White Looking Scab On Top Of Betta's Head

I noticed a little scar on the top of my betta fish Borats head about 5 days ago, and this morning it was still just a scar. I come home 9 hours later and that little scar turned into a white dot looking thing! I've had him for 3 moths and has been the best fishy EVER. He's a very active and happy fish and I want to be sure he's okay.

Someone please help! I'm a little scared and I need any advice I can get.

 

I am pretty sure this is ich, does it look like he/she has dropsy?

 

Definitely not ich, and since the scales are not sticking up, unlikely to have dropsy. Plus dropsy is just a symptom, to help you would have to treat the root. I'm not entirely sure, the pics are a little dark... is it more of a depression or lifted a little? How long have you had the betta? Do you know your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate parameters? I can't entirely tell, but possibly columnaris, it can be treated with kanaplex pretty well. Is it a dragonscale betta? That may be the confusion about dropsy. I don't think there's signs of dropsy, and my fish currently has it. Borats is very beautiful, I hope we can figure this out
Edit: sorry, I now see you've had him three months. What is the tank size?

 

I am pretty sure this is ich, does it look like he/she has dropsy?

When I look up pictures of ich, it doesn't look like that's what he has. He only has this one dot on him and before the white showed up, it originally just looked like a scar.

Definitely not ich, and since the scales are not sticking up, unlikely to have dropsy. Plus dropsy is just a symptom, to help you would have to treat the root. I'm not entirely sure, the pics are a little dark... is it more of a depression or lifted a little? How long have you had the betta? Do you know your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate parameters? I can't entirely tell, but possibly columnaris, it can be treated with kanaplex pretty well. Is it a dragonscale betta? That may be the confusion about dropsy. I don't think there's signs of dropsy, and my fish currently has it. Borats is very beautiful, I hope we can figure this out
Edit: sorry, I now see you've had him three months. What is the tank size?

Yeah I don't think it's ich or dropsy. When I look closer it looks like one of his scales is falling off. It's definitely more of a depression... I need to fill his tank with safer decor because hes much more active than my previous betta. I don't know my ammonia, or nitrate/nitrate parameters. I always use a PH balance tab when doing his 25%/50% water changes every 2 weeks along with water conditioner. He's in a 5 gallon tank with a mystery snail.


And thank you! He's a pretty boy and definitely has personality haha!

 

Okay, for now I would stop using the pH balance, unless your pH is wayyy off from the tank pH or your tap pH is lower than 6.4 or higher than 8.8. Do you use warm or cold water for changes? I highly recommend doing 30% water changes daily for a week or two, it can work as well as medication, and it's better not to medicate unless you know what it is. Columnaris I think is more of a raised area, and I'm.not familiar with hole in head/hexatima, may be worth looking at that as well

 

Okay, for now I would stop using the pH balance, unless your pH is wayyy off from the tank pH or your tap pH is lower than 6.4 or higher than 8.8. Do you use warm or cold water for changes? I highly recommend doing 30% water changes daily for a week or two, it can work as well as medication, and it's better not to medicate unless you know what it is. Columnaris I think is more of a raised area, and I'm.not familiar with hole in head/hexatima, may be worth looking at that as well

Wow I can't thank you enough!!! Okay I'll stop using the Ph balancer... I put my thermostat from my tank into the new water I put back into his tank to be sure it's at the same temperature. I'll be cleaning his tank as proposed. Also, I got my mystery snail about 3-4 weeks ago and he POOPS SO MUCH. Way more than my betta. Do you know the benefits of having him in there? Is it worth keeping in my betta tank or should I put him in his own tank?

 

I have a mystery snail, and yeah they poop sooooooo much it's insane. The main benefits of mystery snail is they'll eat leftover food, which is kinda nice in my shrimp tank, but I wouldn't see it benefiting the betta I'm taking care of too much. If you get him his own tank, make sure it's cycled, I see you don't know what the nitrogen cycle is, that's very important for snails as they are super super sensitive to ammonia and nitrItes and need nitrates below twenty. I guess another benefit would be that it could be your canary in a coal mine; if something is wrong with the water chemistry, it will show signs first. I like the personality of mystery snails, but once this one passes I won't be getting another for my shrimp tank at least, too much poop. Nice job with getting the water to match the tank, I've seen a lot of people using cold tap for water changes, or cold water they left out. Does it resemble hole in the head at all? I think the word HITH will go blue and you can click it, but I may be wrong. Oh, and click on the blue nitrogen cycle because it's essential to fish keeping.

