curious white spot on Shere Khan's fore head.

[Nikita]

i was gone all weekend, and when i came home my betta had a white spot on his head, i didn't notice it untill after i started to clean his tank (10g) he dosn't have any plants to scratch himself on, and the spot isn't furry or raised, his nitrate and nitrite levels are 0, ph 8.4, alkalinity 180, hardness between 75 and150, he has a fixed heater that stays at 76 and78, he is the only betta i have, he's been in the tank for a week, no filter, i have a low power bubbler that you can hardly tell is on, his light is my bathroom light, and i'm still training my mom and her boyfreind to leave it on during the day, he also hasn't eaten in the last weak, i have been giving him wardley betta food, the ball stuff not flakes, i got him to eat 1 tetra blood worm, but he hasn't eaten them scince, he's acting normal, he just made a new bubble nest, but i'm worried he's hurt, i read somewhere in this forum that epsom salt is used to treat sick fish and i have some on hand, should i use it?

[JamieTron]

Could you post a photo of the spot perhaps?

[Nikita]

here goes, i think it may just be that he rubbed his scales off of his face. sorry i only have the camera on my cell phone.

[JamieTron]

Hrmmm it could be have rubbed off some scales. If he did rub them off deep enough it would look like a fleshy pinkish white color. Also raw looking. I would suggest salt bath using aquarium salt to prevent infection in the site of the injury. Also keep his water very clean to prevent infection as well.

However, if it is white white in color and spreads it could be a bacterial infection...such as columnaris. The photo is hard to see though, so it's hard to say

I would say to give a few salt baths anyway because it can help in either situation. If it is skin damage from a tank injury it should heal up nice a fast. I would salt bath once or twice a day for 5 minutes at a time. Salt directly in the tank can be too stressful for their osmoregulation.

Keep an eye on this spot, also keep us posted on the progress to help better assess the information.

[Nikita]

he's fine now, the spot went away and he looks ok, he's swimming happily in his tank, now in my room, and he will be getting a filter soon.