Help diagnose my betta

[Shepard Commander]

Hello

Any ideas what might be wrong with my betta? I've had him for a few months now and this patch appeared then started to grow around his right gill only (left one looks normal) over the last few days. The growth seems to have stopped over the last 12 or so hours. It's slightly raised and off white or translucent. Behaviour seems normal. He's in a walstad style planted tank. Made a mistake with seiryu stone so can't really go lower with the hardness unfortunately. 

• pH 7.4
• Nitrates 0
• Hardness 10 degrees 
• Nitrite 0
• Ammonia 0
• KH/Buffer 6 degrees 
• Water Temperature 25-26C
• All measured with jbl drop tests. 

Any help would be appreciated! 

[Colu]

Could have a bacterial component Bettas  commonly develope tumors that start like this what I would do is add Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties you might have to add one leaf per gallon to get a beneficial effect and monitor if your seeing no improvement after 5 days  then i would consider a course of maracyn 2 it's a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment active ingredient minocycline also has anti-inflammatory properties@Shepard Commander

[Whitecloud09]

I would consider a round of maracyn2 just like @Colu said @Shepard Commander. Sorry this happened. Most bettas have a tumor later in life or anytime actually sadly. My betta experienced this as well.

Edited July 18 by Whitecloud09

[Shepard Commander]

Thanks for your help!

Just added a bunch of catappa leaves, see if it improves. I'm in the UK so getting my hands on any fish antibiotics is very difficult unfortunately. I could possibly order some of the seachem stuff, but it would still come from abroad after a week or two, at a very steep price. Which one of those is worth trying? 

 

I also have some human pills left over in my medicine cabinet (amoxicilin and moxifloxacin). Not against trying these, but not really sure if they'd just kill the fish outright, and what kind of dosage to use. 

[Whitecloud09]

On 7/18/2024 at 7:37 PM, Shepard Commander said:

Thanks for your help!

Just added a bunch of catappa leaves, see if it improves. I'm in the UK so getting my hands on any fish antibiotics is very difficult unfortunately. I could possibly order some of the seachem stuff, but it would still come from abroad after a week or two, at a very steep price. Which one of those is worth trying? 

 

I also have some human pills left over in my medicine cabinet (amoxicilin and moxifloxacin). Not against trying these, but not really sure if they'd just kill the fish outright, and what kind of dosage to use. 

I do not recommend human medicine @Shepard Commander. But what seachem products are you referring too? Also, the catappa leaves could help o think as well.

[Shepard Commander]

On 7/19/2024 at 12:39 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

I do not recommend human medicine @Shepard Commander. But what seachem products are you referring too? Also, the catappa leaves could help o think as well.

The human pills would be a last resort in a quarantine tub if his condition worsens, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. 

 

From seachem I see their various *plex medicines available from abroad. 

[Colu]

On 7/19/2024 at 1:13 AM, Shepard Commander said:

The human pills would be a last resort in a quarantine tub if his condition worsens, but hopefully it doesn't come to that. 

 

From seachem I see their various *plex medicines available from abroad. 

You might be available to get sera bactopur direct tablets active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment from Amazon or eBay that would usually get hear in under a week or you can get maracyn2 or seachems kanaplex off eBay it usually takes two weeks to arrive from usa 

[Shepard Commander]

On 7/19/2024 at 1:41 AM, Colu said:

You might be available to get sera bactopur direct tablets active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment from Amazon or eBay that would usually get hear in under a week or you can get maracyn2 or seachems kanaplex off eBay it usually takes two weeks to arrive from usa 

Ordered some kanaplex, but it will take a week or two to get here. Couldn't find any of the German brands unfortunately that would have been quicker to arrive. 

The spot has increased in size, so not sure if he has that long, but it's worth a try. 

 

Also did a small water change. Can't have any big ones on this tank as I can't really match tds/ph because of all the seiryu stone. 

 

[Colu]

On 7/20/2024 at 12:07 AM, Shepard Commander said:

Ordered some kanaplex, but it will take a week or two to get here. Couldn't find any of the German brands unfortunately that would have been quicker to arrive. 

