# Betta fish with white lump on tail



## Madgech (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi,

For a few months now my betta fish has had a small white lump at the end of his tail fin. It's irregularly shaped and there are no signs of others.

It doesn't seem to have affected him too much but it may have gotten slightly bigger and we're worried about him. He's behaving more or less normally - maybe a little most sluggish than usual but hard to tell, he still swims around very happily.

He has been eating a lot of the algae wafers we have for the catfish we've got with him, and he gets bloated afterwards so we've been trying to keep him away from the catfish's food and feed the catfish peas, beans, etc which the betta fish does not eat. 
*
1. Size of tank?* 8L

*2. Water parameters*
a. Ammonia? (??)
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate? 0
d. pH, KH and GH? (??)
e. Test kit? Just a nitrate/nitrite test kit

3. *Temperature?* 26 degrees

*4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? * FW
*
5. How long the aquarium has been set up?* About 4 months

*6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?*
Betta fish - had for about 18 months, 1.5 inches
Bristlenose catfish - had about 3 months, about 1 inch long.

*7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?*
No they were not 
*
8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? *Have had an assortment of various live plants, which kept on dying. Have had fake plants before but not now.
*b. Sand, gravel, barebottom?* Aquarium gravel
*c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? *Have some rocks and a piece of mallee root.

*9. a. Filtration?* carbon/bioballs/sponge
*b. Heater?* 25W
*
10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used?* THe light that's in the tank, they're LEDs, not quite sure the details. Usually turned off at night.
*b. Any sunlight exposure? How long?* Not very much, blinds are normally closed and window doesn't face much sun

*11. a. Water change schedule?* Once a week
*b. Volume of water changed?* 2L
*c. Well water, tap water, RO water?* Tap water, dechlorinated of course.
*d. Water conditioner used?* Don't remember the brand, but I can look it up if it matters.
*e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed?* About once a week, but never thoroughly - we just fiddle around with it with the siphon.

*12. Foods? *Hikari betta pellets
* How often are they fed?* 2-3 pellets a day, down from 4 which we were feeding him the first year of life. Skip one or two days a week.

The bristlenose catfish is fed algae wafers about once a week, and peas every so often.
*
13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?* Just the lump
*b. Appearance of poop?* I saw him poop the other day and it was kind of a browny green - same colour as the algae wafers he likes stealing from the bristlenose.
*c. Appearance of gills?* Normal

*14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? *Nope.
* b. What meds were used?*
*
15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary*
Here are the photos. It was hard to get one where the lump was easy to see. 
http://i.imgur.com/mKUFW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Erd6t.jpg


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum.....I can't really tell much by the pic...but look up Lymphocystis and see if that looks like what you are seeing on your Betta...

Keep us posted....


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## Madgech (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks for the reply - form the description of the disease it seems like you could be right, it's white and looks a lot like cauliflower. However, he has had this growth at least a couple of months and no signs of other growths - also according to one website they are mostly common on the sides of the fish whereas this one is actually on the tip of his tail. Sorry about the quality of the photos, it is very difficult to take them =/.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

From my understanding it is seen more in the fins and mouth.....anyway....since it is viral- not a lot you can do as far as treatment and generally it is not fatal unless it is in areas that impede swimming, eating...etc.....


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## Madgech (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks for that - very comforting! We were worried it was cancer or something that would hurt him.

Is the bristlenose in danger? My sparse readings seem to indicate that catfish are somehow immune but I'm not sure if that makes any sense.

Also, a website recommended putting weekly doses of an antibacterial medicine in the water to prevent further infections popping up - do you think that's a good idea?

Thankyou so much for answering all our questions


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

From my understanding this is viral and nothing can be done and sometimes it will resolve on it own and fall off....the BN could possible get it if it fell off and it ingested a cyst, however, I want to say catfish can't get it...but not 100% on that....but to be safe maintain water quality, proper housing and good nutrition for a strong immune response.....

This is an 8 liter tank correct or 2gal.....that is not big enough for any other fish along with the Betta and its just a matter of time before the BN health is compromised...the smallest tank IMO that BN should be kept in is 20gal...they can get 5-6 inches and 2 gal...you can't meet their needs.......


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## Madgech (Jun 12, 2011)

Yeah, it's 2 gallon. The BN is tiny at the moment and we have plans that when he gets to be two inches long or so to move him into a larger tank. A guy at a pet shop we went to yesterday (for filter media) insisted we should give him some anti fungal treatment and put the temperature up to about 29 - I think he assumed we had ich. We ended up buying the anti fungal treatment =/


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

The problem with waiting until the BN is 2 inches is that he may never get there and most likely will die before then since at 2 months of age he should already be over 2 inches......

You should nearly always stock based on adult size of the fish not current size......a 10gal tank may work short term but not 2 gal IMO/E.....for this species of fish.....

Be careful adding products to the tank as pleco can be sensitive to some.......


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