(update) Treating Betta For Mystery Illness, Does He Have A Chance?

Tank

• 5 gal Fluval cube tank
• Fluval 15-30 gal filter
• Heater present
• Water temp at constant 79-81 degrees
• Oscar lives alone in his tank

Maintenance

• Water change every other week
• 50-75% water changed each time, usually 50%
• Seachem Prime, 2 drops per gallon
• Substrate vacuumed at each water change

Parameters

• Tank fully cycled before purchase of fish
• API Freshwater Master Test Kit used often
• Current parameters

Ammonia:0.25 ppm

Nitrite:0 ppm

Nitrate:5 ppm

pH:7.4


Feeding

• Once per day 6 days a week, with 1 day per week fasting
• 6 pellets per day at one feeding
• Aqueon Betta pellets
• In possession of freeze dried brine shrimp, though Oscar generally will ignore them and eat pellets instead

Illness & Symptoms:

• I have had Oscar for 1 year
• First noticed light spot on his head a week ago
• Oscar suddenly went from having a light spot on his head, to a lump, and now to a full-blown white fluffy lump on his head and seemingly has dropped a couple scales off of his head, maybe from rubbing.
• Did a 90% water change today and added aquarium salt, Pimafix and Melafix at correct doses (only meds available to my LFS today)
• On purchase, Oscar was healthy and active. Still very active, but has slight loss of appetite and activity in past 2 days

Please explain your emergency in the best detail possible:

I am extremely concerned for my fish because I am having trouble finding out EXACTLY what his illness is.
What if I am treating him for fungus and with antibiotics when he actually has a parasite?
The lump on his head turned into what I fear to be a fungus/open wound in a matter of days. Now I am treating it.
He is fairly active and holds a healthy-seeming appetite, but has his condition progressed too far too quickly?
What are his chances of survival?

I have attached photos, and I hope someone can help me a) identify what the condition is, and the fluffy white lump on his head, and b) tell me what chances of survival they think he has. Is he suffering? He seems to be behaving normally (minus the slight loss in activity and appetite). Will be pull through?

 

I think I know what it is. Can you get more pictures so I can confirm or not? It's not actually looking fuzzy like a piece cotton right? It's also raised?

 

I think I know what it is. Can you get more pictures so I can confirm or not? It's not actually looking fuzzy like a piece cotton right? It's also raised?

HI there, I do have another picture that might be better (?), which I have attached. The lump is raised and white. Kind of fluffy, but at first it was just lighter colored and scaly. Oscar is dappled in color, so it was hard to notice at first because he has light colored scales in some spots. The cottony texture just showed up yesterday after being scaly the past few days.

And in fact, it looks less cottony today than it did yesterday, more scaly now. Perhaps he rubbed off the flaky bits?

I think I know what it is. Can you get more pictures so I can confirm or not? It's not actually looking fuzzy like a piece cotton right? It's also raised?

Here’s a couple better photos.

 

From what I can see it's not actually cottony like a fungus or bacterial infection. It looks like a tumor. Some tumors will start of as a lump then white flesh will grow out from it and cause some scales to fall off and have a cauliflower looking surface texture to it. Most tumors are harmless and don't affect the betta in any way and they'll live perfectly normal lives. It also seems like he has another injury on his head so keep the water clean and it should heal up.

 

From what I can see it's not actually cottony like a fungus or bacterial infection. It looks like a tumor. Some tumors will start of as a lump then white flesh will grow out from it and cause some scales to fall off and have a cauliflower looking surface texture to it. Most tumors are harmless and don't affect the betta in any way and they'll live perfectly normal lives. It also seems like he has another injury on his head so keep the water clean and it should heal up.

Hey thank you so much for that information, and taking the time to respond. When I first saw the lump, I thought it could be a tumor, especially since his physical symptoms weren’t consistent with any obvious illnesses. Do you see any reason that I should go through with either the Pimafix or Melafix for the 7 day cycle just to make sure? I don’t want to medicate him needlessly if it’s a risk to his health. I added some Almond leaves to his tank, hoping he can be more comfortable. If we nix the meds, I am thinking of doing a 10% water change every day. Does that sound good? He is my first betta and I want him to live a long life. If you can’t tell, I have been having a mini-freakout over here thinking I’ve been a neglectful betta mom. Thanks again for your time.

 

Hey thank you so much for that information, and taking the time to respond. When I first saw the lump, I thought it could be a tumor, especially since his physical symptoms weren’t consistent with any obvious illnesses. Do you see any reason that I should go through with either the Pimafix or Melafix for the 7 day cycle just to make sure? I don’t want to medicate him needlessly if it’s a risk to his health. I added some Almond leaves to his tank, hoping he can be more comfortable. If we nix the meds, I am thinking of doing a 10% water change every day. Does that sound good? He is my first betta and I want him to live a long life. If you can’t tell, I have been having a mini-freakout over here thinking I’ve been a neglectful betta mom. Thanks again for your time.

Glad to have been able to help. I don't see the need of dosing Melafix or Primafix because it's just some diluted essential oil that you add and would be kind of helpful to prevent infections for the other injury on his head. But the Indian Almond Leaves do the same thing. I wouldn't call Melafix or Primafix a medication because it's some diluted essential oil, so it would be pretty harmless if you did try dosing it. 10% daily water changes sounds good to heal any wounds.

 

Glad to have been able to help. I don't see the need of dosing Melafix or Primafix because it's just some diluted essential oil that you add and would be kind of helpful to prevent infections for the other injury on his head. But the Indian Almond Leaves do the same thing. I wouldn't call Melafix or Primafix a medication because it's some diluted essential oil, so it would be pretty harmless if you did try dosing it. 10% daily water changes sounds good to heal any wounds.

Okay cool, this is all very helpful! I really appreciate your insight. I will update in a week and hopefully Oscar will continue to be his lovely and lively self, tumor or not. I’ll do the 10% water change as well. Hopefully the scales on his head grow back where his injury is, and no infection will occur. Again, thank you. This was my first post to the forum and you gave me some peace of mind that google wasn’t providing, or other previous threads that I could find. Oscar says thank you, too. He’s got a fighting spirit, and I hope this weird lump won’t slow him down. Take care

 

Okay, so after worrying over my betta’s health because of his head lump, I went into overdrive to give him the most comfortable habitat I could make. After a week of 10% water changes and keeping a close eye, he seemed better and more energetic. So I took the initiative to do a good clean in the tank, add some mopanI wood, and added a feature to dampen the water current in the tank. Oscar is really loving life now! Despite what seems to be a tumor on his lil’ head, he swims all over, enjoys relaxation and occasionally hunting detritus worms. Seems happier than ever thank you, those of you who contributed advice when I was freaking out!