# Sick Betta



## MercuryGlass (Feb 28, 2015)

Hi guys. This is my first post since intro tonight.
My two year old male betta has developed a lump or bulge on his spine just in front of his dorsal fin under his skin. I noticed it about a month ago. It looks rather like a Sockey Salmon's dorsal hump that they morph into as they swim upstream to spawn.

It is getting to the point where it affects his stability in the water. He is furiously creating massive bubble nests every night and it must take a lot out of him as his stability is shot. He spends most of his time laying against something on the bottom to try and keep upright. The skin is being pushed out enough now that his scales right around the swelling are being forced out-like dropsy only it is just around the lump on his spine. His color is wonderful and there are no other symptoms. There is no discoloration at the site of the "tumor". 

Finding nothing on the web, I have tried both fish ampicillin and fish tetracycline from my betta first aid kit that I nabbed a few years back from BettaTalk while she was still making the kits up for sale. 

I can try and take some phone pics tomorrow. It's lights out time now and I don't want to stess him by trying to get a shot now. 

Thank you in advance for anything you can share with me.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Hard to say either way without photos. Best thing you can do right now is keep him warm clean and comfortable. Will await pics.


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## MercuryGlass (Feb 28, 2015)

Thanks for the quick reply Majerah1. Much appreciated. 

Here are some pictures. You can see that the scale lifting is only in the generalized area of the growth on his back. He used to float around his tank all day long...now it is a struggle for him to right himself. The water is yellow due to the antibiotics. Have you seen a tumor or growth like this before? There is no seepage or drainage of any kind so far. Not wishing to disturb him any more than necessary, his crib is a tad covered in algae. I figure that is not so important an issue at the moment.


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