The spot has increased in size, so not sure if he has that long, but it's worth a try. 

 

Also did a small water change. Can't have any big ones on this tank as I can't really match tds/ph because of all the seiryu stone. 

 

What you could get is  Esha 2000 that's readily available in UK and start treating with that till your kanaplex arrives 

[Shepard Commander]

Moved him to a quarantine bowl so I don't kill my shrimp and snails. Found some interpet "anti internal bacteria" in the drawer, so I added that until I can get my hands on esha 2000 or the antibiotics arrive. Should I try some salt as well? 

 

 

[Colu]

I would add a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 3 gallons till the kanaplex arrives the salt will aid Gill function and add essential electrolytes 

[Whitecloud09]

Yes I would add salt just like @Colu mentioned. Fritz aquarium salt, or api salt would be good, depending on what access you have in the UK @Shepard Commander.

[Shepard Commander]

The antibiotics finally arrived so I put a dose in today. 

 

He's still hanging on, though the white spots are now covering half of his body. He mostly stays on the bottom of the quarantine bowl, but that could very well be just boredom. He still swims as usual when I feed him or stir up the water so he doesn't seem particularly weakened. 

 

I finished the course of the "internal bacteria" treatment, kept up the salt levels and also tried some fin rot treatment as his dorsal fin is looking a bit rough - all of those are out of the water now that I started on kanaplex.

 

I also got "seachem focus" and "api general cure" as I was paying for postage anyway. Is it worth trying to dose the food instead of the water? 

 

 

 

[Colu]

On 8/1/2024 at 12:43 AM, Shepard Commander said:

The antibiotics finally arrived so I put a dose in today. 

 

He's still hanging on, though the white spots are now covering half of his body. He mostly stays on the bottom of the quarantine bowl, but that could very well be just boredom. He still swims as usual when I feed him or stir up the water so he doesn't seem particularly weakened. 

 

I finished the course of the "internal bacteria" treatment, kept up the salt levels and also tried some fin rot treatment as his dorsal fin is looking a bit rough - all of those are out of the water now that I started on kanaplex.

 

I also got "seachem focus" and "api general cure" as I was paying for postage anyway. Is it worth trying to dose the food instead of the water? 

 

 

 

Kanaplex isn't very effective in food not a lot of the medication is adsorbed by the intestinal tract so very little makes it into the blood stream you can use API general cure in food I would see how he responds to the kanaplex before treating with other medications he's a medicated food recipe you can use with general cure just in case  you need to treat in the future with general cure 

Edited August 1 by Colu

[Shepard Commander]

Thanks for the help @Colu.

I was wondering how I would know if he's improved or healed. After three rounds of kanaplex he's almost completely white now, other than a blue band in the middle, but it seems to be a cleaner white. He's also more active than before and still eating well. I'm tempted to return him to the tank, then use a round or two of the medicated food just to make sure his tankmates are also clear. 

[Colu]

On 8/7/2024 at 11:49 AM, Shepard Commander said:

Thanks for the help @Colu.

I was wondering how I would know if he's improved or healed. After three rounds of kanaplex he's almost completely white now, other than a blue band in the middle, but it seems to be a cleaner white. He's also more active than before and still eating well. I'm tempted to return him to the tank, then use a round or two of the medicated food just to make sure his tankmates are also clear. 

 I wouldn't use more kanaplex as over use can impact the kidney's if he's active and eating I would put him back in the main tank with Indian almond leaves and monitor for a couple of weeks then give an update 

[Shepard Commander]

Thought I'd give a final update on this, unless the issue resurfaces. 

He's been back in his tank since my last post and doing quite well. He's swimming normally, chasing shrimp and building bubble nests. He's still loosing colour, which is strange, but doesn't seem to be affecting his behaviour in any way.

 

Thanks for the help everyone! 

 

I'm also glad to have some antibiotics on hand. Might make it standard treatment when bringing in new fish as the stores also don't have it as far as I know and I had some issues in the past.