Betta Appears To Have A Snail In Its Gill ?

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and am looking for help with my sick betta. I have had him for about 6 months with no problems till now. A gill on his left side became swollen about 5 days ago and I could see a little bit of white on the underside which I thought was a bacterial infection so have been treating him with Myxazine. Today, however, I had a close look at the white bit which seems to have moved to the top and it looks for all the world as if it has horns on it like a snails head. I have, like most people, lots of uninvited snails in my tank which I mainly keep under control by picking them out whenever I see them. Is it possible that one has made its home in his gill instead of a shell? Or is there some other similar parasite that it might be?

I am contemplating trying to pull it out with tweezers (sterilized of course) but am worried I might do more harm than good.

Any help would be gratefully received

Have a read here on tumors:
http/badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification_1.html#Tumors

I can't be of more help but I do doubt it is a snail.

I can't tell from the pic tbh. Have you thought about trying some snail killer treatment in the tank? You can get some bottled stuff which is safe for fish, my friend used it with no problems in his tank. That would kill them off and the one on him if it is one.

Thanks for your post Karin

It could well be a tumor or lymphocystis but my gut feeling is that I don't think it is.
I think it is the fact that I saw what looked like 2 horns on it. Could of course be my imagination

Anyone else have any theories?

marieukxx said:

I can't tell from the pic tbh. Have you thought about trying some snail killer treatment in the tank? You can get some bottled stuff which is safe for fish, my friend used it with no problems in his tank. That would kill them off and the one on him if it is one.

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Hi Marieukxx
I had no idea there was a snail killer treatment. Where can you get it from as I have not seen/noticed it in my local pet stores?

what country are you in? I can search online for you. Yeah my friend had loads and loads of snails in his tank and he used a treatment to get rid of them. It's hard to see on the pic but if you think that's what you see then it's worth a go isn't it. If it were my dogs or something I'd pluck it off with tweezers like you say but with a fish it's a different story.

Here is one if you're in the UK:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ESHA-GASTROPEX-FISH-TANK-AQUATIC-SNAIL-TREATMENT-10ML-/220796385550?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item33687d790e

marieukxx said:

what country are you in? I can search online for you. Yeah my friend had loads and loads of snails in his tank and he used a treatment to get rid of them. It's hard to see on the pic but if you think that's what you see then it's worth a go isn't it. If it were my dogs or something I'd pluck it off with tweezers like you say but with a fish it's a different story.

Here is one if you're in the UK:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ESHA-GASTROPEX-FISH-TANK-AQUATIC-SNAIL-TREATMENT-10ML-/220796385550?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item33687d790e

Click to expand...

Thanks for that Yes I am in the UK and should have thought of ebay myself as we all know you can get pretty much anything you can dream of on it
Will at least get rid of the snails if nothing else!

Yeah give it a try. I would hope if it is a snail it would die and drop off but I've never known anything like this. It's just a try it and see thing. But like you said at least the snails would be gone.