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Hi,

So I went to feed my betta Rupert this morning and discovered that he has a white bump on his gill, which also seems to be a little flared. It seems too large to be ich, and it's the only bump he has. In my alarm I did a 40% water change this morning and dosed some melafix as my best guess at the time was it was a bacterial infection that didn't look fuzzy.

It is a 2.5 gallon hex. Normally I do ~40% changes biweekly but I was thinking of moving to one larger water change weekly because I didn't know if the biweekly changes were inducing too much stress. Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

Also, there is sediment buildup in that I am assuming came from the tap water I was using to do the changes (water was a little opaque when I put it in the aquarium, and at the time I incorrectly assumed it was from off-gassing from using API Tap Water Conditioner. I have discovered this is only from my bathroom faucet and will be using the kitchen sink henceforth.

Water Params:

2.5 gallons, room temp as I haven't been able to find a small enough heater. (68 deg. F) Tank has been running since September and was cycled before I put Rupert in around October.

pH 6.8
Ammonia slightly ~0? (It looks close to but not exactly zero. I'm a little confused as nitrites are 0)
Nitrites ~0
Nitrates ~5ppm

Pardon the water spots on the glass. He hides at the back of the tank whenever I whip out the camera.

Attached Image:

Oh! Almost forgot! He is the only one in the tank with some strands of Anachris.

Update: Well, after putting him in the little kritter keeper to do a gravel rinse I was able to get a better look at it. Seems that he's scraped himself against something in the tank and got a cut. The white thing is some scales/dead skin that didn't fully detach. That's a bit of a relief.

I've removed the suspected rock and will continue dosing with melafix to prevent infection.

I wasn't sure what it could be, but glad to hear that it's turning out okay.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Plasmax

At least you know it is not a major concern.

Have a good look around your tank to see if you can find any sharp objects so that it does not happen again.

With your water change I would change about 30% twice a week reason being Rupert is in a small tank.

I do a 30% twice weekly for my 45Lt cardinal and CRS tank.

Keith

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