Growth on my beta fishy

Question
Hello!  We have an approx 2.5 - 3 year old beta fish who lives in a 1.5 gallon tank.  Just the other day, we noticed he has a very small white growth on his side about halfway down his body.  He's acting just fine... eating well and is very active as always... we just have no idea what this little white thing could be and if we should be concerned.  Do you have any idea?  Thanks in advance!

Answer
Hi Katie
Does it look like a little patch of cotton?  If so, that's a fungal infection.  They're usually a secondary infection to a sore or sracpe that was there.  There's a product at the pet store called PimaFix.  It's a natural herbal remedy that treats fungal infections and most gram negative bacterial infections in fish.  The only thing, you'll have to figure out the proper dose for that size tank.  

Also, use a little aquarium salt in there as well.  I'd continue with the salt treatment.  It's usually recommended to dose at 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons, but try for your tank size 1 TEASPOON per gallon.  Watch the fish, it shouldn't stress him though.  You have to remember though, salt doesn't evaporate when the water does, it's only removed from the tank when you do a water change and physically remove water from the tank.  So don't add any new salt to the tank until you take some water out.  When you do add salt, dissolve it first in a container of the water you'll be adding first.  

Another thing to do, not sure how often you're doing a water change on the tank.  I usually recommend doing one once a week of about 20-25%, depending on the tank size and the number & size of fish.  Assuming your tank does have a filter on it, I'd follow those guidelines.  If it isn't filtered, you should be changing out at least 1/4-1/2 the water every other day.  Bettas don't breath the oxygen in the water, but they do still need good water quality.  And in that small of a tank, the water quality can go downhill real quick.  One last thing, be sure to only feed him what he'll eat in a few minutes, and only once a day.  I know a lot of betta owners that only feed their bettas 4 of those small pellets a day.

Good luck, and I think those remedies above should take care of it.  Remember too though, usually the bettas you see/buy in stores are already fully grown adults.  I've never had one live past a year and a half for me, you're doing great :)

Christy