# What's the white spot on my betta's head? Is he sick? Injured?



## Andrewsmama

I just moved my new betta to a 5 gallon tank (from a 1 gallon) last night. He was just fine for a few hours, but then this morning when I checked on him, he has this little white dot on his head and he's holding his fins close to his body (clamped fin?). He's been pretty still and is hanging out in one spot, where he usually is pretty active and swims all over. He also spit out his food this morning, where he is usually really excited to eat. I tried to get a picture - sorry it's kind of blurry. What should I do here? Is he sick? Is he injured? Should I use some sort of antibiotic just to be sure? And if so, what is a good medication? I'm kind of new to being a fish mommy, so any help would be appreciated!


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## Canuck Fins

Generally don't use an antibiotic unless you know what you are treating for. 

That said, it's hard to tell from the picture. If you fill out these questions, it will help. Sometimes, knowing about the fish can clue us in on things that could be affecting your fish. 

Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?


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## Andrewsmama

Housing 
What size is your tank? 5 gallon (just put him into this tank yesterday)
What temperature is your tank? 79F
Does your tank have a filter? yes, a whisper that I have baffled 
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 2 mystery snails

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon Betta food (tiny pellets)
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2X per day 2-3 pellets

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? Now that I know better, I will be doing it once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Now that I know better, I will be doing 50% w/ a syphon
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? I haven't tested, not sure

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? one small white spot on his head showed up this morning
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? listless, just stays in one spot most of the time, holds fins close to body
When did you start noticing the symptoms? a few hours after putting him in his new tank (late last night)
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no treatment yet
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? I have had him only a week


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Andrewsmama,

Hard to know what the white spot is. He may have been exploring his new tank and got something stuck to him. It looks too big and alone to be ick (tiny white spots all over his body). It could be an injury or an external parasite... but I'm not convinced by the picture.

He may be feaked out by the new tank and all the open space. Do you have a cave or plants he can hide in?

Were the snails in the old tank?

The only other thing I can note (other than you need a test kit to watch your water chemicals as the new tank cycles - no test strips - they are unreliable) is that you may be overfeeding your betta.

A betta's stomach is only as big as his eye... so no matter how he begs you, one or two pellets is all you should give him each day. The pellets should be presoaked in water at mealtime, to help prevent bloat. It is also adviseable to let your betta fast one day a week. I know it sounds cruel, but feeding your betta too much will cause illness and poor water quality (which in turn leads to lower immunity and more illness).

Can you give us a better description of what the white spot looks like?


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## Andrewsmama

*I'll try to post a better photo...*

Here's another picture of Blue's weird white spot - hope this helps...


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## Andrewsmama

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy - thanks for the heads-up with feeding him - I will cut back to 2 pellets/day and see if that helps him. Oh, yeah, he also refused food this morning - he ate a pellet, then spit it back out, which he has never done before.

Yes, the snails were in the old tank. They seem very happy in their new environment and have been happily exploring.

I do have some fake and live plants in there, but no cave. Should I get one?

I also have a test kit to test the water, but I haven't used it yet. I will get on that today...


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Okay that's a much better picture, thank you! 

That spot is almost perfectly round... I'm still thinking its something stuck on him.

Are you squimish about handling your fish? If you could net him, you could try gently to brush whatever it is off of him. If it doesn't come off easily, then I'd lean towards further diagnosis.

It doesn't appear to be a flesh wound... and it doesn't look fuzzy, so I'm thinking its not Columnaris...


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

If your betta was used to a small tank, he might be a bit intimidated by all the space he now has. So a cave-like item (terracotta pots are fine, once you plug up the drainage hole - you'd be surprise how many bettas stick their heads in those holes and are injuried) will give him a place to go if he's feel insecure.


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Oh, btw... your betta's a very pretty boy!


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## Andrewsmama

Ok, I tested the water. Looks like, if I did it correctly (which I think I did), this is the situation:

ph - 7.2ish
Ammonia - between 0-0.25 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm


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## Andrewsmama

Is it possible to have too bright of a light? The light in this tank seems much brighter than the other. I did put in a cave thingy this evening too. Hopefully, that will help...


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## Andrewsmama

Well, Blue is moving around more tonight - he's been hanging out at the bottom mostly and then swimming up for air, then back down again. He found the cave I put in and is hanging out in there right now. His fins are still close to his body, though. I'll just keep an eye on him, I guess...


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

The more you test the water, the more accurate you'll become (the directions are so small in the guide, and sometimes read like the 'Hokey Pokey', lol).

You'll need to do frequent water changes as your five gallon cycles... the lack of nitrites and nitrates means it hasn't cycled yet.

This link will take you to a page that gives a good description of cycling and what to expect: http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

How's that spot??????


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## Andrewsmama

Thanks for the cycling info Here Fishy Fishy Fishy. Unfortunately, my little betta died this morning.


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear he passed. 

You did everything you could for him... and I'm sure he knew it. He even appreciated the cave you got him. I sure that made him feel secure.

Since we didn't get a chance to full diagnose him and we don't know exactly what happened, I would highly reccomend draining the 5 gallon tank and sanitizing all contents (and throwing away the filteration material). 

Here is a thread on sanitizing: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=69091&highlight=sanitizing

There are some breeders on this board who always have bettas that are 'ready to go'... When you are ready to welcome another betta into your life, please check with them. People on this board care about the fry they raise, and you'll know they had a healthy start in life before they came to live with you.

Take care, and know you made your little buddy as comfortable as you could.


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## Andrewsmama

Thanks, HFFF - I now think he may have had fin rot - his tail fin started looking really ragged last night and worse this morning. He died before I had a chance to get some maracin to treat him. I still don't know what that white thing was...

I have already cleaned the tank and brought home a new betta this afternoon - I couldn't wait, the tank looked so sad and empty! He is sitting in his little cup, which is floating in the new water, acclimating to the temp. 

I got this betta from a different pet store than before - all their bettas looked like they had clean water in their cups at least, no blue water or scum in the cups. This one looks really healthy - I checked him as well as I know how. No white spots on his body or dark edges to his fins or anything. 

Wish me luck!


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## Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Yes - good luck to you and your new betta! Remember the five gallon will need to cycle, so keep an eye on your water quality


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## Cooks45

I just got 2 bettas I got them in a 3 gallon tank each I got bamboo in the tanks but one of them is not eatting he is red and had lots of white marks on his face and he only hangs out at the top of the tank the temp in the tank is 78F idk what to do help?


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