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Ok, female betta, got her over a month ago, and saw no problems til 3 days ago. 3 Days Ago she started developing a small bump on her right side, just behind the gills. Today it was about 1 cm in diameter, with the scales raised on the lump. The lump was about 7-8 mm raised off of her regular body. Her left side had nothing wrong with it. Today, I got home, and she is missing a huge chunk out of her right side, right where the lump was. The hole is about 7 mm deep, and all red and white. I have already quarantined her to a tank with Salt, Melafix, and Pimafix. When I added her to the tank, after netting her out, she started to bleed a bit, but it has stopped now, I think the net just irritated it a bit. Anyway, she is still swimming and breathing normally, very active. However she does tilt on her right side whenever she takes a berak to stop swimming. She is a fighter, but I dont know how long she can live with a hole this large on her side. What Do I Do!?

You have done everything right for a first step. The salt is critical as they can easily go into osmotic shock with any opening in the skin, much less something like a burst abscess.

You can continue with the melafix and pimafix, but I'll be honest. If that were my fish and it had something of that nature, I'd be hitting it up with heavier antibiotic. Such abscesses, if that's what it was, can lead to an internal infection really fast. Now, if you can get your hands on the new Jungle Anti-Bacteria Medicated Food (most likley found at Petsmart, but now at other stores), I'd crush the tablets to betta bite size and feed that exclusively for 7-10 days. That, with pimafix and melafix should help.

Other possibilities are some type of parasite that emerged, but my money is on an abscess that burst. I would be dosing melafix and pimafix in your main tank as an antiseptic. WAtch other fish carefully.

Ok, thanks for the fast reply. I'm editing this because right after I finished typing it I saw her go down right in front of my eyes. I hate it when I actually watch a fish die. She just did a nose dive straight down. I'm tihnking of just observing the dead fish for a day or 2 to see if anything else occurs in the body like something else breaking out. I'm also keeping an eye on the other fish in the tank. She came from my community tank, a 46 gallon. The tank is stocked with 25 tetras, a tiger pleco, and another female betta. All of these fish seem to be in perfect condition. No bulging, no white/clear/stringy feces, no color changes, no emaciation, really nothing wrong as far as I can see. But none the less I will watch. Also, one of my tetras has been huge since the day I got it, over a month ago. it is the same length and height as my other tetras of the same species, but is almost 4 times as thick. It is actually the thickest tetra I have ever seen in my life. It has been swimming fine though, and all of its scales are normally arranged, so I'm not all that concerned about it right now.

Last edited by CoasterCarl999 at 19-Mar-2005 19:11

It is unbelievable what kind of bacteria can get into the water column from such an abscess. I'm concerned that other fish in your tank may get sick. Just keep them stress free and if you can, dose with melafix/pimafix to kill off what may be floating around.

If any fish has so much as a microscopic knick, it could get infected. But, I'm more concerned with fish getting hidden internal infections that will have them dropping off in the coming weeks. Should that begin happening, your best bet is to get the tank eating antibacterial food or give it a round of Furacyn, which is safe for scaleless fish at full strength. I found it to not be too hard on the filter either. Otherwise, you'll find some of the same ingredients in Fungus Clear Tank buddies.

If you can't find the medicated food, and since the betta is alone, try to find BettaMax. Otherwise look for Furan-2, Furacyn or Fungus Clear. The nitrofurans are better absorbed by the blood stream and are best at fighting ulcers.

There is a new product call "Band-Aid" by hikari. You catch the fish and dab it on and it forms a barrier. If you can find it and are brave enough.

I'm guessing you replied before I edited the topic. Anyway, the betta is dead, and I will probably pick up some of that medicated food at my LFS tomorrow and begin feeding it immediately. As for the rest of the fish, they look fine now, so I'm hoping that nothing happens, but with all of the fish using the same water, well, who knows what could happen. Especially since I still can't seem to find the large chunk of flesh my betta is missing... The chunk broke off inside the water, so if it was bacterial, it has leeked everywhere by now.

This is why you need to watch your fish. If you see them getting sick in the next 7-10 days or even longer, start feeding the tank medicated food. They won't necessarily show the same symptoms and may not have any ulcer at all. Such bacteria can get into the bloodstream.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 19-Mar-2005 20:17