White Puffball on Betta's gill?? Pictures and Video Included

[PetBettaFish]

I have a Betta fish, and he has a weird lump/puffball on his gill? I belong to a betta fish forum, but I was hoping for a second opinion. I'm new here, so I hope I'm posting this right... This is the info the betta forum asks for. Any advice is welcome and I appreciate it!

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 80 degrees F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Tetra BettaMin flakes, Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets, freeze dried blood worms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day Mon-Thur, once on Friday, none on Saturday, once on Sunday.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every 2 to 3 days
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API Stress Coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: I've never tested my water??
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White puffy substance on gill.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No behavior change yet
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not treating yet
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Had Ick two weeks ago
How old is your fish (approximately)? Bought him 3-4 weeks ago?

Normally I wouldn't post about such a minor thing, but since he had Ick recently, I'm a bit concerned. I took this video of him swimming around, I was wiggling my finger above his head to keep him in front of the camera

Any thoughts on what this white thing is??

View My Video

 

[Phrozian]

Hi there, welcome to the forums

First of all... From your post, I am a little concerned about how you change 100% of the water every 2-3 days... I don't think 100% change in water is a good idea, at most you should only do 50%...

Also, since you mentioned your fish had ich, how did you treat it?
So far, it's hard to tell, but a white fluffy appearance is consistent with fungal infection. It could be because of the injury left behind by the ich that became prone to fungal attack. Generally, I would use a small amount of salt to help kill the fungus, but you will have to check whether your betta can sustain it... I'm more of a goldie person ^^

 

[dkpate]

I agree with Phrozian. 100% water changes are no good. You risk killing all of your good bacteria that way. Better to change 25-50% of the water 2-3 times a week since it's a small tank.
It might be a fungus as a secondary infection from the ich. Like Phrozian said, how did you get rid of the ich? You can use salt with bettas, as long as you don't use it for more than 10 days. Salt for longer causes kidney failure in bettas. I recommend aquarium salt, and dissolve it before you put it in the tank. Use 1 tsp per gallon, but on the first day of dosing, only use half of that amount.
Also, stop feeding the flakes and the freeze dried. Stick to pellets, soaked for about 10 minutes before feeding and frozen bloodworms. Remeber that the bettas bellies are only as big as their eyes, so they don't need much food. I also feed my bettas boiled, shelled peas once a week to keep them from getting swim bladder issues.
I would also recommend a filter. You can get a little filter to go in there, or an under gravel filter. It keeps the water cleaner, and some bettas like to play in the stream. I have 2 split betta tanks, and each betta has their own filter.
In the video I noticed that he has some fin curling on his long front fins, and that can usually be cured with clean water after a while. Since he is pretty new to you, it is normal for them to have yucky fins for a while since they were in the little dishes for who knows how long.

 

[PetBettaFish]

His fins have uncurled a bit since I've had him, but they still are a little twisted :/ I actually thought his front fins grew longer they've uncurled so much! I also didn't know twisted fins were a bad thing?

To treat the Ick, I added aquarium salt, turned the heat up to 84 degrees, did 100% water changes everyday, and added Quick Cure for 3 days. I added the salt for a bit longer just to make sure I got rid of it.

Such frequent water changes are bad? I thought they were good since I don't have a filter. Do good bacteria build up without a filter?

 

[PetBettaFish]

I am also concerned about ammonia build up, all my plants are fake and I have no filter, so that's why I do such frequent water changes... Unless there is a better alternative to remove ammonia?

 

[Phrozian]

It's good to know that you take such care and interest in caring for your betta
Since you used Quick Cure, the medication most likely killed any good bacteria within your tank anyway. So the secondary fungal infection (most likely) could have been exacerbated by the sudden rise in ammonia levels.

To answer your question, frequent water changes are good, so long as they are staggered in ratio. For example, it is better to do 20% water change every second or third day, rather than a 50% dramatic change every week. That way, your betta won't become stressed because of the dramatic change in water chemistry, and it also allows your good bacteria in your tank a chance to grow.

