Betta has strange mark/coloration on body. Any idea what it is?

[Dr. Fish]

I noticed this strange coloration on my betta this morning. Any idea what it might be?

 

I posted this about another fish in the tank on Saturday. The oto in question died today. Everyone else in the tank seems fine (except the new color/mark on the betta). The betta is acting normal, just has a new mark. Should I be worried? TIA for any ideas. 

 

 

[Fish Folk]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Fish said:

I noticed this strange coloration on my betta this morning. Any idea what it might be?

 

I posted this about another fish in the tank on Saturday. The oto in question died today. Everyone else in the tank seems fine (except the new color/mark on the betta). The betta is acting normal, just has a new mark. Should I be worried? TIA for any ideas. 

 

 

This appears to be something external. Just like people, when fish are injured or in poor health, infections can occur. Externally, these generally are either (1) bacterial or (2) fungal. If you see a "fuzzy" white-ish appearing coating on your Betta, you may have a fungal infection. Fungus is everywhere in aquarium water. However, over feeding and lack of regular maintenance (e.g. water changing) will cause it to build up excessively. If you see a reddish, gash-like appearance to this area, you may have a bacterial infection.

I'm begin vague and non-committal with this assessment because one photograph is not much to go off of. Ideally, you can help dial in your question by answering the following questions, and posting more photos as well as uploading a 60-second video of your betta in good lighting (use YouTube if possible, and just embed the link into your post):

(1) How large is your tank?

(2) What is your tank stocked with?

(3) What is your tank temperature?

(4) What is your maintenance schedule? (how often do you change water, clean out sponges, etc)

(5) What is your current filtration?

(6) What are the following parameters: pH? Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate?

(7) What are you feeding the fish, and how much, how often?

(8) How recently have you added new fish or plants?

(9) Do you / did you quarantine new fish before adding to your tank?

 

[Dr. Fish]

7 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

This appears to be something external. Just like people, when fish are injured or in poor health, infections can occur. Externally, these generally are either (1) bacterial or (2) fungal. If you see a "fuzzy" white-ish appearing coating on your Betta, you may have a fungal infection. Fungus is everywhere in aquarium water. However, over feeding and lack of regular maintenance (e.g. water changing) will cause it to build up excessively. If you see a reddish, gash-like appearance to this area, you may have a bacterial infection.

I'm begin vague and non-committal with this assessment because one photograph is not much to go off of. Ideally, you can help dial in your question by answering the following questions, and posting more photos as well as uploading a 60-second video of your betta in good lighting (use YouTube if possible, and just embed the link into your post):

(1) How large is your tank?

(2) What is your tank stocked with?

(3) What is your tank temperature?

(4) What is your maintenance schedule? (how often do you change water, clean out sponges, etc)

(5) What is your current filtration?

(6) What are the following parameters: pH? Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate?

(7) What are you feeding the fish, and how much, how often?

(8) How recently have you added new fish or plants?

(9) Do you / did you quarantine new fish before adding to your tank?

 

Thank you for responding. Here is the information you asked for: 

Video of betta swimming: 

 

1) This is a 9 gallon Fluval Flex

2) The take has 1 betta, 4 lamp chop rasboras, and 2 otos. And some ramshorn snails that snuck in on some plants. There are live plants: vallisneria, anubius nano petite, a few crypts, red root floaters and some java fern. 

3) Temp: 78.6 deg. F.

4) I've had the tank 7 weeks. I did a 1 month fish-less cycle (with the plants). Put the fish in just under 3 weeks ago. Did my first water change (about 25%) on Saturday. 

5) Filtration. I use the built in filter that came with the flex. It has a sponge, carbon, and biological as part of the filter. I also have an air stone in it. 

6) I used an API 5 in 1 test strip ph: 6.5; ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all appear to be 0.0, though I'll be honest I'm very new to testing water parameters. But, I believe I"m reading that correctly. 

7) I feed the fish a few crushed spirulina fish flakes OR Hikari freeze-dried blood worms each morning. I also put in a broken up algae waffle every few days for the otos and snails. 

8) The fish were the last thing I added. This was about 3 weeks ago. 

9) I did not quarantine as it was a new tank and all the plants and fish were purchased from the same place. 

[Fish Folk]

42 minutes ago, Dr. Fish said:

Thank you for responding. Here is the information you asked for: 

Video of betta swimming: 

 

1) This is a 9 gallon Fluval Flex

2) The take has 1 betta, 4 lamp chop rasboras, and 2 otos. And some ramshorn snails that snuck in on some plants. There are live plants: vallisneria, anubius nano petite, a few crypts, red root floaters and some java fern. 

3) Temp: 78.6 deg. F.

4) I've had the tank 7 weeks. I did a 1 month fish-less cycle (with the plants). Put the fish in just under 3 weeks ago. Did my first water change (about 25%) on Saturday. 

5) Filtration. I use the built in filter that came with the flex. It has a sponge, carbon, and biological as part of the filter. I also have an air stone in it. 

6) I used an API 5 in 1 test strip ph: 6.5; ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all appear to be 0.0, though I'll be honest I'm very new to testing water parameters. But, I believe I"m reading that correctly. 

7) I feed the fish a few crushed spirulina fish flakes OR Hikari freeze-dried blood worms each morning. I also put in a broken up algae waffle every few days for the otos and snails. 

8) The fish were the last thing I added. This was about 3 weeks ago. 

9) I did not quarantine as it was a new tank and all the plants and fish were purchased from the same place. 

Thanks! Good info. Beautiful betta!!

It is possible that he scraped himself on something. There's ab off-chance that an Otto is acting aggressively. Here is a thread about that from another forum. I'd keep an eye on that. It sounds like you're doing well. The Betta certainly seems fine. Perhaps try upping your feeding to 2x a day for a week. Not too much, just a bit more to see if the Ottos are starving. Consider feeding Betta food slightly delayed after feeding the Ottos -- unless you're feeding them the same food.

Keep an eye on him. If this grows, you'll want to look for an external treatment medicine. If you see fuzzy, cottony whiteish stuff on the site, you're looking at fungus. Otherwise, it's probably bacterial.

Hopefully, he'll just move past it.

[Dr. Fish]

9 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

Thanks! Good info. Beautiful betta!!

It is possible that he scraped himself on something. There's ab off-chance that an Otto is acting aggressively. Here is a thread about that from another forum. I'd keep an eye on that. It sounds like you're doing well. The Betta certainly seems fine. Perhaps try upping your feeding to 2x a day for a week. Not too much, just a bit more to see if the Ottos are starving. Consider feeding Betta food slightly delayed after feeding the Ottos -- unless you're feeding them the same food.

Keep an eye on him. If this grows, you'll want to look for an external treatment medicine. If you see fuzzy, cottony whiteish stuff on the site, you're looking at fungus. Otherwise, it's probably bacterial.

Hopefully, he'll just move past it.

Thank you so much!