 

Okay I'll be looking into the nitrogen cycle from here on out. I should have been aware beforehand so i'm glad you mentioned it. It doesn't look like hole in the head. I got much better pictures to provide with the flash on.

I have a mystery snail, and yeah they poop sooooooo much it's insane. The main benefits of mystery snail is they'll eat leftover food, which is kinda nice in my shrimp tank, but I wouldn't see it benefiting the betta I'm taking care of too much. If you get him his own tank, make sure it's cycled, I see you don't know what the nitrogen cycle is, that's very important for snails as they are super super sensitive to ammonia and nitrItes and need nitrates below twenty. I guess another benefit would be that it could be your canary in a coal mine; if something is wrong with the water chemistry, it will show signs first. I like the personality of mystery snails, but once this one passes I won't be getting another for my shrimp tank at least, too much poop. Nice job with getting the water to match the tank, I've seen a lot of people using cold tap for water changes, or cold water they left out. Does it resemble hole in the head at all? I think the word HITH will go blue and you can click it, but I may be wrong. Oh, and click on the blue nitrogen cycle because it's essential to fish keeping.

Also what's the best set up for Borat (betta) and Gary (snail)? I think I need to remove all of the decor and get decor that doesn't have any bumps. the plants are made of thick plastic which could also be harmful. What plants/ gravel or sand should I get for my babies?

 

Did you cycle your tank??

 

GrayGray she literally just said she wasn't aware of the nitrogen cycle, but after three months and the fact there is a live snail, that is unlikely to be the problem.
And isn't it insane that the petsores don't say to cycle?! It's ridiculous, literally no new fish keeper knows about it, unless they're being helped by an experienced aquarist. It's not your fault, it's just the information is not readily available to beginners.
And that's good it doesn't look like HITH, and I'm sorry but I am unsure as to what it is. Doing water changes daily will help clear up a lot of fungal infections, and sometimes bacterial ones too, I'll try to do some more searching, but I haven't come across it yet. Good luck!

 

Did you cycle your tank??

Not when I first got him... I got him 3 months ago. I wish I didn't rely on the pet store to provide me information because they didn't tell me any of this! I'm going to get the cycle kit and go from there.

 

GrayGray she literally just said she wasn't aware of the nitrogen cycle, but after three months and the fact there is a live snail, that is unlikely to be the problem.
And isn't it insane that the petsores don't say to cycle?! It's ridiculous, literally no new fish keeper knows about it, unless they're being helped by an experienced aquarist. It's not your fault, it's just the information is not readily available to beginners.
And that's good it doesn't look like HITH, and I'm sorry but I am unsure as to what it is. Doing water changes daily will help clear up a lot of fungal infections, and sometimes bacterial ones too, I'll try to do some more searching, but I haven't come across it yet. Good luck!

Ok, I did not see that. I am srry if it offended you but you don't have to be rude when I did not know...

 

What do you mean by cycle kit? If it's some sort of quick start thing to cycle the tank, I'd say it's unnecessary. Tanks cycle in 1-2 months, so you're good. Also, since snails are very sensitive, they can't be kept in tanks with ammonia/nitrite, which is found in uncycled tanks, so I'd say you're cycled, or at least close enough. The best thing you could buy would be API freshwater master test kit, it is a really good way to keep track of all that, and pH. It's a bit pricey, but everyone I know who has it definitely says it's worth it.

 

What do you mean by cycle kit? If it's some sort of quick start thing to cycle the tank, I'd say it's unnecessary. Tanks cycle in 1-2 months, so you're good. Also, since snails are very sensitive, they can't be kept in tanks with ammonia/nitrite, which is found in uncycled tanks, so I'd say you're cycled, or at least close enough. The best thing you could buy would be API freshwater master test kit, it is a really good way to keep track of all that, and pH. It's a bit pricey, but everyone I know who has it definitely says it's worth it.