If you don't have a filter, you will need to have some form of ornaments that may increase the surface area for good bacteria to colonize. Things like gravel and fake plants are good. If you are really considering not putting a filter in, I recommend a frequent, but small partial water change to keep the water 'aerated' and moving. However, a small filter is really all that is needed and they can be quite cheap, especially if you have a single betta and a relatively small tank.

For now, your tank is probably not going to be cycled, and so the best way to keep the ammonia levels down is to do frequent partial water changes. I suggest you to read a little bit about tank cycling to understand the relationship between fish waste (source of ammonia), fish health and bacteria growth. (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html)

Most importantly, as dkpate pointed out, the addition of salt will help if not cure your betta of fungal infection (assuming that it IS fungal). As dkpate said, adding salt may stress your bettas out and thus, you should pay special attention to the water quality to reduce other sources of stress. I suggest that you should buy a water testing kit if you don't already have one

Loving and caring for your fish is a steep learning curve, but it's definitely worth it! Keep up the good work, and keep us updated. We are more than happy to help

 

[PetBettaFish]

Thank you so much! I feel like a dummy for scrubbing all of the "slime" off my plants, rocks, and gravel every time I change the water... *facepalm* I'm assuming that's where my beneficial bacteria live? If so, I've been killing them all off Is it ok to rinse out the gravel? All of his poo and food get stuck down in there, and I always rinse it out.

I'm also not sure how I should do my water changing schedule since I'm a college student and I go home every weekend. I could do 20% water changes everyday during the week, but on the weekends I leave Victor in my dorm alone from Friday afternoon till Sunday evening.... Should I just do a 75-100% water change on Friday before I leave and small changes throughout the week?

I will start doing salt treatments, hopefully that will clear it up! Victor acted like he felt much better after I did the salt treatments with his Ick, hopefully he will perk up and be able to fight off that evil white lump!

Would it be best if I took him home this weekend? Unfortunately, I would have to dump all the tank water out for transport, but I took him home so I could treat him when he had Ick...

Once again, thanks for all of the great advice everyone!

 

[Phrozian]

Heya, looks like we caught each other online at the same time

Don't worry about feeling like a dummy, we've all been there (well, at least I have hahaha). It's generally okay to 'rinse' out the gravel, but not with a high flow rate of water. I generally would use a siphoning tube with a gravel vacuum attachment. The ultimate goal here is to remove too much excess poop that may cause ammonia spikes, but try not to disturb the bacteria within the gravel.

The water changing suggestion was kinda approximated. Since you are a college student and you need to return home every weekend, what you can do is to do small water changes like 20% every other day during the week. Then before you leave, you can do a water change of 50%. Then on the day you return, you do a 50% change again to clear up any muck that's left behind over the weekend. I generally would not recommend any partial water changes above 50%, at least not within the same day.
Bear in mind that this is only temporary until your bacteria cultures are restored. If you get a filter, and the nitrogen cycle is underway, you can even afford to change 30-40% of the water once a week.

Nevertheless, I think moving him could be too stressful for Victor (nice name ). It would probably exacerbate the problem further. Unlike Ick, fungal infections are easier to treat and they generally cause less grief. So I don't think moving him home is a good idea.

Again, keep up the good work and I'm sure Victor will be healthy and perky with an owner like yourself

 

[PetBettaFish]

Ok, so I've looked over Fish Cycling for Dummies, and I most likely have killed all of my good bacteria. I rinse the gravel and plants every 2 days with hot water, scrub the tank walls, and sometimes use vinegar to wash the tank out..... I thought killing bacteria was a good thing

Could this be what caused this weird lump to appear? Too much bad bacteria or a lack of good ones?

 

[PetBettaFish]

Yay, were online at the same time!

