White-ish Scab Thing On Bettas Head And Fluid Build Up In Betta? Help!

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

I have two bettas in need of diagnosing! They're both members of my betta sorority, which has a total of five members. They are the only fish in a 20 gallon filtered and heated tank. I feed them Aqueon betta pellets and nat geo color-enhancing pellets on the regular, with a sprinkle of daphnia on occasion. All the bettas get along extremely well and seem to be in good spirits! I use a Vita Chem vitamin in their water, but other than that, I don't add anything special. I don't know the exact pH of their water but it's relatively balanced. I do 10% water changes every week and a 50% water change + full clean every month.

The first fish is need of diagnosis is my Blue Veiltail Female Soda-pop! She's had this small, white, scab looking thing on her head for two weeks now. She's in perfect health, eating well, and is showing no other signs of a problem, but it's been kinda bothering me. I don't think it's ick, and I have no idea how she got it. Any help?

My second fish is my Red Halfmoon female Sacagawea! I got her a little more than a month ago, and ever since I've had her she's had an extremely distended stomach. When I first got her I thought it was bloat, so I thought it would be an easy fix. However, after trying multiple methods to get rid of it nothing happened. Sacagawea wasn't showing any signs of bloat either, in fact she's in perfect health as well! Her colors are super bright and she's just as lively as the rest. It's obviously not hurting her, but I'd like to have some closure on what it is, and some possible way to help get rid of it! I think it might be a harmless fluid buildup, I'm not sure.
I added an overhead view so you can fully see the extent of her sides.

Also I apologize for bad camera quality! It was later in the day and they never stop moving.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

Also realized I forgot to add. The tank is cycled, I have a mixture of live and fake plants in the tank, leaning on the live side.

 

[CheshireKat]

I do 10% water changes every week and a 50% water change + full clean every month

What do you mean by "full clean"?

When I first got her I thought it was bloat, so I thought it would be an easy fix. However, after trying multiple methods to get rid of it nothing happened.

What were those methods?

I think it might be a harmless fluid buildup,

No fluid buildup is harmless if it's not normal. That leads to dropsy and other issues. I don't like how she's expanding from the sides, I've seen that with dropsy before pineconing. I'd do Epsom salt baths. Dissolve 1 teaspoon per gallon in a separate container of conditioned, temperature matched water then add her for no more than 15 minutes and see how she responds. You may need to increase the dosage. I usually see results within the next day. Epsom salt is a muscle relaxant, laxative, and swelling reducer, so whether it's the start of dropsy or bloat or constipation, espom salt baths with be good regardless.
I'd also get an antibiotic like Kanaplex on hand just in case.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

What do you mean by "full clean"?


What were those methods?


No fluid buildup is harmless if it's not normal. That leads to dropsy and other issues. I don't like how she's expanding from the sides, I've seen that with dropsy before pineconing. I'd do Epsom salt baths. Dissolve 1 teaspoon per gallon in a separate container of conditioned, temperature matched water then add her for no more than 15 minutes and see how she responds. You may need to increase the dosage. I usually see results within the next day. Epsom salt is a muscle relaxant, laxative, and swelling reducer, so whether it's the start of dropsy or bloat or constipation, espom salt baths with be good regardless.
I'd also get an antibiotic like Kanaplex on hand just in case.

Full clean meaning I take out and clean all decor, siphon the substrate and remove any stray debris.

The methods I used were fasting, feeding her a pea several times to try and clear everything out, and one very small salt bath because I was worried I wasn't doing it right.

Sounds good, I'll definitely get started on that first thing tomorrow. It would only be 1 salt bath a day, depending on results?
Yeah, I've been meaning to get Kanaplex for a while now, so I'll get on that as well. Thanks so much for the advice, hopefully I can nip whatever this is in the bud.

 

[CheshireKat]

Full clean meaning I take out and clean all decor, siphon the substrate and remove any stray debris

This is not a good idea to do monthly. You kill a lot of beneficial bacteria doing this, plus it's simply not necessary every month. Fish do not live in pristine, sterile environments in the wild. Most of the BB lives in your filter cartridge or media but it also grows on all surfaces throughout the tank. Weekly gravel vacuuming is enough to help prevent accumulation of waste.

It would only be 1 salt bath a day, depending on results?

Yeah, I'd probably, if it were my fish, do a bath, then like 12 hours later see if there's any signs of improvement. If not, do another bath. Hopefully you'll be able to catch her for each bath. Dosing Epsom salt has some room for variation. You can go up to a tablespoon for sure. I used about 1/4 tablespoon I think for my young Molly who started bloating outwards and saw a difference the next day (I did it at night). 1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, for reference.

Yeah, I've been meaning to get Kanaplex for a while now, so I'll get on that as well. Thanks so much for the advice, hopefully I can nip whatever this is in the bud.

