# Burst cyst on betta? Help!!



## lucidlids (Jul 3, 2014)

http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/wilhourc/library/opi

Sorry if I'm not doing this right, it's my first post,

my betta Opi, who i've have for a little over 2 years, has been sick for about 3 weeks now. I came back from a wedding and noticed a huge lump on his right underside just under his pelvic fin. He is the only fish in a 1 gallon tank which I do 100% water changes weekly and partial water changes in-between. Until recently I did not know that he would prefer a warmer temperature so his water is room temperature, normally close to 72 (I know I should have done my research before but I had a betta as a kid that we kept in a small bowl, no filter, no thermometer). I fed him betta pellets 3-5, once a day when he was eating well, No pH or nitrogen testers on hand.

For a couple days Opi had what looked like a fluid filled cyst under his fin, it then popped (he was not scratching or rubbing) and had some sort of yellow stringy stuff coming out, I assumed this was bacteria and started him on aquarium salts and melafix. 

The rest of the dead skin sluffed off and for the last week and a half he has a large hole in is side. It looks sore but was never particularly red and never bleed. After the cyst burst his buoyancy problems started.

I've tried to look everywhere and it could possibly be fish tb, henneguya, glugea, vibrosis or possibly something else. He did have a plastic tree stump that I thought he could have possibly injured himself on and I took that out and threw it away once I suspected a bacteria infection. He has had a silver spot on his tail area for over a year but that never got larger and his colors changed so much from when I got him (black gills and fins with white body) to now (blue and red fins) that I was not concerned. He's always been pretty slow but used to respond to me coming to feed him and he ate vigorously.

Opi is leaning a little to the left, hasn't eaten or pooped for at least a week, and is struggling to reach the surface for air (I lowered the water level e his stress). After reading some forums I tried to do a salt bath (1/2 tsp aq salt in 2 cups of water) slowly added to the small bowl I put him in during cleanings but he started to act very agitated. Ive been using 8 drops of the melafix for his 1 gallon tank along with 1/2 tsp aq salt for the last week and a half.

Although he has not gotten worse since the cyst burst, I know he can't be happy and haven't read anything about fish with these symptoms healing so is it a good idea to start thinking about euthanizing him with clove oil? I'd hate to let him go but with the lack of a diagnosis I'm worried its fish tb :-/

I'm a novice but I really care about the wellbeing of my fish so any help and advice is much appreciated


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Can you post a picture?


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## lucidlids (Jul 3, 2014)

photos are in the link, i'm not sure how to directly post them


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## lucidlids (Jul 3, 2014)

sorry figured it out, a picture from day 1 and from today


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

I highly doubt it's tuberculosis. Is he losing scales and color? Is his spine curving? Is he sprouting open sores? Is he losing weight? Normally when a fish has tb it's obvious. If for whatever reason you become certain it's tb, I would euthanize and toss or bleach everything that came into contact with him, being careful to use gloves.

First off, stop the melafix. Any med that ends in -fix is crap, imo. Usually bad for bettas because it can coat their labyrinth organ.

He has an open wound, so first order of business is clean, warm, salty water. Get him a heater and dose the water at 1 tsp of aquarium salt per gallon and do daily 100% water changes. To make this easier, I recommend just removing the marbles for now. Get him on a good meal plan to make healing easier. New Life Spectrum betta pellets supplemented by frozen bloodworms is good, as is a varied all-frozen diet. You want a diet high in protein and low on fillers.

Now, as for what he is sick with, it's hard to be sure. He could have bumped himself on a decoration and the cut could have gotten infected. He could have lymphocystis. It's a virus that causes cysts, and the only real thing to do is wait it out. If more cysts appear, that's probably what it is.


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## lucidlids (Jul 3, 2014)

No he has none of those symptoms, so that makes me feel better. 

I bought some freeze dried blood worms for him as a treat for what I thought would be his last days but he's still not interested in food, his pellets are aqueon brand. I haven't seen him eat in nearly 2 weeks. I'm assuming you recommend the frozen over the freeze-dried?

I'll grab a heater tomorrow morning (I almost did last pet store run but didn't know if he'd survive the rupture). 

thanks


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

Yea frozen is definitely better. Freeze-dried is pretty empty of any sort of nutrition.

He might have a bacterial infection that is now affecting is swim bladder. I'd start treating for that if the warm water and aquarium salt don't make him improve in the next few days.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

I have no idea, so I'm not going to guess. It looks like it could potentially be an injury that was infected, but a couple of the pics in the link made me think it could be something else. 

You can soak your pellets in plain garlic juice (if you know how to juice a clove) or Seachem Garlic Guard to help try to stimulate him to eat. 

Personally, I wouldn't use salt. AQ salt works by encouraging the sloughing off of dead skin and the production of the slime coat (because of the irritation). In this case, it's about keeping the tank clean to keep his wound clean.


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

Good point. I would use AQ salt if the wound still looks nasty, as salt is antibacterial, but if the wound looks to be clean you might want to pass on the AQ salt. Thanks NeptunesMom.


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