I'll change the water less until I get my good bacteria back... Do they make filters for 2.5 gallons? All of the filters I've seen are for 5 gallons or more

I won't take him home then, I wasn't sure if this was treated in the same way as Ick! And this is obviously something different...

 

[libbyb]

I love to see compassionate young people who are committed. I don't know much about bettas but it sounds like a fungus which is usually a secondary condition. My cory had a fungal growth at the base of his tail and I used Melafix which is teatree. It worked like a charm. I don't suggest this as I said I know little about bettas.
Fishkeeping has a huge learning curve. There are excellent websites and books out there on various topics. You could start a library with books on bettas and fish diseases. Good luck! And happy fishkeeping!

 

[PetBettaFish]

Thank you libbyb! I've become really attached to Victor in the short time I've had him, I want to give him the best care I possibly can

I think you can use Melafix on bettas, but you have to know exactly what your dealing with and it has to be getting kinda bad before you try it. At least, I think that's what I remember from reading. Not sure on that though! Anyways, I won't be using it!

 

[jeremyblevins]

A lot of people I've seen with nanos use these
Power Filter for Small & Desktop Aquariums: Azoo Palm Filter

 

[PetBettaFish]

Wow, that is a really great filter! Small and inexpensive, exactly what I need I'll have to see if I can get a hold of one! Thank you for the link!!

 

[libbyb]

I just know that teatree is all natural and melafix doesn't have any other ingredients. It's good for a lot of stuff not just fish! Teatree, that is. I agree, you shouldn't add anything until you know what you're dealing with. Work on your bacteria issues first, I think. There are many users here who are more than willing to help in every way. I hope you like this forum.

 

[Phrozian]

The weird lump is probably caused by very common fungus. The lack of good bacteria caused a rise in probably ammonia in the fish tank as they couldn't be mopped up. This rise in ammonia stresses out the fish, consequently, the stress lowers Victor's immune system. Once his immune system is lowered, any fungus or parasites that have been dormant/under control can now invade Victor's health.

Nevertheless, I had a 1 gallon tank before and I was able to find a filter. There are many types, and for a small tank like yours, you can probably go with a corner filter (The Aquarium Corner Filter), where you can load it with bio-filter wool. This wool is basically a very efficient 'home' for your good bacteria. All you need is a small air pump to go with it (check the site )

If you do decide to go with a corner filter, make sure you measure out the height of the corner filter versus the height of the tank. Sometimes large corner filters are not necessarily better. Basically you need to look for a corner filter that is at most half the height of your tank. Any taller and it will actually reduce the efficiency of water flow rate.

I would include a picture of my small-tank setup as a reference but my tank is at work If you still need more info, I can post up a small photo of my setup when I return to work on Monday

 

[Phrozian]

Just adding to Libbyb's excellent suggestion with Melafix, the teatree oil actually accelerates the healing process of fishes as teatree oil is a natural antiseptic as well as a relaxant for your fish. With that being said, it's generally not a good idea to have melafix ALL the time, only when your Victor is injured or ill

 

[PetBettaFish]

I like this forum a lot, it's very helpful I don't think my usual forum realized I might have a bacteria problem because they are used to dealing with bettas being in too dirty of water, not too clean! So thanks for figuring that out, this makes sense now!

I don't know if I'll have room for a corner filter, I have a rather bulky and awkward heater, but it gets the job done and it was cheap I really just need an over the side of the tank filter, otherwise two corners of my tank will be filled with electronics!

I would prefer not to get a filter, but I might need it if I can't get the bacteria/ammonia situation sorted out...

 

[PetBettaFish]

I heard Melafix was good stuff, but I've only seen it used on the bettas that were pretty bad off. I might pick up some if I see it just to keep in case of an emergency.... If I hadn't bought aquarium salt early, I couldn't have started Ick treatments as soon as I did! I'm glad I decided to grab some at Walmart

 

[PetBettaFish]

What exactly is Melafix generally used for anyways? Is it for fungus? If so, I might want to keep some on hand in my "emergency fish supplies"