# Strange lump/air bubble on side of my betta



## geobur

Hey guys last week I noticed that my betta had not only a very swollen belly but also a weird lump on his right side. I looks like an air bubble trapped under his scales, or like a blister. This came a couple days after noticing that my Oto cat was missing.

I have a 2.5 gallon tank with a heater and filter, I regularly do water changes once a week.

I first noticed that my Oto was gone because I was noticing that the algae in the the was building up and started to look for him...(he was a very good hider) but when I couldn't find him anywhere I had to assume that the Betta ate him... However I don't think the Betta killed it because although the Betta was a bit territorial, the extent of aggression it showed towards the Oto would be chasing it away from where the Betta happened to be swimming at that moment, they usually avoided each other. The reason I don't think the Betta could have killed the Oto is that the Oto was roughly (not including fins) the same size as my Betta and was much faster.

So I assumed that the Oto died and the Betta just ate it's body. And I noticed he looked a bit fat so I didn't feed him for two days, I then noticed the bulge a couple days later although he didn't seem to be having any difficulties swimming around.

I have been dosing with Melafix but I haven't noticed any change.

Can anyone help?
Thank you!

I have attached a few pics of the lump

































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## coldmantis

looks like a tumor to me, unfortunetly I don't believe any sort of medicine will get rid of it. your betta should last at least 6 more months+ if in perfect water conditions.


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## geobur

coldmantis said:


> looks like a tumor to me, unfortunetly I don't believe any sort of medicine will get rid of it. your betta should last at least 6 more months+ if in perfect water conditions.


thanks for the quick reply!

But if it is a tumor how did it pop up so quickly...like I didn't notice anything the two days before, other than just a bit of a belly bulge, but no more than it would have looked if he had have overeaten a bit.


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## coldmantis

it happens, 4+ years ago I bought 5 black skirt tetras I now only have 1 remaining. The rest just had tumors pop up suddently however they did last awhile about 1+ years before dropping like flies.


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## poverty

geobur said:


> thanks for the quick reply!
> 
> But if it is a tumor how did it pop up so quickly...like I didn't notice anything the two days before, other than just a bit of a belly bulge, but no more than it would have looked if he had have overeaten a bit.


I noticed the exact same bulge on my betta. It even got to the point it look like it burst and was spewing white stuff. I figured there wasnt much I could do but pray for him. Then one weekend later and it went away completely and my betta seems as if nothing happens. I didn't dose or treat. I do hope I get more than a few months. Let me know how things go . Funny thing is mine happened after an African dwarf frog disappeared.

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## geobur

poverty said:


> I noticed the exact same bulge on my betta. It even got to the point it look like it burst and was spewing white stuff. I figured there wasnt much I could do but pray for him. Then one weekend later and it went away completely and my betta seems as if nothing happens. I didn't dose or treat. I do hope I get more than a few months. Let me know how things go . Funny thing is mine happened after an African dwarf frog disappeared.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free


hmm interesting thank you for that, if it does pop and the fish stays alive I will continue to treat with Melafix that is supposed to help with open wounds


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## poverty

geobur said:


> hmm interesting thank you for that, if it does pop and the fish stays alive I will continue to treat with Melafix that is supposed to help with open wounds


I wanted to see if your Betta was ok and made it through chemo hehe


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## Fishfur

I just read, the other day, an article which described swellings on fish that 'popped', and what comes out is whitish. Usually they appear quite suddenly. The stuff that comes out is pus, and the swelling is the fish version of an abscess, which is a bacterial infection that the body manages to wall off until internal pressure makes it burst. If it breaks to the outside, the infection drains & usually they recover. If it breaks and drains inside the body, it often results in death, as the infection gets into the blood stream.

Advice was never to try to handle or squeeze bumps like this, as you could force the infectious material into the blood stream, and kill the fish. Much the same applies to mammalian abscesses too.


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## geobur

Fishfur said:


> I just read, the other day, an article which described swellings on fish that 'popped', and what comes out is whitish. Usually they appear quite suddenly. The stuff that comes out is pus, and the swelling is the fish version of an abscess, which is a bacterial infection that the body manages to wall off until internal pressure makes it burst. If it breaks to the outside, the infection drains & usually they recover. If it breaks and drains inside the body, it often results in death, as the infection gets into the blood stream.
> 
> Advice was never to try to handle or squeeze bumps like this, as you could force the infectious material into the blood stream, and kill the fish. Much the same applies to mammalian abscesses too.


hmm interesting, it does seem bigger and it looks about ready to pop, I am just hoping it pops on the outside. he seems to be happy still.

