Lump at base of pectoral fin, persistent fin rot

Hi all,

I'm back again with an illness that I can't seem to wrangle on my own. I posted in February about recurring scale growths on my betta, Queenie. Her scales looked lumpy and peely, but they were not fuzzy like fungus. I treated her with increased water changes and added tannin-producing botanicals. The peeling scales resolved, and she remained active and with great color through this.

Now, she has developed more issues and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong or how to treat it. Details and medications I've tried are below—thank you!

Tank size: 7 US gallons
pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm
kH: 5 dKH
gH: 9 dKH
tank temp: 78 F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
Fin rot, lump at base of pectoral fin, loss of color, less active

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
60% twice a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
Plant ferts: half dose of NPK and micros, twice a week each
Prime

Tank inhabitants:
one Betta, two Amano shrimp, two Nerite snails

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
None

Exposure to chemicals:
None

Digital photo (include if possible):
Today (about an hour after meth blue dip) pectoral fin lump:


Today:


April 12th, just before Kanaplex treatment:


Here's the story, so sorry that this is a little long-winded:
On March 24th, I noticed that Queenie was missing a chunk of her caudal fin and began doing 50% water changes 3x per week. (normal schedule is 50% once a week)

On April 5, her fins still appeared to be deteriorating so I added aquarium salt to her tank, replacing what I removed after each water change (doing daily WCs at this point). I removed the salt completely after 5 days because her fins were still deteriorating.

On April 12th, I began treatment with Kanaplex. She had also been developing a pale lump at the base of one pectoral fin since the fin rot started, so I suspected that fin rot might be part of a larger bacterial infection. I put her in a filtered, heated, 4-gallon hospital tank and completed one does of Kanaplex per Seachem's directions.

I gave her a few weeks to recover from the Kanaplex before considering other treatments. Her fins are still rotting, the lump is getting larger, and she is not using her right pectoral fin sometimes. I've been continuing with IAL and increased water changes (I've now dropped back to 2 times a week since params do not seem to be the issue here).


Today, I noticed white edges on the pectoral fin with the lump and decided to do a methylene blue dip. There is no noticeable improvement in any of her issues yet, and I'm not sure if this is something I should do once, a few times a week, daily, or not at all.

Any advice is very appreciated, I hate to see Queenie like this and nothing seems to have helped her so far. As you can see from the above photos, she has been declining. I don't want to go crazy with meds as I know that they can be extremely stressful. She is still eating voraciously, but her color is not as bright it used to be and she is resting more. She's only about a year and a half old, maybe a little older.

Thank you again for any advice!!

One thing that might be a good is the white substance on the fin. With my betta the white stuff was the fin regrowing. It turns white and delicate. However you shouldn't stop treatment for the rest of the fin just in case. I hope your betta recovers soon

Thanks, that's a good point and maybe it is regrowth! It's hard to tell because her pectoral fins are kind of transparent.

Ok, this morning she has some fungus on her lower jaw. It isn't fluffy or soft-looking, but it looks like her mouth is peeling. Should I continue with meth blue for fungus?

pictures?

the fish could have a tumour on the pectoral fin muscle. it could also have cancer or some other ailment that is affecting its immune system.

Colin_T said:

pictures?

the fish could have a tumour on the pectoral fin muscle. it could also have cancer or some other ailment that is affecting its immune system.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Colin, hoping that it isn't cancer but I am suspicious that something is affecting her immune system as you said. I will take some pictures of the fungus when I get home from work!

Here are some photos! The white under her chin developed overnight. This morning it was kind of hanging off, now it is just a raised white patch. I thought the meth blue might help but it seems to have made things worse. Or maybe the fungus is sloughing off and I need to do another dip?

It's probably excess mucous that is sloughing off.

You could try salt just to make sure it doesn't have any external protozoan infections.
Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks then stop using it.

If you do water changes when using salt, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank.

Salt won't do anything for the growth on the pectoral fin but might help with the mucous issue.

Coming back to this thread as a last-ditch effort. Since my initial post, I tried salt as Colin suggested and it helped with the mucusy slime coat but not the fin rot. I gave Queenie a break from meds for several weeks and then moved her to a hospital tub to try Furan-2 since she was not improving. I treated her for eight days and finished the treatment two weeks ago. Her fins have continued to rot terribly and now she has a strange growth right on the top of her head.

I'm very unsure of what to do (if anything). The growth has shown up in the last week and a half, and it kind of sloughs off at times, so I don't think it is a tumor. She is still active and eating.

Right now I'm just doing daily 70% water changes with Indian almond leaves. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated (please help)!!