That's what I meant... a test kit. They always have them at walmart and I always wondered if I needed it or not. Would it be bad to redo his whole tank to sand and live plants? I know how to acclimate my fish but not sure if it's necessary for my snail.

 

Ok, I did not see that. I am srry if it offened you but you don't have to be rude when I did not know... [/QUOTE]

I'm not trying to be rude, and I don't mean for you to take anything personally, but it seems that you are only half reading the posts, or not entirely looking closely as the mark was very large but ich resembles small grains of salt. I really don't mean to be rude, it's not my intention, and I don't know how to say this without sounding rude, but your recommendations and questions are more beginner types, and were already answered. You'll get more experience out of reading the full posts, and it's great that you're trying to help, but it may be better to give recommendations and possible diagnoses (diagnosises?) in areas you're more familiar with. And I'm sorry I came off as being rude.

Ah ok test kit makes sense, because there are more cycle kits that have bacteria cultures to help cycle a tank. If you redo the tank but only change the gravel and add plants, but don't actually remove the water, you can just remove the fish and snail and add them back. If you do change the water, you'll want to acclimate the snail more slowly, most do this with a drip acclimation . Live plants can only help, but some grow way to huge for a five gallon (like those pretty Amazon swords ) but plants like Java moss, Java ferns, anubias, and other hardy plants would be great additions

 

When my betta boy had columnaris it looked exactly like that and started in the exact same spot, I was unable to treat him in time unfortunately best of luck to you I hope your buddy is okay

 

Thanks for your input, I'm so sorry for your loss, it always sucks losing a fish

 

Ah ok test kit makes sense, because there are more cycle kits that have bacteria cultures to help cycle a tank. If you redo the tank but only change the gravel and add plants, but don't actually remove the water, you can just remove the fish and snail and add them back. If you do change the water, you'll want to acclimate the snail more slowly, most do this with a drip acclimation . Live plants can only help, but some grow way to huge for a five gallon (like those pretty Amazon swords ) but plants like Java moss, Java ferns, anubias, and other hardy plants would be great additions

You helped me out so much! Thank you for easing my nerves!

When my betta boy had columnaris it looked exactly like that and started in the exact same spot, I was unable to treat him in time unfortunately best of luck to you I hope your buddy is okay

Ahhh oh no! Okay i'm going to look into that disease. I don't want Borat to leave me, he's the best fish i've had! Sorry for your loss that's so sad.

 

Ahhh oh no! Okay i'm going to look into that disease. I don't want Borat to leave me, he's the best fish i've had! Sorry for your loss that's so sad.

The symptoms he had were suddenly being skittish even though he usually loved me, swimming around faster than usual, and then the white spot. By morning he was face down gasping just covered in the spots, I couldn't even look at him I felt so bad. People at school laughed that I was sad my fish had died that day, nobody understands the personality a betta can have.

Were those the only symptoms? I would like to know as much as possible. I keep freaking myself out because my long distance boyfriend and I got him before he left again so he's basically our child. He gets so excited when I get home and swims so fast then chills out haha. But a week ago, I saw a little scar looking thing and then in a day the white thing appeared.

He was resting more than usual but would swim away so quickly he would run into things, and on his last night he wouldn't eat.

 

The symptoms he had were suddenly being skittish even though he usually loved me, swimming around faster than usual, and then the white spot. By morning he was face down gasping just covered in the spots, I couldn't even look at him I felt so bad. People at school laughed that I was sad my fish had died that day, nobody understands the personality a betta can have.

Were those the only symptoms? I would like to know as much as possible. I keep freaking myself out because my long distance boyfriend and I got him before he left again so he's basically our child. He gets so excited when I get home and swims so fast then chills out haha. But a week ago, I saw a little scar looking thing and then in a day the white thing appeared.

 

He was resting more than usual but would swim away so quickly he would run into things, and on his last night he wouldn't eat.

Thank you for helping me. Hes still really active and swimming around, gulping for air every once in a while. I guess I'll keep doing my research and see if I need to quarantine him or not.

 

Thank you for helping me. Hes still really active and swimming around, gulping for air every once in a while. I guess I'll keep doing my research and see if I need to quarantine him or not.

There are very slow progressing and rapid strains of columnaris, so if he's acting fine you have more time then I did