My betta has a bulge

[chelsey07]

Over the Past couple of weeks my beta has developed a bulge just below his head. It is a crowntail and I bought him at the pet store about 4 months ago. I have him in the same setup I have used on my past two betas with out any issues. I change the water once a week.

1. Size of aquarium: 1.5 gallon glass bowl
2. Is your aquarium setup freshwater or brackish water: Fresh water
3. How long the aquarium has been set up: Four months with the new fish, 4 years all together
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium: one male crowntail beta
5. Are there live plants in the aquarium: no
6. What temperature is the tank water currently: room temp, no heater but house temp is normally around 80 degrees
7. What make/model filter are you using: no filter
8. Are you using a CO2 unit: no
9. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day: yes in the late afternoon/early evening
10. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed: complete water change last week
11. How often do you perform water changes: once a week
12. How often and what foods do you feed your fish: pellets
13. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on: natural lighting
14. What specific concerns bring you here at this time: my beta has developed a bulge just below his head, he is a blue beta and the bulge is a white color. It doesn't seem to affect his swimming.
15. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate: have never tested the water but will get a liquid test kit.
16. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips: n/a
17. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank: Before this fish I had a beta that lasted almost three years, never acted sick until the day before it died.

[Rain Drop]

Holy cow D8
That looks like a tumor.
It looks way too big too me to just be constipation....
With tumors, there`s nothing you can really do. By the way, you might want to be doing water changes twice a week with a tank that small.

[kelly528]

Originally Posted by Rain Drop

Holy cow D8
That looks like a tumor.
It looks way too big too me to just be constipation....
With tumors, there`s nothing you can really do. By the way, you might want to be doing water changes twice a week with a tank that small.

I would have to say bloat. I have seen bloat that bad in bettas. Hold off on food and feed him some thawed frozen pea to clear it up. How much are you feeding him and what foods do you feed?

[ChristinaRoss]

poor thing, hope he gets well soon!

[AlexXx]

DANG! looks like youve been over feeding! Fast him for a few days, see if that helps!

[dr2b]

Don't feed him peas... they are bad for bettas. Instead, feed him frozen daphnia. It is better for bettas, and acts as a laxative. But I don't think that's bloating...that looks tumor like.

[dramaqueen]

It looks like a tumor to me, too.

[kelly528]

I say treat him for constipation because tumors are pretty much terminal. You may be darned if you do, and you are definitely darned if you don't.

[Synthisis]

Originally Posted by kelly528

I would have to say bloat. I have seen bloat that bad in bettas. Hold off on food and feed him some thawed frozen pea to clear it up. How much are you feeding him and what foods do you feed?

Betta's are NOT herbivores. They cant even eat the stuff.

Go pickup some Daphnia and try feeding it that, then nothing for the rest of the week.

However, that looks more like a tumor... Bloat comes and goes getting worse before staying...

[kelly528]

[quote=Synthisis;253997]Betta's are NOT herbivores. They cant even eat the stuff.[quote]
It certainly isn't advisable to feed your betta pea any more frequently than once a week (if that, even!), but we can't forget that all wild carnivores get their veggies from the stomach contents of their prey. Daphnia is a good alternative to peas but is not available everywhere and is not accepted by all bettas because of its small size.