Large White Spot on Betta’s head

[Riley Wilson]

Hello, my betta is a year and a half old and a rather happy fish. He is alone in a 3.5 Gallon tank with a filter and a heater (his tank temp is kept at around 80°) Recently I have noticed a white, almost pimple looking, bump on his head above his eye. I have done regular water changes and antibacterial and anti-fungal treatments, but it only seems to be growing. I have been bending backwards to try to find out what this is, but I just can’t seem to figure it out. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Any chance of a picture of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

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How long has the fish had the lump?
What medications did you use (names and ingredients)?
How often do you do water changes and gravel cleans?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water (in numbers)?

 

[Riley Wilson]

I would say he has had it for easily a month, maybe even more. I have noticed it is growing more rapidly. I use a gravel vac and do 20% water changes a week normally, but i have been doing 50 since I noticed the growth. I have used a couple bottles of Bettafix, where the main ingredient is Melaleuca oil. It is an antibacterial and anti-fungal medication.
As for his levels, the ammonia and nitrite are 0, the nitrates are 19, and the ph is 6.9

 

[Riley Wilson]

it also doesn’t look fuzzy, like a fungus would. It almost looks like a big whitehead growing out of his skin.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Nitrates normally read 10ppm, 20ppm, 40ppm, etc. What test kit are you using?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Did you mean 10ppm? If so all us good on parameters. Do 70% water changes daily for a couple of weeks. Let’s see what Colin T says when he comes on. Has the fish injured himself there possibly?

 

[Riley Wilson]

I did mean 10ppm, my apologies. I will start doing the water changes tomorrow. At first I thought it was an injury but he has never had an issue with this before, and the lump seems to be growing, which is why I thought it wasn't. There also is not a lot in his tank to injure himself on

 

[Colin_T]

I can't tell anything from the pictures.

Normally white would be fungus or missing scales.

 

[Riley Wilson]

If it is a fungus, how should I treat?

 

[Colin_T]

anti fungal medications are available from any pet shop, but if it hasn't spread, then it might not be fungus.

 

[FishGuest5123]

The pic looks kind of cottony. It may just be the pic. I have to lean toward fungus. Try something like this. Please keep us posted.

 

[Riley Wilson]

Just to update yall, he died this morning. I guess the treatment didnt help, but he died happy