# Betta has white spot on his head



## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

Here is a video that displays what is on him. It only focuses on his briefly and then my camera goes nuts but you can clearly see the texture, size and color.

It started off smaller and not as white. I did water changes and I use prime. Water parameters are normal except Nitrate which is a little high around 15/18ppm. I'm going to do another water change to drop it down to 10ppm and another one tomorrow to get it around the normal 5ppm.

Does anyone have any idea what this is. It doesn't look like Ich....as far as I know. Possibly fungus? 

Please let me know if you can think of anything or possible treatment. All the help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!!


----------



## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Oh no! Cornelius! I'm so sad to hear he's sick! I wish I knew what to tell you, Termie... hopefully someone will be along soon who knows more and can help. *worries*


----------



## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

Chesh said:


> Oh no! Cornelius! I'm so sad to hear he's sick! I wish I knew what to tell you, Termie... hopefully someone will be along soon who knows more and can help. *worries*


Thanks Chesh! I've been keeping an eye on him and trying to keep the water as clean as possible but it just didn't go away and it's to the point where I couldn't tell what it was and I started worrying.


----------



## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

I know I've never seen anything like it, but I haven't seen much. . . Sent a few messages around - hopefully someone will be by who has. Poor guy! You've had him for nearly two years now, right? Love that lil' guy! Hope he's okay!


----------



## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Oh dear~ is he behaving any differently? D: getting bigger is definitely not a good sign. Heres a silly question, but could they be bubbles? >.<


----------



## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

aokashi said:


> Oh dear~ is he behaving any differently? D: getting bigger is definitely not a good sign. Heres a silly question, but could they be bubbles? >.<


He has not been acting any differently. Eats just the same and gets excited when he gets attention from people.

At first they kind of looked like bubbles because it was clear. Now it's more filled white on the inside. The one on top of his head looks bigger and whiter too. I'm not really sure.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hey Termato, Chesh asked me to take a look at your thread. The spots look raised to me, correct? And his behavior is perfectly normal?

Classic lymphocystis presentation. Google image it and see if the white spots match up (too many good images to paste here). 

Lymphocystis is a virus that is contagious and is also non-treatable. It causes cauliflower-like growths on the fins and body. The quantity and severity of the growths depends on the fish's immune system. Some fish who are under severe stress (like newly imported fish, especially wild-caught) can develop a lot of cysts. Others develop one or two and no more.

Now while lympho is non-treatable, the good news is that is is rarely fatal. As long as the fish is kept in good conditions, it is usually able to mount a defense and the virus disappears on its own after a few months. The only dangers are if the cysts burst and become infected or if the cysts grow to a point that they interfere with the fish's ability to eat or breathe. So far, it doesn't look like a problem on your boy. 

If you have other fish, try not to cross-contaminate. Other than that, keep the water clean (which I know you do) and add aquarium salt or perhaps meth blue if one of the cysts bursts.

Good luck and keep us updated.


----------



## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Thank you, Meg! 
I'm SO relieved to hear it's something benign! Cornelius is such a good old boy, and Termie takes such good care of him. . . Please do keep us updated on how he's doing, Term. 

Just because I'm curious - doesn't this illness only affect certain types of fish? I've looked into it before - back when my JellyBean Tetra had a speck (wasn't this), and found all kinds of random and inconsistent information in internet land. . .


----------



## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

Thank you so much Sakura!!!

Yes, the bumps are raised. The pictures on Google look a lot more severe but the smaller less intense ones do look quite close to what he has. I noticed the front one was starting to become an irregular shape bu has gone back to a bubble. They have already gone down a little bit but not by much. I can't keep an eye on him over the weekend because he lives at the office so I left him with food and clean water for the 2 days he will be alone.

Btw, he is alone in his 5 gallon tank with lots of plants and cover!

He ate twice today. I felt he needed the extra treat (and he ate every last spec). I will keep you all updated and post a picture of him when I go in on Monday!

Thanks again so much!


----------



## easeltine (Oct 11, 2013)

"Eats just the same and gets excited when he gets attention from people."

Betta Fish have so much personality! A nice fish. 
Interesting and hard to breed. I did that once with some results.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Chesh, no, lymphocystis can affect all types of fish, including saltwater. There _are_ different types of iridoviruses that do affect only certain kinds of fish though but generally, those don't cause raised bumps. There's a dwarf gourami iridovirus, an angelfish iridovirus, even one that affects rams. There may even be an anabantoid iridovirus.

Cornelius's age may have caused his immune system to be a little more compromised and that's why he became susceptible to the virus.


----------



## easeltine (Oct 11, 2013)

Sakura, 

This Betta alone in a 5 gallon tank is being well taken care of. 

If one has this iridovirus disease on a fish in a community tank, where there is only one or two others of the same species, would you recommend leaving the fish in the community tank rather than putting it separately in a hospital tank? You know...they just seem so lonely when you put them in the isolation ward.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hi easeltine. As long as the fish in the community are not very aggressive and nippy to each other, I think it is fine to leave a fish with lymphocystis in the community tank. The virus is already present in the water but as long as the water conditions are good and the fish are not stressed, the chances of other fish developing lymphocystis is small. As you point out, it gets lonely in isolation and sometimes, that loneliness causes unnecessary stress that could just make a fish sicker.

EDIT: The same goes for iridoviruses that target specific species of fish; it is already present and sometimes isolating the fish or otherwise disrupting the normal routine does more harm than good. Only time to remove a fish with an iridovirus is if it is struggling to swim or is being picked on.


----------



## easeltine (Oct 11, 2013)

Thank you!


----------

