Lumpy betta--very worried

[Rosemary]

Last Friday, I saw that my betta's body was horribly lumpy looking:

(There's a lump on his other side that is so bad you can see white skin (?) showing between the stretched out scales.)

It doesn't look like the pictures of dropsy I have seen. I have been trying to treat for constipation--I fasted him for 2 days, fed him a bit of pea. No effect. Yesterday I gave him an Epsom salt bath (1 Tbsp in 1 gallon, 15 minutes). No effect.

Should I keep trying to feed him bits of pea, or give him another Epsom salt bath, or what?

I am very worried about him, and he seems miserable. He is spending most of his time hiding in his hidey hole at the bottom of the tank.

Tank:
5 gallons, filtered, heated
no tankmates
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: <5 ppm
pH: 7.5
established June 2004
weekly 25% water change

I recently switched to a different food because the store was out of the kind I usually get.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Any chance you could get a pic of the other side?

Sometimes bacterial infections will cause lumpy, infected areas of skin. It is dropsy if the scales are sticking straight out, perpendicular from the body.

How long has he been this way and not eating?

 

[Rosemary]

I noticed the lumps on Friday and started fasting him then (he had had his Friday morning feeding).

I fed pieces of pea on Sunday and today.

His appetite is good (and was before I started fasting him).

I'll try again to get a pic of the other side. Some of the lumpiness is gone, which I think means some constipation cleared up, but there's still this lump (tumor?) on his other side which hasn't changed, and may have caused the constipation in the first place.

 

[pitt420dude]

Bummer, He looks like a beatifully colored betta. Bettas arent livebearers so unfortunatly it is not pregant. Good luck, i hope those salt baths do the trick. I would suggest keeping up with them.

 

[Rosemary]

He's acting perkier today, not hiding all the time, though still that mysterious lump which he won't let me photograph.

I'm feeding small meals so he hopefully won't get constipated again. A friend suggested that the lump looked like an injury so I'm giving him Melafix, I'll see how that goes.

 

[An t-iasg]

Do not give a betta MelaFix. It seems to adversely affect their labyrinth organ, which will cause more stress. I would try Maracyn 2 or Jungle Fungus Eliminator for the lump. It's good that he's acting perkier, but with the MelaFix, he may become lethargic. Do a water change right away if this happens.

 

[linz85]

i have had ich in my 8 gallon tank now for about 8 days. im using interpet white spot plus but it isnt doing much. i have just turned my temp up to 29/81.i havent used salt yet as im unsure of it.
i have in the tank 1 male betta 1 female betta, 1 ram, 1 guppy ,2 platy's, aquatic frog and loach.
its still a fairly new tank bout 2 1/2 wks old.
the nitrites are falling thankfully but i havent been able to test the ammonia or nitrates.
please give me some advice if you can
thanks
linzi

 

[Rosemary]

You shouldn't have the male and female betta in the same tank, unless there is a divider.

 

[linz85]

how come? what about breeding?
the lfs said i should have a male and female together to see if they will breed,
and they're fine together at the moment.

 

[Rosemary]

Even if you are breeding them on purpose, they don't live together all the time, and afterwards the female often needs to go into a hospital tank.

Breeding bettas is a huge responsibility, are you really ready for the hundreds of babies, tanks set up, a plan to find homes for them, etc.?

 

[linz85]

well i was just going along with what the lfs told me to do.
They are behaving good and they're not in each others way.
If it looks like im going to have trouble, then i'll seperate them.