Lymphocystis? Tumors?

AndiG · Jan 3, 2021

Hello!

I've had this lovely little Betta in my work space since the end of October. We adopted her to brighten up our front room and she certainly has! Her name is Dela(Haze).

When I adopted her she had a small white bump on her side. I posted in a few forums about this and most people commenting were convinced she had a tumor. As there hasn't been any other obvious disease or problem to try and treat, we have been going about handling this like a tumor. However browsing the web today I came across lymphocystis in Betta fish and I'm wondering if this could be her problem, not tumors?

As the lump has more than doubled in size and in a span of a few weeks she has developed one on the other side of her body, I'm not quite sure which route to take now either way. I have been sent a multitude of videos on how to remove said tumors as a LAST RESORT, but I'm concerned that might not be what they are?

She is extremely healthy and active. She has a great personality and is social with all of our staff and customers, and even knows a few by face and gets extra excited to see them. She's a great swimmer and eater (she LOVES to eat), she constantly swims against the soft current from her filter on purpose so she's not lethargic. Even her fins have been getting more colorful as she ages, no lack of color aside from her body (white). Very healthy outside of these lumps

Last time the levels in the tank were tested they were all near perfect when it came to the recommended. She has two very large and healthy mystery snails keeping her tank clean as well.

Any suggestions? Attaching pictures

AndiG · Jan 3, 2021

Pictures added!

Colin_T · Jan 3, 2021

I can't tell from the pictures but I doubt it's Lymphocystis, which is normally lumpier than the stuff on the fish and Lymphocystis normally grows on the fins, not the side of the body.
Lymphocystis is a stress virus and if the fish is in a clean tank and being fed well, the virus goes dormant and the lumps disappear after a few weeks.

Is the white stuff on the fish soft and squishy or hard?

It's unusual for a tumour to grow on both sides. If it did, then the tumour should have grown through the organs and the fish wouldn't be eating or swimming normally due to the location of the growths. This doesn't rule out a tumour completely, it could be one that just hasn't done significant damage to the internal organs.

It could be fungus.

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How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

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You could try doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the tank each day for a week. And add some salt. That should help if it's fungus. If it doesn't help them it's probably a growth of some sort. There's no treatment for tumours in fish.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

AndiG · Jan 3, 2021

Colin_T said:
I can't tell from the pictures but I doubt it's Lymphocystis, which is normally lumpier than the stuff on the fish and Lymphocystis normally grows on the fins, not the side of the body.
Lymphocystis is a stress virus and if the fish is in a clean tank and being fed well, the virus goes dormant and the lumps disappear after a few weeks.

Is the white stuff on the fish soft and squishy or hard?

It's unusual for a tumour to grow on both sides. If it did, then the tumour should have grown through the organs and the fish wouldn't be eating or swimming normally due to the location of the growths. This doesn't rule out a tumour completely, it could be one that just hasn't done significant damage to the internal organs.

It could be fungus.

--------------------
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

--------------------
You could try doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the tank each day for a week. And add some salt. That should help if it's fungus. If it doesn't help them it's probably a growth of some sort. There's no treatment for tumours in fish.

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

I haven't personally tried to touch the lump with my fingers, concerned it was a tumor and didn't want to cause any excessive stress to make it grow faster. We have been doing frequent small water changes weekly, I do a 60-75% water change at least once a month and yes all gravel gets rinsed or at least cleaned to the best of my ability. The snails do a good job keeping algae off the rocks and decor, so it usually just takes a rinse or a quick rub down with a piece of paper towel to clean everything else in the tank.

I can dig up the filter info in a couple of minutes. I change the filter pads thus far once a month just to be safe as that's when I notice a bit of a build up of algae where the stream flows and the snails cant get to without being pushed off by the water.

I've looked in to salt before. When I asked my local pet store they were leery to recommend because of the snails I have in the tank, though I am not particularly sure why. Everything I've read says it should be safe? They are a lovely mated pair so I don't want to do anything to make them uncomfortable.

AndiG · Jan 3, 2021

The Filter is a Tetra Whisper, 5-10

Colin_T · Jan 3, 2021

Do you have a gravel cleaner?
If not, get yourself a basic model like the one in the following link. You don't need anything fancy, just a simply basic model like the one in the link. It will allow you to clean the gunk out of the gravel (without removing the gravel from the tank), when you do a water change.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

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Snails are fine with salt.

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If you have a filter that says to replace pads/ cartridges, then find some sponge for a different brand of filter and add the sponge to the filter. You can use a pr of scissors to cut the sponge to fit the filter. Leave the sponge and filter pads together for at least a month (preferably 2 months) before throwing the pads away. Then do not replace the pads, just have sponge in the filter.

Sponges last for years and you simply squeeze them out (once a month) in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. The bucket of dirty water gets poured on the lawn/ garden.

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Lymphocystis? Tumors?

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