Loose scale or fungal infection?

[Gigz]

Hi,

Two days ago, I noticed an odd "growth" under my baby betta Pearl's chin. I thought it might be a loose scale and fall off, but yesterday it hadn't.

I did a 100% water change last night and took this picture this morning. Do I need to go into concerned Mommy-mode or give it a few days?

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gal
What temperature is your tank? between 78-80
Does your tank have a filter? yes
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? frozen daphnia or live blood worms or freeze dried blood worms with the occasional smooshed pea
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 1x week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50-75%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? nutrafin betta plus, aquarium salt

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

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

n/a; 100% water change last night, didn't test before

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? growth under chin, hadn't noticed her sitting in S shape until the past two days (which I know relates to swim bladder; ugh!)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? staying near top more often, she usually swims around her whole tank
When did you start noticing the symptoms? two days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? water change, added aquarium salt yesterday after water change and today
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no, I've only had her two months after my other baby betta died
How old is your fish (approximately)? Probably less than a year, was being sold at PetCo as a "baby betta" and have had her for 2 months.

My last "baby betta" Cosmo was always sickly and I searched these forums to nurse him back to health for the many months we had him. Never posted before, but hoping I can catch this girl (we assume) before she gets too bad.

[Gigz]

Just took this picture after adding tonight's dose of aquarium salt. I don't know if it helps at all.

She's been very subdued today. She doesn't normally rest anywhere, especially if she sees we're looking at her, but she's resting on a leaf right now. It would be adorable if it was at all in her nature.

She's always clamped her fins when she swims, then opens them up when she hovers. Today, she's been clamping them more often.

[callistra]

Is the growth fuzzy? I can't really tell.

How long has this tank been set up with a fish in it? Cycling can take up to 2 months to complete, during which time you should be testing daily for ammonia, and nitrite and doing a 50% change any time you see any of either. Plus, you should do a 50% change with siphon (not just taking water off the top). Ammonia will spike first, then nitrite. Eventually ammonia will fall to zero, then nitrite. At this point a once weekly 50% with siphon change should keep nitrates <20ppm.

Bettas of this age are even more sensitive to ammonia so it is imperative to keep up on water changes this way.

Baby bettas also require better nutrition. Your betta's belly is sunken suggesting they are not getting fed well enough. S shaped spine is also a sign of malnutrition (among other things but in this case I believe it is a reflection of feeding). Daphina should not be fed as a staple. It is good as a laxative for bettas if you want to feed it once week. Peas should not be fed regularly either as hard on the digestive tract and serve no nutritional value. Personally, I would not feed them at all. Blood worms are like feeding candy and should only be fed one worm as a treat once a week as well. I suggest avoiding freeze dried anything but if you want to use them as a treat you can soften it by soaking 10 minutes in a cup of conditioned water before feeding. I suggest getting a good quality pellet like NLS Grow Forumla.

[Gigz]

Thanks for the info. Any idea on the growth?

She's been in the tank for a month. I cycled it with water from my other fish tank (we have two bettas) for the first month. I generally do my water changes with a gravel vaccuum, so the water is always getting taken from the bottom, then scooping some off the top as well. I've just been bad about testing chemistry this week and now am hating myself if it did something to her.

She ate too many live bloodworms last weekend, so the pea and daphnia were for that. Her stomach is either fully fed+ or sunken. I wish I could get it in between. Thanks for the food suggestion, the people at my local fish store (not petco) told me I was doing "better than most" with the live food when I asked about baby food, which obviously wasn't helpful.

[callistra]

Is the growth fuzzy? I can't really see much aside from something is there.

This is what I suggest: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...73&cagpspn=pla You can easily feed 10, split up into twice daily feedings.

Your betta will get a round belly after feeding. That's normal.

[Gigz]

It might be fuzzy. It's so small that I can't tell, but it doesn't look like a simple scale.

Just moved her for safety's sake to a leftover 1 gal tank since she was finding too many hiding spaces and not coming out to eat. Put a soaked Hikari tropical pellet in there along with a couple flakes. She's too upset about being moved to recognize any of it as food, so I'm going to monitor for an hour and take out anything she doesn't eat.

I'm going to try treating with some BettaFix I have, since I've read it doesn't hurt the fish as long as it's in a medical tank with 100% daily changes.

Now that you've mentioned food, I'm worrying she may not have been eating enough and I've hurt her immune system or something. Hoping she'll be more spritely in the morning. Thanks for the food suggestion!!