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I was hoping that someone here might be able to help out.

I have a Betta that is sick. The right side of its head is swollen along the jaw bone and in the middle of the swollen area there is a white legion that looks almost like a large pimple.

The betta has shown no signs of illness before and I have had him at least 6 months.

The only things that have changed is that I started using Excel for the plants. I also missed a weekly water change over the holidays as I was traveling but I changed the water the other day when we got back. The other fish are gold tetras and they are not showing any signs of illness.

Any Ideas?


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

A piccie of the fish would be handy here, as it is , an abcess is likely, try antibiotic/antibacterial meds and see if the fish picks up.

OK I tried to get a picture of the betta tonight. My camera is that good so I could not get a real clear one. Here is what I got.

Attached Image:

Picture 1

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

And the second shot.

Attached Image:

Picture 2

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Its very hard to tell from the pictures whats
going on.
The mention of it looking like a pimple
strongly suggests an antibacterial is needed.
My drug of choice would be Furan 2 coupled
with aquarium salt, and 50% water changes daily
with re-addition of 50% of meds and salt.
Any gram negative antibiotic should work,
popular ones are Maracyn 2, Furan 2, Jungle Fungus Eliminator (not fungus clear), and Triple Sulfa.


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Thanks Sneaky.

I had waited this week to see if the water change and his immune system would be able to heal itself.

He is still swimming and eating fine but the swollen side of his face and the white spot are still there. Our PetSmart sells Maracyn 2. I may try that today.



Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Betta Update.

I started treating the tank with Marcyn 2 tablets on Jan 07. The symptoms are still there and the Betta is still swimming and eating normally.

The only thing new that I have noticed is that the white spot on his face looks like it is has small fibers coming out of it. Think a stuffed animal with a hole and a little bit of the cotton sticking out.

They Marycn 2 will run through Saturday so we will see what happens.

Thanks


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Fibers? That sounds like a "furry" fungus. I brought a betta back from the brink of death from Dropsy. How I made that happen was I didn't follow the directions on the pack. Double the dose. If you have him in a five gallon, put one whole tab/pill of maracyn 2 in there. If you have a 10g, put One whole and a half of a tab in there. Also, While I think pimafix is a weak med, i found my betta liked to swim around in it, like it was comforting. So, you may want to try that was well.

When my betta had dropsy in a 5 gallon, I made a cocktail of meds. I put 1 tab daily of maracyn 2, one tab daily of Maracyn, and half a cap full of pimafix every three days.Also, be sure to do partial change of water every three days. Say before you would add the pimafix again.

I did that until he started to eat again. It worked, and 5 months later, he's building himself an impressive bubble nest right now.

keep the drugs up to it.

I've had that, it has never ended well. The one time I managed to get on top of it was with strong antibiotics.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Well he has shown his first sign of improvement. The swelling in his face had gone down. However the white fungus looking stuff is still there.

I'm guessing the swelling was a secondary bacterial infection where the fungus was.

The only thing I can think at this point is to start a fungal treatment. Any good suggestions on meds? The last day of the antibiotic is tomorrow so I will probably pick some soon.

Callatya - I sure will. He is my son's favorite fish so I'm trying hard to cure him.

Pammy - There are other fish in this tank. That is why I did not hit it with a lot at first. I hope I am not stressing them to much already, as I do not have an available Q Tank. (I should know better to.)

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

It may be worth waiting a day and redoing the Maracyn 2 treatment if he's responding well.

Pimafix can be dosed with other medications and would be my choice for true fungus.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

So far, so good. I checked him yesterday before the water change and the swelling is all but gone and he had started working on a bubble nest again so he is feeling better. The fungus is still there though.

I agreed with Callatya so I started another round of the Maracyn 2. I also started using MarOxi (Mardel Labs version of Pimafix) since Pimafix wasn't available at my local PetSmart. Hopefully the antibiotic plus true fungus medicine will heal him up.

In the meantime I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the advice so far.




Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Good news!

The combination of the Maracyn2 and the MarOxy seems to have worked. The white fungus growth on the Betta's face is gone. There is a little lump there that kind of looks like a scar. The Betta is still working on his bubble nest so he seems to be OK.

I'm going to finish out the medications and change the water this weekend. Thanks for the help everyone!
/:'

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums