[toryani]

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 10
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What temperature is your tank? 81
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? Yes, two nerite snails

Food:
What food brand do you use? Tetra bettamin
Do you feed flakes or pellets? pellets
Freeze-dried? Yes
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? 4 pellets twice daily

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of water did you change? 30%
What is the source of your water? tap
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? vaccuum
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? Seac api conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia:na
Nitrite: na
Nitrate: na
pH: na
Hardness (GH): na
Alkalinity (KH): na

(my snails and fish are both moved out of tank for now as i am cleaning the entire tank. I’ve had a bad bout of Cyanobacteria that i CANTget rid of no matter what so they’re chilling in separate spaces getting water changed everyday)

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Two weeks ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Large dark lump on side, red marks (wounds maybe?) on face
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? He still tries to swim around the tank, i think he wants to be active but can’t. When he tries to swim up he just sinks onto his side.
Is your Betta still eating? Yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Removed him from tank and put him in a seperate container by himself, doing daily 100% water changes and using both seachem stress guard and api water conditioner. I tried kanaplex in case it was a bacterial infection, but did not help.
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? No
How long have you owned your Betta? Approx 2 years
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? No

My betta is a platinum betta so it’s hard for me to tell what things could be since he does not have color to lighten and mute. He randomly got a lump and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger, it’s dark and it prevents him from being able to swim up to the surface. I put him in a container (it’s all i had i dont clip the lid on just set it on top to keep water from evaporating too quickly and to keep the heat in) that’s less than a gallon and i change the water daily and add new conditioner + stress guard. He is pooping, but not eating much so it’s not constipation which worries me. The lump isn’t getting any better and he’s been in the container for about a week now. He doesn’t seem to be giving up on life but i don’t know how long he will live like this and i really don’t want him to die. Both him and my snails are out of the main tank as i am completely changing it trying to fight cyano bacteria that won’t go away. I had plants but had to get rid of them since they were dying and i think the plants were part of the problem. I am also putting in completely new substrate. (If anyone has tips to fight Cyanobacteria I’d seriously appreciate them.) Anyways, he still swims around in his container and moves positions quite a lot throughout the day, he swims to the top to get air then just sinks back down again. He does look at me so he’s alert. His fins aren’t clamped either. If anyone knows what this is and how to treat it PLEASE let me know. I am also willing to send him to someone if i really need to if it’s a treatment i wont be able to handle. Thank you so much!

 

[toryani]

Update: he’s not getting any better, i really need help ):

 

[EDRVT]

Oh it's been a week and no replies. How is your boy? I hope someone sees this and can help.
@BettaloverSara?

 

[toryani]

Oh it's been a week and no replies. How is your boy? I hope someone sees this and can help.
@BettaloverSara?

He’s good he eats well and tries to swim. He definitely isn’t showing signs of dying but that lump isn’t changing at all and i don’t know if something happened to him that’s going to be permanent or what.

 

[toryani]

He’s good he eats well and tries to swim. He definitely isn’t showing signs of dying but that lump isn’t changing at all and i don’t know if something happened to him that’s going to be permanent or what.

Also he is pooping whenever i feed him he poops, I’ve been able to keep track since he’s in a seperate container do you think i should just move him back into his tank? At this point i don’t want to keep him trapped in that small container but i also don’t want him to not be able to reach the surface. However my filter requires a certain water level to run so i cant have the water very low in his tank or else i cant run the filter. So any tips would be helpful

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Can't help you with the lump other than to say it could be a tumor.

You can move him back into his tank. Betta are facultative breathers and only use their labyrinth organ in emergencies. As long as the water is well-oxygenated Betta don't need to surface to breathe.

We often see reddish pigment in platinum Betta so that wouldn't concern me.

 

[BettaloverSara]

My guess would also be an internal tumor but I'm not really sure.

 

[toryani]

Can't help you with the lump other than to say it could be a tumor.

You can move him back into his tank. Betta are facultative breathers and only use their labyrinth organ in emergencies. As long as the water is well-oxygenated Betta don't need to surface to breathe.

We often see reddish pigment in platinum Betta so that wouldn't concern me.

It only took like 4 days to meet the size it is now, is it really possible for a tumor to grow that fast? And would it effect his bouyancy?

 

[Newbie-]

It only took like 4 days to meet the size it is now, is it really possible for a tumor to grow that fast? And would it effect his bouyancy?

It depends on what type of tumor and if it’s pushing on his swim bladder it can and will throw off his buoyancy it can also weigh him down if large enough and depending on why and what type yes tumor to grow that quickly especially if there is a hormonal imbalance(I know this is true at least In people and other mammals as well as some fish and giant betta)