Betta has a white bump on its side

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AquaFanatic

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Hi,

What is wrong with my Betta fish? It looks a bit like a tumour. Theyā€™ve had this since I got them a few months back, but it was considerably smaller, and has grown bigger since this picture. I thought it was due to stress at first as I had a few tank changes, but itā€™s been at least a month since that happened. The fish is eating as usual, Iā€™d say the only difference Iā€™ve noticed is a slight peak in aggression, which appears to be calming down now, although I also added new tank mates about a month ago, so that may be the cause of the added aggression. I can take another photo tomorrow when the light is back on if you need a better picture.

Please help, thanks!
 

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I once had a betta with something similar, though in my case it was in a 'nastier' place being right above his gill. He lived with it fine until it got so big it invaded his gill and he went downhill rapidly after that. Your betta is in no danger of this, so I would just let him live as usual until such a time as it is causing him obvious problems.


Bettas are aggressive fish and many do not tolerate tank mates. You haven't mentioned what sized tank he's in, or what his tank mates are but it is usually recommended to keep them alone in a tank of at least 5 gallons/20 litres.
 
Heā€™s actually quite friendly for a Betta, we had a bit of aggression when I introduced some fish after I had some deaths a while back, but once they were introduced, and after a bit of flaring, he no longer flares and appears perfectly happy, apart from that lump on his side. Heā€™s currently in with some plain looking guppies and Cory cats, in a 12gal tank.
 
The cories should be OK as they are monochrome and don't live in the same area of the tank. But keep an eye on his behaviour towards the guppies as they do swim in 'his' area. Bettas have been known to suddenly snap and go on a killing rampage after living peacefully for months.
 
Hopefully that doesnā€™t happen šŸ™ˆ. Surprisingly, heā€™s more bothered about the cories than he is about the guppies. Heā€™s territorial over one small area of the tank, and when they enter that area he will chase the cories off, but otherwise heā€™s completely fine with everything in the tank. Iā€™ve never seen him chase a guppy yet weirdly, except for when they were first introduced.
The cories should be OK as they are monochrome and don't live in the same area of the tank. But keep an eye on his behaviour towards the guppies as they do swim in 'his' area. Bettas have been known to suddenly snap and go on a killing rampage after living peacefully for months.
 
Hereā€™s a better photo of itā€¦ my betta is camera shy šŸ˜‚. He tries to swim away as soon as I take photos lol. Donā€™t mind the snail šŸ™ˆ, one of my assassin snails decided they wanted a midnight snack.
 

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That does look similar to my betta.

This is a photo I took just a few weeks before I had to euthanise him. You can see the first lump encroaching onto his gill, and new lumps starting down his body which look similar to yours. He behaved normally until the first lump got into his gill, so your fish shouldn't have problems. Mine was a dragonscale, which is where the scales are extra thick - that's why the lumps looked blue-grey rather than white.

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Okay thanks :), Iā€™ll keep an eye just in case his behaviour changes but Iā€™m sure heā€™s okay like you said as heā€™s been like it for a little while now as it didnā€™t look like any of the standard common fish illnesses, and it doesnā€™t seem to be bothering him.
 

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