Lumpy betta--constipation? tumour? Help!

[Rosemary]

Last Friday, I saw that my betta's body was horribly lumpy looking:

(There's a lump on his other side that is so bad you can see white skin (?) showing between the stretched out scales.)

It doesn't look like the pictures of dropsy I have seen. I have been trying to treat for constipation--I fasted him for 2 days, fed him a bit of pea. No effect. Yesterday I gave him an Epsom salt bath (1 Tbsp in 1 gallon, 15 minutes). No effect.

Should I keep trying to feed him bits of pea, or give him another Epsom salt bath, or what?

I am very worried about him, and he seems miserable. He is spending most of his time hiding in his hidey hole at the bottom of the tank.

Tank:
5 gallons, filtered, heated
no tankmates
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: <5 ppm
pH: 7.5

I recently switched to a different food because the store was out of the kind I usually get.

 

[Emg]

Don't do any bath....it will just stress him out and make him feel even worse. About the only thing I think that will help is to continue fasting and offering the pea every other day.....and making sure to keep his water sparkling clean.

You could add aquarium salt to the water, it will help...and you could try bettafix...it's a natural teatree oil treatment and isn't harsh at all. The directions say no water changes because the med has to gradually increase over the 7 day treatment....but I still do water changes every day when I use this med..I am just sure to add the appropriate amount of meds to each water change.....1 dose to the change water the first day....2 doses the second day...etc...

I do complete 100% water changes when I do this. I put the betta in a 16 oz walmart size bowl and float two of those bowls in a larger heated tank. One bowl has the betta in it, the second bowl is all set up with clean water and proper amount of bettafix for the next day. Each morning I gently "flip" the betta into the clean bowl and wash and set up the other bowl for the next day. This usually works very well for me for most betta issues...it's reletively stress free and does keep them in super clean water...which I think helps the most.

 

[Rosemary]

Thanks, Emg.

He's looking perkier, constipation seems to have passed and he isn't hiding so much, but he still has this lump or lesion on the other side (which he won't let me photograph, of course).

I'm feeding small meals so he won't get constipated again, and treating with Melafix.