Betta's head is decaying and turning white

[bekahr]

Hello! I'm not sure if this is the correct place to put this, so please let me know if I should move to a different part of the forum
About a month ago my betta Mickey came down with what I thought was ich, so I treated him consistently with Ich-x and did water changes and all that. The white spots went away, but the skin on his head began to turn white (he's black with whiteish fins). I added aquarium salt to fight off any beginning sicknesses, and he seemed to do fine (he's still his same hungry and active self!). This week, however, I noticed that the white skin on Mickey's head had spread to his whole face, and he has this little hole-like cyst thing on one side of his face.. it's like his head is decaying? He's still swimming around and eating, but it's a really nasty sight and it must be painful for him. I had my water parameters (it's a 5 gallon) tested a little over a week ago and they were all just fine (around 6 pH, 0 ammonia and nitrites and I do water changes weekly), I would test my water again but I have covid and all my test tubes shattered so I can't test it myself or go to the fish store. Could it be Hole in the Head? Or a nasty fungal infection? I added some more aquarium salt and NeoPlex (it's the only antibiotic I have), what else should I do?

I linked some pictures (they're not very good, my camera quality is really bad and he likes to move a lot so the pictures are quite blurry), the white film one is really hard to see, I apologize- if you look closely it shows the white growth on his head/snout area. Please help me cure Mickey!

 

[Myrkk]

I had a German Ram whose head had a white spot that turned into a hole. Someone on the forum suggested Hexamita as a possible cause. I can’t tell from your pictures but perhaps research that and see if it fits the issue you are having with Mickey?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

A pH of 6 is way, way too low for a Betta.
Keep up with the water changes and you really do need to be able to test your water. Perhaps buy a kit online?

 

[bekahr]

I had a German Ram whose head had a white spot that turned into a hole. Someone on the forum suggested Hexamita as a possible cause. I can’t tell from your pictures but perhaps research that and see if it fits the issue you are having with Mickey?

That could be it, I looked it up and I'm seeing some similarities. Thank you for the help!

 

[bekahr]

A pH of 6 is way, way too low for a Betta.
Keep up with the water changes and you really do need to be able to test your water. Perhaps buy a kit online?

I didn't know that was too low, thanks for letting me know! I started using a neutral pH adjuster (the Seachem one) that raises it to 7.0, is that the correct pH?
I'll definitely buy new testing stuff, I have all of the testing liquid but none of the tubes- I somehow managed to shatter them all

 

[bekahr]

I didn't know that was too low, thanks for letting me know! I started using a neutral pH adjuster (the Seachem one) that raises it to 7.0, is that the correct pH?
I'll definitely buy new testing stuff, I have all of the testing liquid but none of the tubes- I somehow managed to shatter them all

and to clarify, I didn't raise the pH all the way up yet- I'm slowly adjusting it so I don't shock the fish

 

[Avel1896]

A pH 6.5 to 7 would be perfect.

 

[Colin_T]

A pH of 6.0 is fine for Bettas. They actually come from soft acid water. A pH of 6.5 is Better for the filter bacteria but the fish should not have an issue at 6.0.

The white film on the fish's head is excess mucous produced by the fish to cover up an injury or infection.

The depression in the head could be bacterial or fungal. It is not hole in the head disease and Metronidazole won't help.