Betta: White dots?

Question
Hi, I am wondering if you can answer this question about my betta (Siamese fighting fish) He has 2 or 3 white lumps on his head near his eye! The lumps are very small, and theyre white. The lumps are all beside each other. It was never there before and I check on him everyday and today it was there! Do you know what this could be?

Answer
Hi Mel,
 Small white lumps could be several things. They could be very early signs of ick (a parasitic disease) though it would be unusual to have only 3 such lumps.

  They could be the result of physical damage -- perhaps the fish banged into something?

  They could be a disease called columnaris.  

  Have you been doing regular weekly partial water changes?  You should be changing 25% of the water in the tank, once a week, every week.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>