Thanks for the input. Will keep people updated


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## pyrrolin

I was thinking myself that it could be a cyst or something.


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## geobur

Fishfur said:


> I just read, the other day, an article which described swellings on fish that 'popped', and what comes out is whitish. Usually they appear quite suddenly. The stuff that comes out is pus, and the swelling is the fish version of an abscess, which is a bacterial infection that the body manages to wall off until internal pressure makes it burst. If it breaks to the outside, the infection drains & usually they recover. If it breaks and drains inside the body, it often results in death, as the infection gets into the blood stream.
> 
> Advice was never to try to handle or squeeze bumps like this, as you could force the infectious material into the blood stream, and kill the fish. Much the same applies to mammalian abscesses too.


Hey guys just thought I would follow up here, and let people know that my betta died yesterday sometime during the day  The abscess had gotten even bigger and although I had tried to gently puncture it from the outside with a needle last week, I wasn't actually able to penetrate his scales and I guess last night it finally gave way but instead of popping to the outside it went to the inside and I guess the toxicity killed him 

I have pictures that I will upload sometime for scientific purposes. Wish I knew what caused this...now to determine if it was a bacterial infection and to figure out if my tank needs to be completely sanitized before getting a new betta, and determining if my two brand new Otos are ok.

Thanks for the help


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## poverty

That sucks, sorry for your loss.


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## pyro

If you still have the body, you could reach out to Dr. Sandra Fazakas (Ripley Aquarium) as she does have a private fish veterinary practice.
http://www.kwas.ca/forum/showthread...-Tuesday-September-3rd-2013-Dr-Sandra-Fazakas


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## geobur

I don't still have the body, but I have pictures of it...


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## Fishfur

For an animal that size, that is a truly enormous swelling. I think chances are high it was already leaking to the interior and quite probably had reached the blood stream, which would have caused sepsis and death.

I can understand the desire to help by trying to puncture it, but it's the one thing you shouldn't do. Even vets don't often use a needle on an abscess, unless they are trying aspirate some contents to analyze when the diagnosis is in doubt, and in that case they are using a very small, hollow needle.

Lancing is the usual relief method, a scalpel drawn across to cut the skin and release the pressure, but given the size of that thing, I fear the fish had little hope. I am very sorry for the loss, that really sucks.

The most common cause of an abscess is some type of puncture injury that heals over, closing any contaminants inside, where they fester. Sometimes it can be bacterial invasion from the outside, but we don't know all that much about bacterial disease in fish yet. Be interesting to see what a vet could tell you, but without a sample to examine, she can probably only speculate on cause. I doubt the other fish are at risk, especially since the thing did not rupture in the tank.


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## geobur

Fishfur said:


> For an animal that size, that is a truly enormous swelling. I think chances are high it was already leaking to the interior and quite probably had reached the blood stream, which would have caused sepsis and death.
> 
> I can understand the desire to help by trying to puncture it, but it's the one thing you shouldn't do. Even vets don't often use a needle on an abscess, unless they are trying aspirate some contents to analyze when the diagnosis is in doubt, and in that case they are using a very small, hollow needle.
> 
> Lancing is the usual relief method, a scalpel drawn across to cut the skin and release the pressure, but given the size of that thing, I fear the fish had little hope. I am very sorry for the loss, that really sucks.
> 
> The most common cause of an abscess is some type of puncture injury that heals over, closing any contaminants inside, where they fester. Sometimes it can be bacterial invasion from the outside, but we don't know all that much about bacterial disease in fish yet. Be interesting to see what a vet could tell you, but without a sample to examine, she can probably only speculate on cause. I doubt the other fish are at risk, especially since the thing did not rupture in the tank.


Ya I was afraid of the same thing that he didn't have much of a chance 

thank you for the advice about the other fish though, my Otos still seem to be fine so I think I will leave it one more week let them get more comfortable, then get another betta...thanks for the comments guys!


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