my betta fish has a white spot under it gills?

Question

my betta fish has a white spot under it gills, on he bottom of its body. its small and i know what the common diseases are and i dont think its one but i was just wondering if ne one knew why it was there. i think its supposed to be there because hes perfectly healthy

Answer 1

Since you say it's on the bottom of the body, are you certain that the betta is a male? Females get what's called an eggspot on the bottom of the body behind the first pair of fins - see white spot in photo: http://flippersandfins.net/Images/BettaFemaleDoubleTail.jpg

Is this something under the gill cover itself? Or a spot elsewhere on the gills or body near the gills/cover?

If not an egg spot, please provide more information by adding it to this question, or email me.

Another photo from a different view - page down to bottom: http://bettatalk.com/betta_anatomy.htm

Answer 2

My betta also has a white spot on his back but he has always had it since I've had him (6mos) and it is just one white scale (upon closer inspection it is actualy a very pale blue but looks white) and is normal for him. If, however this is a recent occurence and you have never seen it before it is most likely ich which is a very common disease and is nothing to worry about too much as long as you take the proper steps in treating it very soon as it will kill your fish if it goes untreated. Get some ich medicine from your pet store that has malachite green in it and follow the directions on the bottle_if you have any carbon filtration you must remove it first.

Also with ich your fish will not show any other symptoms than a white grain looking spot or more than one so even if he acts healthy it does not mean that he is.

Hope I helped.

Answer 3

it is common in bettas to have some development of different pigments, my female has a white patch under her gills as well. keep an eye on it and watch for it protruding or "waving"

Answer 4

Are you sure it's male. A single white spot is likely the ovipositor. I've heard male can have them as well ,but I've never seen it.
http://www.sabregirl.freeservers.com/images/fbetta.jpg

If it looks like a grain of salt it's ich. If is fuzzy like lint it's columnaris.
http://www.fishjunkies.com/Diseases/columnaris.php
http://bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

Answer 5

Sorry to name a common disease, but it sounds like ick (ich?) I'm not sure of the spelling but am pretty sure the medicine has the same name.