Parasite confirmation and ID

[tsaraber]

Hi all...

Got yet another Betta question for ya, this time involving parasites. Well we assume they were parasites anyway but we have no idea what type so here's the info.

Last week we noticed that our male Betta had little white dots on his head, just maybe 2 or 3 of them. Of course we first thought of Ick, but these dots seemed to be coming from underneath his scales because the scales were pushed up in those spots. That's all they were was dots, we never saw an actual worm or anything like that.

We treated him with Jungle Parasite Clear and they seem to have gone away, and his head looks a little bumpy now, which I think I read was a sign of parasites. I should probably mention that he never showed any other symptoms that are commonly associated with parasites. No gasping or flashing or anything like that. He was perfectly normal other than those dots.

We're thrilled that he's looking better but we were curious if anyone had any idea what type of parasite this is / could have been. If it's anchor worms we need to do another treatment, but I don't think it was anchor worms since we never seen anything actually hanging from him. For all we know it wasn't even a parasite to begin with and we just lucked out that the meds worked and didn't make him even worse.

Thanks in advance for your time!!

[Devilishturtles]

Are the scales still raised in those spots now? If so, could be something bacterial.

Other than that, I have no idea. Glad the meds worked out.

[tsaraber]

Nope, scales aren't raised anymore. It sort of seems like there are small dents now where the scales were raised before but it's hard to tell really, he doesn't stay still long enough for us to get a good look. lol

[tsaraber]

Just noticed at feeding time that two spots have shown back up. Last treatment was on Tuesday. The scales don't seem to be raised near these spots this time.

[An t-iasg]

It may have been ich. Have you seen the ich article? You can look at the pics and decide if that's what the spots looked like. Most people here treat ich with raised temperatures for a while (the article says how long) and that takes care of it. What size tank is the betta in, and do you have a heater that you can turn up for a while? Whatever treatment you use, heat or meds, it's recommended that you treat for three days after you see the last spot. This is because the ich parasite may still be in the water, where you can't see it. You can only see it in the stage in which it lives on the fish, in the cyst. The article gives the correct names for each stage of the ich life cycle (I don't have them memorized!)

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showqu...q=2&fldAuto=32

[tsaraber]

He's in a 10 gallon tank with two otto cats. And yes there is a heater - the temp during the summer so far has been staying at roughly 80 or 82 without the use of the heater since out house is so hot.

I had actually run into the ich article because I think that's what's wrong with my dad's clown loaches so I pointed it out to him. But I get the feeling that's not what's going on with our betta because the spots aren't constant. The two I mentioned that popped up last night are nearly gone today again. And he has yet to get any spots anywhere other than his head.

I guess I'm starting to lean towards a bacterial infection of some sort but I don't think I want to try medicating him for any of that until we know for sure what it is.

A little more info, we bought him from a fairly decent store - he was still in a tiny bowl but it was a clean bowl and a lot bigger than the ones you'd normally find at the local Pet Supplies Plus. We've had him for about a month or so and the tank that he's in was already cycled when we put him in there (the otto cats have been in there for quite a few months already). The water is in great shape, no ammonia, nitrites, there isn't even any nitrates in there unless we did the test wrong.

[Devilishturtles]

I'm still a tad stumped.

You really should keep the heater running, even though it is in the summer, those temps do drop at night time. This could be stressing poor Mr. Betta out a bit. And honestly, could be your problem, general stress.

When fish stress, it weakens their immune system, makes them lose some protective slime coating, etc. This allows the bacteria and ich that is present in your water, to move in and infect.

Other than that, I have no idea. It still sounds like ich to me.. Sorry I can't me of more help.

[tsaraber]

Thanks so much for your efforts.

The heater is still plugged in but the temp is set at 76 so it doesn't kick on much.

Do fish get pimples? He's also got a spot on his chin - started out looking kind of red but now it looks like it's turning white, or there's something white coming from the center of it.

He still acts perfectly fine though otherwise. Guess we'll just keep an eye on him and see what happens. Maybe turn up the heat just in case it is ick. That's a little less invasive than dumping more meds in there and I know Betta's don't mind the higher temps.

Thanks again.

[An t-iasg]

I would keep your temperature at 80 degrees for the betta, if the otos can take it. I agree with Devilishturtles. The low temps can cause stress, and then disease or parasites can move in.

I still think it could be ich too -- at least, don't rule it out yet. I've read posts on here that people say the fish only have a spot or two that come and go. After reading the ich article, you can see how the ich life cycle works, and you could possibly have a period where you don't see spots, but then they can come back.

The "pimple" could be some sort of bacterial infection, or it could be related to stress too. Just keep an eye on him for now, and consider turning the heater up!

[tsaraber]

The temp right now is at just slightly over 81. I will keep an eye on it and turn up the heater accordingly to keep it at 80. Will keep an eye on the Betta too. Tonight it looks like the two spots on top are gone but he's still got the redish spot on his chin.

Thanks again.

[Devilishturtles]

Good luck tsaraber. Try the heat, but remember to adjust slowly. If you see them starting to come back in more plentiful supply, try some meds. The heat and salt method works wonders for ich. Perhaps, you might want to pick up some Stress Coat too. Please keep us updated on Mr. Betta.

[tsaraber]

Thought I'd drop in for a quick update.

We've got the heat turned up to 80 - unfortunately with the lights on all day the temp increases a degree or two - fluorescent lights too

The little white dots just kept coming and going, but they don't seem like Ick to me. All of the photos I've seen the Ick spots are all ON the fish whereas in our case they seem to be coming from under the scales. But we're still watching him for it just in case. The red dot on his chin really had me concerned so yesterday we started him on a round of Kanacyn.

Today all the white dots are completely gone, the red dot is still there but as before, he's perfectly normal otherwise. He's very active and eats well.

In an attempt to keep any of this from happening to our other Betta (he's housed in his own 5 gallon hex tank) we've been trying to stabelize his heat as well. Yesterday didn't go well at ALL. It was really warm here and I had turned on our house AC and when I checked his tank temp later that night his temp was down to 76. I thought I saw Ick starting to show up on him but today he seems fine. But like you say, it can come and go so I will definately have to keep an eye on him as well.

I HATE these heaters and I really hate trying to deal with these small tanks. We never have these kinds of problems in our big tank. If someone ever managed to breed male Bettas that didn't fight to the death, now THAT would be the greatest.

[tsaraber]

Another update. The red bump on our Betta's chin has really started to improve. There are no more white bumps at all. We treated him with two rounds of kanacyn and it really seemed to do the trick.