Bumps on wild betta fish

[griffinkid]

Hi guys, I notice my female wild betta seems to be developing some bumps on her sides and i just noticed one more near her head. Does anyone has similar experience? So far she hasn't shown any signs of lethargic or lazy. she is still swimming around as usual and eating well. Any suggestions how I can help her?

[stormhawk]

The presence of bumps is typically a sign of parasitic infection. You will see this on some wild caught fish. I don't know what causes it but your best course of action is to isolate it and observe it. I used to find some croaking gourami with these bumps, especially those that come in with feeder fishes.

[icefire]

they are worms. have met with these kind of stuff and for me the only way is to use a penknife, make a little slit on the bump and squeeze out the worm into a concentrated salt solution. so far this is the only method i have used to get rid of it...

[darylets]

they are worms. have met with these kind of stuff and for me the only way is to use a penknife, make a little slit on the bump and squeeze out the worm into a concentrated salt solution. so far this is the only method i have used to get rid of it...

Ouch! My advice is you try using meds first as the first course of measure

[Marlinsons]

I was thinking of breeding Betta for my comm tank. Wow, did not think that there is so much care needed for Bettas.

Anything else that I should look out for when breeding Bettas?

[darylets]

I was thinking of breeding Betta for my comm tank. Wow, did not think that there is so much care needed for Bettas.

Anything else that I should look out for when breeding Bettas?

Bro, you may want to clarify what you mean by comm tank here. What are fishes are u intending to comm bettas with? Bettas are known to be territorial fishes, which means if you have any smaller fishes they will probably attack them, or at least injure them. If you are talking about bigger fishes, your bettas probably wont survive. Bettas are exactly the communal type of fish. Even within their own species, say your spawn, at the age of 2-3 months, they themselves will start nibbling on each other's finnages.

What you should look out when breeding bettas:
1) Make sure you have time for them
2) Make sure you do know what you are going to feed them at different stages of their growth and also where your source of food will be from? for eg, which LFS/farm/self cultivate..
3) Make sure you understand that by breeding them, chances are you will get hundreds of fry, are u able to house them individually when they grow? keep water conditions clean, know what action to take when they are sick and lastly also spot the sickness before it spreads to the rest of the spawn.

These are just some of the things you may want to think about, futhermore breeding bettas, you will need to condition them beforehand.

[Marlinsons]

In my comm tank, i have mainly smaller fishes like tetra in a 4ft planted tank. I hope to add Betta into the tank to give it more color and focal point to the tank as well. I am hoping that they all can be in the same tank. I have no intention to have more than 1 Betta in the tank.

I intent to buy 1 betta from the LFS and bring the fishes together. I hope they can live in harmony...

[darylets]

thats probably ok then. try to avoid long fin betta as they may get nibbed by your tetras

[Emokidz]

they are worms. have met with these kind of stuff and for me the only way is to use a penknife, make a little slit on the bump and squeeze out the worm into a concentrated salt solution. so far this is the only method i have used to get rid of it...

I think this is a little extreme and should only be done if you are a trained professional. Even so, it is still extreme and I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, the fish would be more likely to die had it been left alone.

[Marlinsons]

thats probably ok then. try to avoid long fin betta as they may get nibbed by your tetras

Thanks for the advice.

[stormhawk]

If you do keep a betta in the 4 ft tank, make sure there is an area of still surface water. They do not like strong currents in the tank. Too much flow and they just don't thrive.

As for the "worms". The use of anti-worm medication like Fenbendazole ought to kill them. Another possible candidate for the "bumps" you see is the fungal parasite called Glugea, which is a NASTY bug to eradicate. Google pictures of Glugea and you will see how the bumps look like they contain thousands of white things in it.

[griffinkid]

Oh dear, thanks all for your suggestions... I will be starting parasitic treatment for her tonight... Keeping my fingers crossed

[Marlinsons]

Oh dear, thanks all for your suggestions... I will be starting parasitic treatment for her tonight... Keeping my fingers crossed

good luck... I will keep the fingers cross.. so exciting...

[griffinkid]

Okay the bumps are fully healed. So such bumps are most likely to be internal parasite. I used API Parasite Removal and it works perfectly, now my female betta is nursed back to health and from the vertical barrings, she seemed to be ready for breeding as well

[stormhawk]

That's good to hear griffinkid. It's likely that the larva of the parasites might still be around in the water so I'd suggest that you keep observing the fish for the time being.

[icefire]

I think this is a little extreme and should only be done if you are a trained professional. Even so, it is still extreme and I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, the fish would be more likely to die had it been left alone.

its easy to do such stuff.. just use a sterilized blade and give the betta a slight slit on its skin then pull out the worm. the reason for me not using medication is that i do not trust most brands. plus medicine lowers the immunity of the fishes. like it more natural. remember to sanitize the wound first before putting back if you want to try doing it.