Holes in my betta? Help pretty please?

Question

I know it sounds ridiculous to feel strongly attached to a fish, but I am! My betta had a little white patch on his back which got a bit bigger, and started to flake off. I got some anti-fungal, anti-bacterial medication and put it into the water, watched him closely, and changed the water regularly. As the stuff was falking off I figured he was getting better. But his scales never grew back.

In addition, he started getting something of a hole in his side, nearish the white part on his back. I think it's getting a bit bigger, and he's pretty lethargic, and I don't know what to do!

Has anyone seen this sort of thing before? His scales wont grow back and there's just this ominous-looking white-ish clear flesh underneath.

Any idea of what it could be? Any way to treat it?

Also, we have well water, so after a few weeks I fugured it might be the excess minerals and stuff in there we have for soft water.. so the other day I changed him into distilled water with a bit of our well water to try to off-set it.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks very much in advance :)

Answer 1

it sounds like "ich" which is a fungal disease common in fish. the hole could actually be an ulcer. talk to a specialist; call your vet or pet care manager at your nearest petsmart. and it's not weird to love a fish either ;D hope he gets better!

Answer 2

2 things you can try;

Tea Tree oil helps aid tissue growth on fish, if you can, put the fish in a smaller tank so that you won't have to use as much medication.

Remove your carbon filter if you have one.  Though it seems counter productive, it has been known to cause hole in the head in Oscars and may do stuff to other fish as well