon tank, filtered, and heated to a constant 78 degrees. He's extremely active, can't stop swimming literally, and has a good healthy appetite. I feed him Omega One buffet pellets with NSL on weekends. The problem is that I've been gone on vacation with my family for about a week. During that week, I handed him over to a good friend of mine who really loves and cares about animals. I did a water change right before I left, told him the water changes and feeding schedule, and left to vacation.

I got him back today. His beautiful tail has reduced considerably, and my friend told me that a chunk just disappeared in literally two days. Fin also has this suspicious white dot that's not very clear in the pictures b/c he just won't sit still. That white dot area was definitely not there when I left. I'm worried that the tail disappearing is more indicative of a more dangerous disease because of the white dot, but it's so small and he cannot sit still for a photograph, so I can't inspect it properly. Would anyone have an idea on whether it's dangerous or not? Or even take guesses on what it even is? The "sparkles", btw, that seem to increase near his tail are his natural colors in case anyone is suspicious of that.

I've changed his water since I got him back of course, so the test kit shows the tank is in prime condition. He's also acting just as he usually does. He chomped down on the pellets, swims like crazy, follows my finger, and basically is still the same hyper boy when I left on vacation. I just would like some reassurance and help on the tail + dot situation if you can. Thank you!

 

It looks like fin rot


Here it says aquarium salt would be good for him also to do 100% water changes. Read the link, as for the white dot, I'm not sure what it is, I was going to say it could possibly be ick? You can get medicine for ick at a pet store, but I'm not quite sure if that's what it is.

 

It looks like fin rot


Here it says aquarium salt would be good for him also to do 100% water changes. Read the link, as for the white dot, I'm not sure what it is, I was going to say it could possibly be ick? You can get medicine for ick at a pet store, but I'm not quite sure if that's what it is.

First of all salt can be harmful to bettas! And also NEVER do 100% water changes as that will ruin the tank cycle! I do not see the dot here so sorry can't help there. Hard to tell but he maybe had finrot? Or it ripped. To me it looks like it is growing back. Do some %50 water changes daily to see if the fins stop receding. The water changes also will increase the fin growth. You can also buy some Indian almond leafs to stop any infections. May I see the tank and what plants are in there? They could have been ripped badly or it was fin rot.

 

I'll take pictures tomorrow (at a family event for a long time tonight). The dot is the white spot nearest his gills. It's really small, so I don't blame you for being unable to tell exactly what it is (and I sure wish I can). My tank is fairly empty actually. He moves so much, so I only have a small castle tunnel for him to swim through and a single plastic leaf bed alongside the filter of course.

If it's just fin rot or ripped, I would be very relieved. I've dealt with fin rot before on my previous bettas and have gotten pretty good at helping them (both cases in which the betta came with fin rot). It's the more dire diseases that scare me haha.

 

My male veil tail betta had the same thing happen with the dot. Extremely concerned it was ich I decided to wait a few days to confirm my thoughts but to my relief the strange white dot disappeared. I gravel vacuumed right after that. As for the fins, my betta has had torn fins since I got him whether it's bare bottom, stress relief, or removing his filter. Fin rot is usually more jagged and has black edges. Though I've never caught my betta biting his fins, it's what I suspect and likely what happened to yours since he moved locations and was likely stressed. Monitor him and remember where his fins seem to missing. Growth is characterized by clear fins growing from the damaged area which eventually gain color.

 

First of all salt can be harmful to bettas! And also NEVER do 100% water changes as that will ruin the tank cycle! I do not see the dot here so sorry can't help there. Hard to tell but he maybe had finrot? Or it ripped. To me it looks like it is growing back. Do some %50 water changes daily to see if the fins stop receding. The water changes also will increase the fin growth. You can also buy some Indian almond leafs to stop any infections. May I see the tank and what plants are in there? They could have been ripped badly or it was fin rot.

actually it isn't that harmful, depending on how much you're using. Aquarium salt is used for when the fish gets sick. In some cases for sickness they can do salt baths for bettas weather is be epsom salt OR aquarium salt.

I told them to do what the link said, but I would think if the water is contaminated while the fish is sick it's a good idea to change most of it if not 100% of it. I think you're right on the 50% water change though, there is a lot of misguided information on 100% water changes, so idk.

Either way, if you notice fin rot progressing it would be good to add a pinch of aquarium salt or to possibly use certain types of medicine such as maracyn 2

 

Hi, thank you everyone! I think jkser17 was right b/c my betta is also a male veil tail. The dot has gotten smaller in just two days (though not completely gone), and I can see his tail already growing back. I think it was probably stress from being moved since I had to bring him to my friend's apt to be taken care of. I'll continue to monitor him, and hopefully the dot will completely disappear like it did for jkser17.

 

Hi, thank you everyone! I think jkser17 was right b/c my betta is also a male veil tail. The dot has gotten smaller in just two days (though not completely gone), and I can see his tail already growing back. I think it was probably stress from being moved since I had to bring him to my friend's apt to be taken care of. I'll continue to monitor him, and hopefully the dot will completely disappear like it did for jkser17.

Glad I could help, keep us updated!