White lump & bloated belly

[Joby]

My male CT Ozzy has had a bloated belly now for over a week. He was very lethargic and I was worried he had dropsy so I treated with Maracyn1 and 2 just in case he had any internal parasites. He has picked up since the 5 day treatment but his belly is still big. I have reduced his feeding dramatically and fed frozen peas which he loves but it hasn't reduced although I see poop coming out which looks normal.

This morning I now notice a white lump on his head. It looks like a puss filled zit although he doesn't seem to mind it. It certainly wasn't there yesterday as I've been keeping a close eye on him.

Any ideas what it could be and how to treat? He's in a 12 litre acrylic tank with a heater set at 80, a filter, gravel substrate with a live and a smooth plastic plant. He also has a syrofoam cup sunk with gravel which he likes to shelter in.

Amm 0 Nitrite 0 nitrate 10

Here is his zit which stands out quite far and huge belly!

and another although out of focus you can see the zit to the right by his eye

Any help greatly received

 

[RandomWiktor]

I hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news.... but it looks a lot like a belly tumor. I had a betta die from the same thing; I did a necropsy and he had a huge tumor growing in there. From what I hear, it is relatively common in bettas. The fact that your guy has a weird little lump showing up on his head too makes me suspect this even more so.

However, I don't think Maracyn or Maracyn 2 treat internal parasites; they are mostly for bacterial infection. Jungle makes something called "Parasite Clear" that works wonders. However, if he has no other signs of parasites, I'd say things are definately pointing towards a possible mass.

 

[BettaMomma]

If I were you, I'd completely quit feeding him for probably 2 days. That probably won't make any difference, but if they're constipated, and you keep on feeding them, even if it's a reduced amount, you'll be adding to the problem.

I know you said you've tried peas, but try giving him just peas for 2 days.

I hate to say it, too, but i'm almost afraid that RW might be right.
We're hoping for the best for you, though.

Keep us posted.

 

[Joby]

Thanks guys, I kind of thought that the two things could be related.

I initially treated with the maracyn in case it was dropsy as I'd had a few cases recently from different tanks and thought it could be another so wanted to get meds in there quick.

I did stop feeding him for a couple of days which is why I said drastically reduced his feeding. I then gave him a small amount of pea for one meal, starved for 2 days again then tried a bit of pea again.

I also read about LYMPHOCYSTIS but not sure if this is what he has and it doesn't take account of his bloated belly.

Oh well, will see how he progresses. I got him in November last year and he was full grown then so don't know how old he is.

 

[CathyG]

Hi, Joby! How is he now?

I hope you don't mind me joining your thread, but I have had almost identical problems with my son's Betta (Ruby) - all the more saddening since she is a rescue case (she had no fins whatsoever, and very dull colouring, when my boy fell in love with her six months ago)

Here she is before the bloating:

and now...

She has been fine in herself, appearing to feed and behave normally. The bloating started slowly about a week or so ago, I thought she was being greedy and overeating. However, it suddenly accelerated over the last day or so, and she seems more extended on one side than the other.

I have isolated her, and dropped a couple of shelled peas in already. I have treated the water with a general tonic, since I was wary of properly medicating before identifying the problem. Her scales are not protruding, if anything she looks like she is full of fluid. Also, though it might be my imagination (looking at the pictures above) she seems to be losing weight around her jaw??

I hope your Betta pulls through, please keep us up to date.

 

[WILDER]

This article might help.
http/www.fishpalace.org/danscomments.html#Lump

 

[Bettaman]

Hi, Joby! How is he now?

I hope you don't mind me joining your thread, but I have had almost identical problems with my son's Betta (Ruby) - all the more saddening since she is a rescue case (she had no fins whatsoever, and very dull colouring, when my boy fell in love with her six months ago)

Here she is before the bloating:

and now...

She has been fine in herself, appearing to feed and behave normally. The bloating started slowly about a week or so ago, I thought she was being greedy and overeating. However, it suddenly accelerated over the last day or so, and she seems more extended on one side than the other.

I have isolated her, and dropped a couple of shelled peas in already. I have treated the water with a general tonic, since I was wary of properly medicating before identifying the problem. Her scales are not protruding, if anything she looks like she is full of fluid. Also, though it might be my imagination (looking at the pictures above) she seems to be losing weight around her jaw??

I hope your Betta pulls through, please keep us up to date.

As yours is a female i would say she is full of eggs and not unwell......if you have one place her near a male so she drops the eggs in excitement or you will loose her as they will get stuck and cause an infection.......joby if its internal parasites get some sterazin and treat as per the bottle.......

 

[CathyG]

Wilder, going by that link I feel she doesn't stand a chance Thanks, though...

Bettaman, she is our only Betta...

 

[Joby]

Hi Cathy

sorry to see your poor girl so bloated it could very well be eggs like Bettaman says but her lump is kind of bigger on one side which is what Ozzy looks like.

His white lump on his head is no bigger today and his tummy is pretty much the same as it was although its getting so big now underneath that his scales are sticking out a tad. He seems more active than he's done for a week now though and comes to the front begging for food when I'm near instead of sitting in the bottom of his cup. Should I still keep to starving him days and then offering just pea or start feeding him again normally if he's ill then I don't want to make the poor guy starve as he won't have the strength to fight but again I don't want to stuff him with food if he's already uncomfortable with a big belly

Thanks for the link Wilder, very informative.

Bettaman I'll try that meds and see how he goes. Shame if I lose him as he's the daddy of my accidental spawn

 

[Joby]

Well I decided to take Ozzy to the lfs where I got him from and ask them what they thought was wrong with him.

While getting him out of the tank and into the bag his white lump came off with a couple of scales but he seemed ok.

They reckon its probably a tumour inside him but worth giving internal meds a go so treating with interpet meds this time. Was advised to feed him, as it doesn't appear to be constipation, so he's had some tea tonight. He's very lethargic again but seemd to perk up on the trip to the lfs.

Lets see what tomorrow brings

 

[BettaMomma]

Best wishes to little Ozzy.
We're all hoping for the best for him.

 

[WILDER]

Me to good luck.