whitish puffy growth

[AlisonK]

Hi -

I have posted here before about my fish, this is the same issue but it has come back and looks horrible.

It started with a lump on his side that got bigger and bigger, and eventually after putting him in AQ salt, it burst, and slowly healed up.

Now, its come back again and growing. I put him in AQ salt again (2 tsp/gallon) for 10 days, but it didn't help this time. I finally went to petsmart and got maracyn 2, which I read was the most broad spectrum antibiotic, that might help an infection. I had him on that for 5 days. It did nothing.

Is there anything I can do to help him??? I don't want to medicate him again without advice, because I don't really know what it is, and how to treat it. Could this be a fungus?

His general behavior is normal, he's eating fine, and swimming about normally, comes up to my finger to inspect me.

I've been feeding spectrum betta pellets (2 or 3 twice a day) and every few days I give him a couple of thawed blood worms or brine shrimp.

He's in a 2.5 gallon tank, which I change 100% about every 5 days. I'm using Indian Almond Leaves steeped in all his water changes plus adding stress coat. (I also put in some RO mineral replacement, as I'm using Reverse Osmosis water).

[callistra]

Looks viral actually.

Can you share more info please: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

For the RO mix exactly how do you do it and what is the gh, kh and ph of the untreated, fresh treat buckets, and current water in tank.

[AlisonK]

Hi - The RO Right is made by Kent's. I mix 1/2 tsp per gallon into our RO water. It says on the container that it is supposed to replace dissolved solids and includes major salts - mg, k, ca and minor and trace minerals. The RO water I have tested for PH and it came out about neutral - 7. I have not had it tested for anything else. The reverse osmosis membrane takes out everything pretty much. (I will get a test kit from petsmart if you think his issue is due to the water - to test hardness and nitrates etc)

Our well water has pretty high levels of sulphur (eggy smell), which would not be good for the fish.


Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 76 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes - aqueon mini bow tank with filter
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? no (we live in FL)
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Spectrum betta pellets, blood worms and brine shrimp
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 - 3 pellets twice a day, blood worms or brine shrimp about 3x a week. one day a week fast.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? every 5 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? Indian almond leaves, stress coat, Kents RO Right

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Only tested Ph which was around 7.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH: 7
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Lump on side
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no change in behavior
When did you start noticing the symptoms? at least 8 - 9 months ago this started.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? 10 days with AQ salt, and 5 days with maracyn 2
Does your fish have any history of being ill? had some fin rot about 6 months ago, but that has cleared up with frequent 100% water changes.
How old is your fish (approximately)?we got him from petco in Nov 2011, so we have had him 15 months.

[callistra]

A couple things.. real RO water should be very acidic and have a gh and kh of 0. The neutral ph means it is leaving some things behind, but that's not necessarily bad. It does mean I would be using conditioner with it for sure though. The Stress coat covers this.

Definitely look into a gh and kh test kit. You may also need kh buffers because what you are doing only buffers gh, but maybe not with that water.

Do you have the powder or liquid form? 1/2 tsp powder treats 10 gallons of water for soft water, which I would be aiming for with a betta and because it's already got some things in it. In the liquid you need 1 tsp per 5 gallons up to 1 tsp per gallon but again the high end is for hard water, and yours doesn't start at zero to begin with. You should not be adding 1/2 tsp per gallon.. First step is to do a series of 50% water changes with the new dosage to adjust him to lower gh and ph.

76 is the absolute minimum to keep a betta and 78-80F is ideal. Also bowl temp will be several degrees below room temp, so unless you keep your room/house a constant (meaning to spikes or dips) 80F+ he still needs a heater. Right now in FL you guys are in the 50s, so it would seem a heater will still be needed unless you really keep your house so consistently hot.

I think for him I would look at boosting his immune system by using vitachem and/or garlic guard/fresh organic crushed garlic in his food.

[AlisonK]

Hi - I use the liquid RO Right, and it says that I should use 2 tsp per 5 gallons for betta fish. (so my 2.5 gallon tank, I'm using about half of that dose - 1 tsp. (I kind of eyeball it, as I don't think the tank actually holds a full 2.5 gallons with the betta log and plastic plant in there too.) So I use slightly less than 1 tsp.

Could you explain what kh is? I know gh is dissolved solids. Also, is there a test kit you would recommend? I'm always a bit overwhelmed in the fish isle in petsmart.

So you think I may not actually need the RO Right? I guess we should test to make sure if I have enough dissolved solids in there. I just assumed all R/O water is the same. I guess not.

[callistra]

I use API's gh/kh test kit. http://www.apifishcare.com/products/...x?productid=74

I wouldn't assume you don't need any, but I think you may need less. Your bottle gives different instructions from what I've seen. I would experiment in buckets or jugs with different dosage and test and try to get a reading of between 3-6gh and the kh should be at least 3 as well, so we'll see.

RO water should be the same, but it's not because different RO systems do better or worse job at actually removing the minerals. A perfect RO system will remove everything, but yours doesn't seem to be. Testing will make sure.

[AlisonK]

Thanks very much Callistra, I will go to petsmart this evening and get the test kit and Vitachem/garlic guard. Will a betta eat raw crushed garlic? I'll try that too.

So you don't think I need to try any more medication just yet?

[callistra]

Well you can crush fresh organic garlic and soak the pellets in the garlic juices/crushed garlic for 10minutes to get it to absorb the juices and feed that. Bettas LOVE garlic.

I wouldn't worry about meds. It looks viral and that can only be treated with good water and immune system boosters. It's not fuzzy right? Could also be a tumor. I'd say either that or the viral.

[AlisonK]

I wouldn't say it's fuzzy, more just white and puffy. Almost like it would burst open if you touched it.

Old fish lady also suggested it may be a tumor when this happened first, and that they can open, heal and come back periodically like this is doing. I just don't want it to become infected. What sort of virus could this be?

[callistra]

It looks like something called lymphocystis.