Tropical Fish Keeping - Aquarium fish care and resources

Tropical Fish Keeping - Aquarium fish care and resources (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/)

- Tropical Fish Diseases (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/tropical-fish-diseases/)

- - 2 sick bettas (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/tropical-fish-diseases/2-sick-bettas-5495/)

So I'll freely admit that I did not do enough research on bettas before buying two bettas that share a tank that "promotes flaring" or whatever. I do realize the tank is too small for them and I'm working on that. So fish 1 (Tootsie) has a white splotchy mark on the underside of his neck/chin area (i don't know fish anatomy!) and fish 2 (Reggie) looks like that same area is swollen. I think Tootsie may have Ich, but I'm not sure b/c it's not like white dots like in pictures. Also, for Reggie, I looked up the swelling and I am not sure how to tell if it's dropsy or constipation or some other type of swelling. Any ideas? Any help would be very welcome!

Thanks!

Welcome, Bluemoonie.:wave:

May we ask for your pics?:) This is better than just words. I recommend API Freshwater Master liquid test kit if you haven't obtained a test kit yet. Check your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Avoid test strips as much as possible as they do not give accurate results.

Dropsy-unusual swollen abdomen, bulging eyes and protrusion of scales
Poor water quality, bad food quality and intestinal parasites are leading causes to name a few.

hi lupin,

hp fan by any chance? :) anyways, did my best to take a pic of the fish - was really hard to get a profile b/c the fish is so flirty! hehe anyways, the lump is not as big as it was when i saw it twelve hours ago....so I'm not sure what happened.