Betta With White Lump

[omega59]

My male Betta has this lump on it's top side I'm not sure what it is. I tried Pima Fix for body fungus i did 2 rounds and its still there. I also just recently started adding aquarium salt each water change, as suggested by my LFS. Can someone help me with this and what to do. I live in Canada, so medication is no longer sold in stores other than aquarium salt and water conditioners. I do a 24-30% water change weekly, feed once a day 3-5 pellets. There are no live plants. There is a filter and heater. Otherwise he is swimming normally and eating normally. I uploaded 2 images to see. Thank you for your time of course

Some more information on my tank.
3.5Gal running for 2.5 Years (only 1 betta in there)
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0.25
Nitrite 0
PH 7.5
Water Temp 75f (23c)

Picture 1
Picture 2

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

Could you get a closer/clearer picture of the lump? Is it fuzzy? Upon first glance it looks like either a cyst or tumor neither of which you can do anything about except keep his water extra clean and monitor his quality of life.

 

[omega59]

Thank you for responding here is another photo (its a bit hard to take from the side)

Picture 3

 

[Colin_T]

Need better pictures but it could be a fungal infection on a wound, or a tumour.

What colour was the area before it swelled up?

Did it always have the white patches there?
If not, then the white is more likely to be fungus.

How much salt did you use?

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium 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.

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.
*NB* If there's no improvement after 2 weeks of salt, stop using it.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[omega59]

his body was like the rest of his colour in that area, but once this started, It was always white, i didnt think it was anything but over the course of few months, the white spread more and now this is the result. At first when i seen the white appear, i did do a treatment of Pima for bacterial (as i stated above, and what happened with that). i have been doing 1 tablespoons of salt each water change (Once a week), adding the salt to the bucket and dissolving it in there.

So are you suggesting i do 2 tablespoons of salt each water change? (once a week)

 

[Colin_T]

You could try increasing the salt to 1 heaped tablespoon of salt for the tank, or 2 level tablespoons of salt. It's the same amount, I'm just not sure if you added heaped or level tablespoons of salt.

If you use 1 heaped tablespoon and it didn't make any difference, then stop using salt because it isn't helping.

If there's no improvement after 2 weeks with the higher dose rate of salt, then it is unlikely to be fungus and could be skin colouration, although that isn't normally white on dark fish.

 

[omega59]

Hi Colin_T, I was doing 1 tablespoon not heaping tablespoon. I also googled what a tumor looks like for a Betta, and it looks similar. If the salt doesn't improve i'll leave him be, he isnt showing signs of issues.

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

Yeah, to me it looks like a tumor as well. Fungus usually has a fuzzy appearance and it doesn't typically protrude from the body in a perfectly spherical way like that. All you can do is keep him comfortable and monitor he quality of life. If the growth starts to affect his swimming or eating then I would consider humane euthanasia like using clove oil.

 

[omega59]

Thank you for your input and support. Can you possibly link me to the proper clove oil to purchase for the future?

Valkyrie_Lips​

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

I think this link may work

Thank you for your input and support. Can you possibly link me to the proper clove oil to purchase for the future?

Valkyrie_Lips​

 

[omega59]

thank you for the link.