Yes, hopefully. I waited too long to act and lost my 2-3 month old platy to dropsy. You don't want to wait until pineconing because that's often the critical stage. I thought he or she was bloated and fasted and fed peas and monitored, the usual, so by the time pineconing occurred, I was working on borrowed time.
How long has she been like that?

As for your other fish, I can't quite see well enough in the photo to make an opinion.

 

[LeahsTank]

... It would only be 1 salt bath a day, depending on results?.....

Make sure to use Epsom Salt, not regular table or aquarium salt.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

This is not a good idea to do monthly. You kill a lot of beneficial bacteria doing this, plus it's simply not necessary every month. Fish do not live in pristine, sterile environments in the wild. Most of the BB lives in your filter cartridge or media but it also grows on all surfaces throughout the tank. Weekly gravel vacuuming is enough to help prevent accumulation of waste.

Hmm true! I’ll take that into consideration, would probably save me time too.

Yeah, I'd probably, if it were my fish, do a bath, then like 12 hours later see if there's any signs of improvement. If not, do another bath. Hopefully you'll be able to catch her for each bath. Dosing Epsom salt has some room for variation. You can go up to a tablespoon for sure. I used about 1/4 tablespoon I think for my young Molly who started bloating outwards and saw a difference the next day (I did it at night). 1 tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, for reference.

Okay, sounds good, I’ll be moving her over for her bath in a bit, Hopefully there will be some quick change in results.

Yes, hopefully. I waited too long to act and lost my 2-3 month old platy to dropsy. You don't want to wait until pineconing because that's often the critical stage. I thought he or she was bloated and fasted and fed peas and monitored, the usual, so by the time pineconing occurred, I was working on borrowed time.
How long has she been like that?

Aww I’m sorry. Yeah she’s healthy and moving around but I want to figure out what it is instead of waiting till it’s too late. I’ve had her a just over a month now, and she was bloated like that when I bought her at the pet store.

As for your other fish, I can't quite see well enough in the photo to make an opinion.

I’ll try and take another photo when I get home, she moves around quite a lot.

Make sure to use Epsom Salt, not regular table or aquarium salt.

Gotcha, my friend has made that mistake in the past.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

So I gave Sacagawea her first salt bath and she seemed to respond really well. I’ll have to see if the expanse goes down later in the day but I’ll be watching her closely.

 

[CheshireKat]

If she's been like that since you got her, she may not have dropsy or what leads to dropsy as it can kill and get worse fast. But regardless of what's going on, you'll definitely want to help her slI'm down. Hopefully the Epsom salt baths will do that.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

If she's been like that since you got her, she may not have dropsy or what leads to dropsy as it can kill and get worse fast. But regardless of what's going on, you'll definitely want to help her slI'm down. Hopefully the Epsom salt baths will do that.

Yeah, it's obviously not harming her but you never know when it could suddenly become fatal out of nowhere. I hope so too!

Side note for the thread ig: Soda-pops scar seemed to fade today so I think it was just a scratch that was healing over. If it reappears then I'll look into it more closely

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

went ahead and did her second salt bath. She was a bit more still this time when put in but other than that she responded well. She had no changes from yesterdays in her side length but I'll keep at it.

 

[CheshireKat]

Hm. Maybe you should increase the amount of Epsom salt for the next bath by 1/2-1 teaspoon.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ve only been doing one teaspoon per gallon so I’m sure I can go up a little.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

So it's been a bit since her 4th bath, and I'm afraid she hasn't changed any, even with an increased dosage of Epsoms. She seemed a little stressed out during the bath this morning so I don't want to continue and risk something else if she's not fairing well. I still want to get her side expanse down though, I'm just not sure how. If anyone knows any other methods I should try, or if I should continue with the baths please let me know!

 

[CheshireKat]

Can you try a tablespoon dosage?

Have you treated with antibiotics yet? I think she may have something else going on. An internal infection won't be treated with Epsom salt and could be why the swelling isn't going down.
It's possible she has an organ failure causing the swelling or trapped air, but let's hope those are not the case.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

I used the tablespoon dosage this morning, but I can try again when/if I give her another bath. I haven't treated her yet since I'm not sure what kind to use honestly.
I hope that's not the cause of this.

 

[CheshireKat]

I used the tablespoon dosage this morning, but I can try again when/if I give her another bath. I haven't treated her yet since I'm not sure what kind to use honestly.
I hope that's not the cause of this.

Well, in like my first post I mentioned Kanaplex. There's several options out there though. Kanaplex and maracyn 2 are both absorbed internally which is what you need. Either one is a start.

 

[FishMakeLifeBetta]

Sounds good. I ordered the kanaplex a bit ago so it should arrive soon.